Brazilian piano essays all five Beethoven concertos with brio

By Truman Wang
February 9, 2011

 PACIFIC SYMPHONY

 Thursday, Feb 3, 2011

Friday, Feb 4, 2011

Saturday, Feb 5, 2011

Carl St. Clair, conductor
Arnaldo Cohen, piano
Ray Chen, violin
Performances at Renée and Henry
Segerstrom Concert Hall, Costa Mesa, California

Mr. Cohen is a highly capable pianist from Brazil who put on quite a show of virtuoso keyboard wizardry for these concerts.  The five piano concertos hail from Beethoven’s early (Nos. 1, 2, 3) and middle periods (Nos 4, 5), meaning they are to be performed in a classically refined manner with an eye for heroic public display.  It is the rare pianist who possesses both the temperament and technical wherewithal to do these works justice.  Murray Perahia conducted and played the No. 5 brilliantly at the old Segerstrom Hall seven years ago and, more recently, Rudolf Buchbinder gave a masterful account of the No. 4 at the new Segerstrom.   In his traversal of all five concertos, Arnaldo Cohen blazed through the thorny virtuoso passages while showing a surprising degree of sensitivity and lyricism in his playing.  Particularly memorable was the intimate tête-à-tête between the pizzicato strings and the trilling piano in the slow movement of No. 3, as well as many other such chamber music-like moments.

That is not to say Mr. Cohen did not have his faults.  Among them were his penchant for rushing and staying one beat ahead of the orchestra, his sometimes wooden phrasing, and dryness where more warmth  was called for (the famous slow movement of No. 4 was devoid of emotional weight).   Of course, fatigue might be factored into the deficiencies when you played two major concertos in one setting.  At the start of the third movement of No. 4, Mr. Cohen launched into his part too early and had to restart, to the audible gasps in the audience. 

But it was the considerable virtues of Mr. Cohen’s playing that outweighed any shortcomings.  The thundering chords and arpeggios that opened  No. 5 captured the grandeur befitting its nickname “Emperor”, but soon it gave way to alternating moods of fantasy and quiet rumination.  The slow Andante was full of precious trills and ornaments with a sense of lyrical ecstasy.  The Rondo finale faithfully observed Beethoven’s “staccato” markings and was a whirlwind of excitement.

Speaking of being faithful to the composer, kudos to Mr. Cohen for playing all the cadenzas as they were written by Beethoven originally.   He dispatched the cadenzas with dazzling technique and easy insouciance reminiscent of the late Friedrich Gulda.

Concerto No. 4 was played with flair and imagination as the solo piano is pitted against the orchestra in dramatic confrontations.  The outer movements came wonderfully alive with crisp rhythm and easy lyricism.   The more introspective Concerto No. 3 in C-minor showed a great deal of refinement and poetry that were missing the night before.  It was preceded by Taiwanese violinist Ray Chen’s serenely elegant playing of Romance Nos 1 and 2.

The early concertos No 1 and No 2 were also notable for their technical tour de force.  The ‘dance’ in the third movement of No. 1 was especially lively and infectious.  The slow movements of both concertos had a delightful flow of legato and singing line that sounded almost conversational. 

Maestro Carl St. Clair conducted the Pacific Symphony with a firm hand and acute awareness of Beethoven’s expressive markings and heavy down beats or sforzandos.   In addition to their grand and thrilling contributions to No. 5 (“Emperor”), the Symphony frequently played like a much smaller chamber orchestra with memorable solo turns by the winds and horns.   On its own, the orchestra played the Fidelio and Leonore No 3 Overtures as if they were long-lost grand symphonies of Beethoven – with gripping drama and fiery eloquence.   The A-Major Symphony No. 7 was full of buoyant dance rhythms and idiomatic playing (particularly the flute); the famous Allegretto unfolded at a brisk tempo and gradually built to a shattering, monumental climax.   

All in all, the Piano (and Beethoven) Festival was an artistic success, despite some qualified reservations noted above.  The Pacific Symphony has once again distinguished itself as one of the top orchestras in the U.S., and an artistic jewel of the Orange County. 

To purchase tickets for the Pacific Symphony's 2010/11 season, call (714)755-5799 or visit online www.pacificsymphony.org



 

Truman C. Wang is editor-in-chief of Classical Voice, whose articles have appeared in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, the Pasadena Star-News, other Southern California publications, as well as the Hawaiian Chinese Daily.

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