Master Concerts

“Soothing” Viennese classical music

The Cologne Chamber Orchestra stepped in at short notice for the master concert - and did an excellent job.

(Bild: Matthias Baus)

The Bregenz Master Concert on Saturday was a great pleasure. Despite changes to the line-up, the planned program was largely carried through - thanks to conductor Christian Poppen. 

The Israel Chamber Orchestra should actually have performed the second Bregenz Master Concert of the season. Due to the political situation in the Middle East, not least because of the uncertainty surrounding air travel, the orchestra canceled. A wonderful replacement was found in the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, which took over the program at short notice, except for one small change. This is thanks to the conductor of the evening, Christoph Poppen, who has been "closely associated" with the Cologne orchestra for years. "Music is timeless and more enduring than all crises", said the German violinist and conductor: "May it continue to give us inspiration, energy and happiness today." This was indeed the case, as several people independently described this concert as "soothing".

Music immortalized in a picture: one of the two pictures painted by artist Gunnar Tschabrun during the concert.

(Bild: Gunnar Tschabrun)

The music of Mozart and Haydn that was played here is per se, because it combines emotion and intellect, in short heart and brain, in an ideal way. Christoph Poppen and the Cologne Chamber Orchestra presented an interpretation style that was simply relaxed and delightful and made discussions about "historically informed or not" obsolete. As fresh and lively as the overture to Mozart's opera "Le nozze di Figaro" came across, Haydn's "Symphony with the Timpani Roll" also sounded after the interval. The unusual opening with the solo timpani turned out to be a veritable cadenza, and that is legitimate. The Cologne orchestra under Christoph Poppen played this weighty work, which incidentally is the penultimate of Haydn's 104 symphonies, with fire and esprit.

Between these cornerstones of the evening, a work by the Israeli composer Betty Olivero was played. The "Adagio for Chamber Orchestra", a flowing, concise piece, was inspired by Mozart's "Dissonance Quartet" and therefore fitted very well into the program. The highlight of the program was the Concerto for Two Pianos KV 365, which Mozart wrote for himself and his sister Nannerl. The musician couple Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg interpreted it with such consummate interplay and the most harmonious agogics that it was a pure joy to listen to. Their encore was Ernesto Lecuona's Malaguena, now played four-handed on one piano. And even after the Haydn symphony, the enthusiastic audience did not let the musicians go without an encore, as the orchestra repeated the minuet from the symphony.