German State Philarmonic. 02/09/11

[cubanmiamiboy]

Last night Miamians- (me included)-had the pleasure to watch an amazing concert as part of the ongoing John S. and James L. Knight Masterworks Season. This time we had internationally acclaimed Maestro Philippe Entremont conducting the Deutsche Staatsphilarmonie- (German State Philarmonic) in a program that included R. Strauss symphonic poem Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche , Beethovens Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat Major" and finally the delicious Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E minor. Strauss compositions are not my cup of tea…all those continuous changes and repetitions of themes and motifs are just a little too crazy sometimes. Beethovens "Piano Concerto No. 2" is one of those early ones that look pretty much as if Mozart was popping in his hand here and there, although the flashiness- (oh yeah…my thing)-given to the soloist in the first and last movements, as well as the depth of the middle movement clearly show Beethovens stamp. German pianist Sebastian Knauer did the honor, and he was just magnificent.

And then…DIVINE Brahms, who needs to be talked about always in a separate paragraph. This was his final symphony, and I absolutely LOVE it, from he end of the first movement, with that tremendous climatic fortissimo storming from the basses, or the second one, the Andante moderato, with that beautiful melody given to the cello to the grand Finale, the Bach styled Allegro energico e passionate. The ovation was so big that Monsieur Entremont had to come back to the stage four times before giving three encores. He didnt announced them, but I identified the first one, the always crowd-pleaser Brahmss "Hungarian Dance No. 1" and the last one, Sousas The Stars and Stripes Forever. The second encore I didnt get…

Anyway…the concert started at 8 pm, and three hours later I was walking on clouds on my way to the parking lot. Bravo!!

[dirac]

Thanks for the review. Good reading, and it sounds as if there was good listening at the concert.