The Munich Philharmonic's BBC Proms appearance at the Royal Albert Hall on [date] showcased the legendary pianist Martha Argerich, whose lucid performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 2 stilled a capacity crowd, despite an otherwise uneven orchestral programme under new chief conductor Lahav Shani.
Argerich, at 85, drew gales of whooping from the audience as she took the stage for the Beethoven concerto. Her tone gleamed, her passagework was lucid, and her first-movement cadenza entirely silenced the hall. The concerto, which sees Beethoven at his most Mozartian, prompted beautifully limpid wind playing and featherweight strings in the outer movements. Argerich took additional fractions of seconds on certain notes in certain phrases, paying them back elsewhere, her hands seemingly threatening to part ways at times as the music breathed.
Uneven Orchestral Start and a Wooden Encore
The opening gestures of Farrenc's Overture No 2 were scrappy, and the strings struggled to blend despite Shani's energetic leadership, conducting without a score or baton throughout the concert. Shani took the slow movement of the Beethoven too ponderously for comfort, with musical momentum draining away as Argerich and the orchestra fumbled to coordinate.
After the concerto, Argerich was repeatedly called back by audience stamping until she sat back down, this time alongside Shani. Their encore, The Fairy Garden from Ravel's Mother Goose suite, was oddly wooden, only occasionally illuminated by Argerich's right-hand filigree, skimming the keyboard in delicate glissandos.
Brahms Symphony No 4: A Stronger Second Half
The orchestra was at its best after the interval in Brahms' Symphony No 4. The strings sounded newly expansive, the crisp rhythmic tattoo of the first movement was precise, and the scherzo of the third was energetically vibrant. The finale featured flute playing of remarkable, alien beauty. However, even the most finely sculpted phrases couldn't make up for the lack of larger-scale architecture or a clearer sense of overall musical direction.
The Munich Philharmonic, once conducted by Gustav Mahler and Wilhelm Furtwängler, is an unequivocally venerable orchestra, but the Berliners, who had given two acclaimed concerts earlier in the Proms, remain a hard act to follow. The international heavyweights have been coming thick and fast as this year's BBC Proms hurtles towards its close, with the Munich Philharmonic arriving with Shani hot on the heels of their Berlin counterparts.
This concert is available on BBC Sounds until 12 October. The Proms continue until 12 September.
