Concert Review: The Feast of Hungarian Strings at L’Auditori

The first notes of Joseph Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto (1796), played by placid trumpeter Mireia Farres, set the tone of the evening at L'Auditori and gave the audience a sense of the sound of the orchestra before they really started to play. Being relaxed is by no means a bad thing—the world of classical music is becoming more open to less rigid performers such as Farres—but despite her elegant figure, in my opinion, Farres stretched this notion of a laid-back demeanour a bit too far.

Much like her person, Farres’ playing has a light, playful impact without losing its tonal intensity. She lacked the necessary strength at the end of the notes, but the clarity of the highs made for pleasant listening. However, when only the sound of the trumpet remained and her playing was supposed to take the listeners to a place of resonating loneliness, she focused too much on rhythm and too little on the ambience.

The second part brought a short, very well-played dialogue between the trumpet and the flute, as well as some uneventful soloist passages of the trumpet, which at times lacked depth.

Although the sound of Schubert’s Ave Maria (1825) is pleasant and popular among audiences, Farres somewhat hurried through the partiture, albeit just slightly.

Pianist Dezso Ranki fit very well with the presence of the orchestra. He took the not at all easy notes of Piano Concerto No. 9 (1777) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to crystal clear highs while simultaneously creating jazzy lows, establishing an excellent relation between the weight of the notes and the intense pace of the Allegro.

The dramatic change in mood and rhythm that marks the second movement makes this piece by Mozart exceptionally difficult to play. Although Ranki's playing remained technically excellent, the orchestra blended with the atmosphere better than the pianist. Making the multiplicity of delicate, almost airy spaces come through in the notes stopped being an issue in the third movement, however, when vivacity and drama allowed the pianist to return to familiar turf. His deep understanding of the work was demonstrated by the fact that he was at times able to bring out harpsichord-like sounds from the piano, making for an even more authentic experience overall.

The intensity of the string section came to life in the first movement of Symphony No. 41 (1788), nicknamed ‘Jupiter Symphony’, by Mozart. Dramatic passages materialising out of complete silence resonated well with the acoustics of L’Auditori and were extremely well-suited to the size of the orchestra. Some of the notes in the second movement carry about such complex beauty that only the best orchestras can produce them in the right way. With exceptional timing, musical precision and emotional identification, this orchestra could. The fashion in which they were able to perform the work is probably related to either the orchestra having it on the repertoire with some frequency or the fact that it highlights many of the elements that make their performances textbook. Or perhaps both.

Towards the end of the fourth movement, the string section were burning their cords to the pleasure, rather than discomfort, of the instruments. The case could be made that their playing lacks originality and elements that would make them truly stand out, but nevertheless the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra seldom falls short of delivering technical perfection, remaining faithful to some of the most delicate details of the partiture and providing a very pleasant experience for any lucky audience that gets to spend the night with them.