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Saturday 17 May 2008

Beige Bruckner

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I have to agree with the ever-interesting Intermezzo about Bernard Haitiink's Concergebouw concerts. It pains me to say it of my favourite orchestra and a conductor I revere, but they were plain dull. The Bruckner 8 was - it goes without saying of the Concertgebouw - beautifully played, but there was no there, there. 

As Intermezzo puts it:

Flashes of colour illuminated great yawning swathes of beige.

Although there were moments of pure inspiration, it was mostly hard work, a real effort to listen to. At times I wondered if the orchestra was simply tired - I understand they had a very tight schedule getting to London. That luxurious melted chocolate sound of theirs certainly seemed to lack a little of its usual sheen, though technically they were as ever spot-on, with some outstanding displays of individual virtuosity. The last movement was especially pallid, though the big finale did grab the attention.

Perhaps I was expecting too much. This concert came hot on the heels of two really outstanding performances earlier in the week. It would have been hard for anyone to match the passion of Dudamel's Venezuelans, or the elegiac intimacy of Abbado's Mahler. But the chilly efficiency of Haitink's interpretation left little room for any kind of feeling. What a difference from the Concertgebouw's last London visit, when under the baton of Mariss Jansons at the Barbican it was not difficult to think them the greatest orchestra in the world.

I remember once hearing the former leader of the LSO, Michael Davis, make a remark in the wings on the fly-on-the-wall TV documentary about the orchestra. The concert in which he had just played was, he said, "one for the mortgage". The Concergebouw concerts this weekend had just that air about them.

Anyway, Thursday brings Beethoven 9 with Jansons and the Bavarian RSO. Somehow I doubt there'll be the same criticism.

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