Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
They pointed, they whistled, they clapped along; yet this counted as best behaviour for the audience at the first concert of the Berlin Philharmonic's glittering London residency. What is arguably the world's finest symphony orchestra arrives at the Barbican tonight to play Stravinsky and Mahler under Simon Rattle, but its cello section began the four-day series ? shared, unusually, between two orchestral venues ? with the first of two chamber concerts, to a packed audience, half aged under 10.
This orchestra's members can form any ensembles they like and still sell out concerts at a pace to make the best-established string quartets grind their teeth. The 12 Cellos of the Berlin Philharmonic have been performing alone for nearly four decades, and their playing was absorbing to any age. Most seemed fascinated by all the bowing, tapping, plucking and vocalising in the fabulously complex arrangements. Sarah Willis, one of the orchestra's horn players, was the breezy compere.
With the children in bed, the evening concert was like taking a slice out of the orchestra and putting it under a microscope: what makes this ensemble so great? Clearly, the musicians: from the first notes of Schubert's Quartettsatz, the sound made by each of the four string players was ravishing. The first violinist (and the orchestral leader) Guy Braunstein set a careful tempo, but the darker moments buzzed with urgency.
There was also the shared sense of musicianship. Schoenberg's String Quartet No 2 teamed the four players with the soprano Anna Prohaska for the last two movements, and Braunstein was as steady in her support as he was lyrical in the long instrumental postlude. Fresh-voiced and committed, Prohaska was superbly communicative.
Three of the string players were joined by the pianist Bishara Harouni for Mahler's Quartet Movement in A minor, and they enjoyed its muscular, lyrical romanticism.
Finally came Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony ? the first piece that required a conductor. Simon Rattle, left, powered the music unstoppably so that even Braunstein had to hurry.
It was an injection of energy into a performance already as dynamic as they come. Without each other, Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic would still excel. Together, they are unbeatable.
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/feb/21/berlin-philharmonic-residency-review
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