Dresden/Semperoper: 7TH SYMPHONY CONCERT OF THE SAXON STATE CHAPEL WITH MYUNG-WHUN CHUNG AND SEONG-JIN CHO – 24, 25 and 26.2.2023
Before their tour to South Korea on the occasion of Myung-Whun Chung’s 70th birthday, the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden performed two very well-received works from the tour program with him on the podium in their 7th symphony concert “Symphony No. 3 in F major” (op. 90) by Johannes Brahms and that “Piano Concerto No. 1 in B minor” (op. 23) by Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky with pianist Seong-Jin Cho. Both musicians come from South Korea and are now returning to their homeland (Seoul and Incheon) – known and appreciated around the world – with the Sächsische Staatskapelle on a six-concert tour (March 2nd – 8th, 2023), with the other three Symphonies by Johannes Brahms “Symphony No. 7 in B minor” (D 759) by Franz Schubert and the “Der Freischütz Overture” by Carl Maria are on the program.
Myung-Whun Chung and Seon-Jin Cho have a close working relationship. Cho is not only one of the world stars of classical music, especially among the younger generation in South Korea, but also has the status of a “pop star” there. One can imagine the enthusiasm with which the two are received in their home country.
The program sequence of the Dresden concert was unusual, two large, significant works in an unconventional order. How could they have been brought? Right at the beginning the effective, virtuosic, very popular piano concerto, which for many is the longingly awaited highlight, and then the symphony, or vice versa? Perhaps – quite conventionally – a short piece at the beginning, then the solo concerto and then the symphony would have been the solution, but the choice was made to perform the symphony first, which brought the climax first and would inevitably overshadow everything else . But since these are two great works, both of which deserve the greatest attention, one only had to quickly “rethink” after the Brahms symphony, after all the intermission between the concerts was helpful.
Despite their different characters, both works also have some things in common. Written only eight years apart, Brahms’ 3rd symphony was extremely popular when it was first performed in 1883 and was enthusiastically received by the Viennese audience against a group of Wagner and Bruckner supporters who, in the context of the so-called “music dispute” between Representatives of the New German School and Viennese Classicism tried to disrupt, so that Brahms experienced one of his greatest triumphs. For Tchaikovsky, his First Piano Concerto began with a bitter disappointment when Rachmaninoff indignantly rejected it as “unplayable”, but since its premiere in Boston in 1875 it has been one of the most frequently performed works by large orchestras.
Myung-Whun Chung, who since 2001 has stood several times in the symphony concerts at the rostrum of the Staatskapelle and in the orchestra pit („Don Carlo“) and also conducted the orchestra on tours through Europe, the USA and Asia, was the first and only guest conductor to receive the title “Principal Guest Conductor” from the 2012/2013 season, a novelty in the long history of the band and a sign of the narrowness Relationship between Myung-Whun Chung and the orchestra.
Chung knows the orchestra and the orchestra knows him, so that there is an internal understanding without any big gestures on the part of the conductor. The chapel has it “Third” by Brahms and knows them with all their peculiarities and particularly beautiful passages. So Myung-Whun Chung held back and limited himself to sparse, very aesthetic signs, sometimes even just hints.
The very well coordinated wind instruments opened the symphony with the “curtain motif”, which the whole orchestra with the main motif forte The constant alternation between the two motifs could then be followed with beautiful transparency, the voice-leading instruments, oboe(s), flute(s), strings and horn attracted attention with their subtle and very sensitive intonation. The phrases, which build up to tremendous height and power, were not – as so often – taken to the extreme, but executed in accordance with the cheerful character of the symphony. Chung and the band placed great value on particular clarity, in which all voices, all subtleties could be followed down to the last detail, and let the first movement end in gentle beauty.
The second movement, with its calm, solemn character, the echo-like effects of the strings and wind instruments, the chorale-like theme and the sombre chromaticism, as well as the slow, lyrical third movement with its cheerfulness, a “dance movement”, “a song without words”, are in the Shorter in relation to the first and fourth movements, a peculiarity of the symphony, which is offset by the beauty of the two movements, which came into its own in the subtle execution.
The cheerfully relaxed mood was followed by the fourth movement, which began somewhat somberly with dramatic movements Forte-passages. Here the leading instruments, horn, oboe and bassoon, set highlights. The horn in particular was rightly enthusiastically celebrated by the audience at the end of the strangely enigmatic, gentle and quiet movement, which ended in wonderful beauty. But before that, Chung ensured a silent fading silence before the enthusiastic applause, during which he demonstratively sat down between the orchestra musicians as “primus inter pares” (first among equals) to express his bond with the orchestra.
It was a very appealing rendition with wonderful transparency, in which all the subtleties of the score and the skill of the musicians, especially the leading instruments, came into their own, and Clara Schumann’s impression was confirmed: “What a work, what poetry, the most harmonious mood through the whole, all sentences as if from one mould”.
After the concert break, the exceptional young pianist Seong-Jin Cho (*1994 in Seoul), who lives in Berlin, sat down unspectacularly and without grand gestures at the grand piano. He doesn’t value publicity and spectacular gestures. He only wants to play concerts and is not interested in any outward appearances. His world is classical music. Since becoming the first Korean to win the Chopin Competition, one of the oldest and most prestigious competitions in the world, in Warsaw in 2015 (previously he placed 3rd at the 14th International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the Arthur-Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition). in Tel Aviv), his career took off rapidly, he is in demand as a pianist all over the world and works with the most renowned orchestras and conductors.
Here, too, he used his artistic personality for Tchaikovsky’s famous piano concerto, which Rubinstein, with excessive criticism and contempt, considered “unsalvageable and advised a thorough revision (perhaps also for competitive reasons?), which Tchaikovsky fortunately did not do, because it has ended its triumphal march the world and enjoys great popularity as probably the most popular piano concerto, regardless of the interpretation.
Cho mastered the first movement with youthful vigor and tamed energy, without superficial virtuosity and grand gestures, but with astonishing technique and accuracy. In contrast, he devoted himself to the second, which the strings played with finest Pianissimo began and into which the woodwind joined with equal delicacy, delicacy and musical empathy, until it soared back to subdued virtuosity in the third movement. His less sensational, but rather musically oriented rendition, in which the genius and beauty of this piano concerto came into their own, revealed his talent and his intuitive musicality, which will continue to develop in the course of his pianist career.
He thanked the enthusiastic applause at the first concert (March 24) with a completely different encore. Far removed from all virtuosity, he let his fingers slide “elf-like” over the keys and conjured up a delicate, romantic world of sound with a composition from the Baroque period, the „Adagio“ from the „Suite F‑Dur (HWV 427) von Georg Friedrich Handelwhich was received with great enthusiasm by the audience and gave an insight into his great versatility.
Ingrid Gerk
