Staatskapelle Berlin/Barenboim/Argerich review – the stuff of heroes

Visits from the Staatskapelle Berlin and its chief conductor, Daniel Barenboim, are special occasions even without the prospect also of Martha Argerich, a pianist so revered yet so given to cancellations that her appearances are cherished collectors’ items. That this concert carried its weight of expectation so lightly was a tribute to enduring associations: between Barenboim and his orchestra; and between Barenboim and Argerich, septuagenarians who played together as children in Buenos Aires.

It was a meeting of musical royalty, yet Barenboim dispelled any suggestion of formality, laying down the first beat of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 1 when the applause had barely even stopped. The orchestra responded with an introduction so soft it seemed to come from another room – the kind of intensely quiet tone that only the finest ensembles seem able to summon. Argerich burst in on this with playing that was sparky, dreamy, supple yet commanding: the changes were mercurial, the phrases always shaped as if they were song or speech. Crisp violin flourishes near the start were echoed later on in Argerich’s snappy attack of her own similar figures. It was, in effect, an ongoing conversation between Argerich and the orchestra, long and involved but tending towards agreement, especially at moments such as the close of the slow movement, when the sounds of the piano and solo clarinet were dovetailed into each other. 

The encore was a long time coming, but when a stagehand brought out a second piano stool, it signalled something special. Nearly half as long as the concerto, Schubert’s Rondo in A Major had Barenboim and Argerich squashed together in the intimacy of a piano duet. It shouldn’t really have come as a surprise - after all, Argerich and Barenboim came together for a whole concert of duets in Berlin almost exactly a year ago. But still, it was the kind of golden moment nobody in the audience will forget. It was a mesmerising performance. Every so often, as they spun Schubert’s succeeding melodies into one seamless skein, Argerich would glance down at Barenboim’s hands as if they were her own. Wolfram Brandl, the orchestra’s leader, looked far more nervous turning pages for the duet than he did playing the concerto-like violin solo in Ein Heldenleben, Richard Strauss’s epic orchestral poem, in which he imagines himself as a hero fighting off the forces of mediocrity. He was far from the only player who shone in this orchestral showpiece. As for Barenboim, his interpretation – driven, never indulgent, avoiding bombast yet still allowing the big moments their full, glorious effect - was the stuff of heroes, on an evening devoted to them. • At Southbank Centre, London, on 21 April. Box office: 0844 875 0073. The Barenboim Project continues until 2 June.

Nota Original The Guardian
Diario The Independent