It was nearly two weeks ago. Bernard Haitink conducting the LSO at the Barbican in the first of his entire Beethoven Symphony cycle. Well, actually, technically, it was the second, a repeat from the previous evening.
The first half was okay, fine. Leonore #2 and Violin Concerto Frank Peter Zimmermann. They were enjoyable. Fine pieces of music, but neither in my top ten, even in my Beethoven Top 10. I don't like the violin concerto is sufficiently to add it to my collection, thus I don't know it well enough to really get to like it. the vicious circle of a Phillistine, so shoot me!
The Seventh was glorious. Well, almost! The horns were really quite dreadful on more than one occasion. This is not the first time this season, nor from the first orchestra, that I have heard some really quite dreadful horn playing. I think maybe Someone ought to set up an OffHorn to handle complaints about horn playing and remedy the situation. As I exited, I bumped into someone I know who said that basically Haitink had said "As a concession to HIP, pretend you have no valves on your horns." Still they almost redeemed with a glorious fanfare in the final movement. The trumpets were glorious; perhaps for the first time ever I truly understood squillo. And the timpani were superb. I am a big fan of Beethoven's timpani writing. Overall, horns apart, it was a splendid reading and performance, and I am looking forward to further episodes in the Spring, especially the Ninth.
As as an added bonus, as the Final Movement reached its glorious climax, 76-year-old Bernard Haitink leaped into the air. What is it with conductors? So many of them so appearing so splendidly fit and at the top of their game in advanced years? (We're off to see 80-year-old Sir Charles Mackerras on Saturday). Anybody wanting to discover the secret of longevity should study conductors. Although it's no great secret that simultaneously combining cerebral and physical activity in an occupation where expertise improves with experience, combined, typically, with a plentiful sex life is the secret of conductors.
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