Composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Amalia von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach
Conductor: Gábor Takács-Nagy
There is a sense of occasion to the Made in Manchester concerts. This is a hugely ambitious collaborative project between Manchester Camerata and Chetham’s School of Music to perform and record all of Mozart’s piano concertos. The project is overseen by Camerata Music Director, Gábor Takács-Nagy and features the pianist Jean -Efflam Bavouzet.
A recording is one thing but there is a special thrill to a live performance especially with the exceptional acoustics of The Stoller Hall which are so fine the eccentric introductions by conductor Takács-Nagy can be heard without amplification. He reminds the Camerata to keep the pieces fresh by playing them as if for the first time, discourages comparisons between the works of Mozart and his contemporary Amalia von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach, whose music is also featured in tonight’s programme, and pays tribute to the dignity and courage of the citizens of Ukraine. Takács-Nagy does not simply keep time; his dramatic, physical conducting conveys his passion and serves to motivate the Camerata and, indeed, the audience.
Both acts open with short extracts – overtures from operas. Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro is a famous romp and certainty sets a cheerful mood for the evening. Amalia von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach’s overture from Erwin and Elmire is lighter, more floating and inquisitive than rushing and giddy.
In both of the concertos featured tonight the strings take on a dominant, role -pushing forward the drama of the pieces. The Piano Concerto No.24 in C minor, K.491 opens powerfully with the strings driving the rapid Allegro which concludes with a dramatic piano solo from Jean -Efflam Bavouzet. The lush, relaxed strings and the lively tripping piano alternate in the slower Larghetto second movement before the pace quickens again for the conclusion. Jean -Efflam Bavouzet is a curiously charismatic figure; his tightly buttoned coat giving him a remote priestly air, but his playing is forceful and compelling.
The first concerto is intimate and discrete compared to the majestic swagger of the grand Piano Concerto No.25 in C major, K.503. There is no mistaking the confidence of the composer in this piece. Mozart played the piano himself and certainly knew how to show off his abilities with the regal march which, at times, is so close to La Marseillaise as to make one wonder if the pianist is improvising. It is an astonishingly uplifting end to a stirring evening leaving the audience determined to seek out further instalments of the Made in Manchester concerts.
Reviewed on 25th March 2022
