An evening of great music with Joshua Weilerstein and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw: the concert opened with Mozart’s Piano concerto in d minor K 466 with the American pianist Richard Goode who delivered an insightful reading of this enigmatic piece, avoiding any romantic overintepretation in favour of a refined classical elegance, sustained by a bright touch and a sensible legato.
It is difficult to imagine something more different from Mozart’s piano concerto than Shostakovich’s Eleventh Symphony, composed in 1957 as commemoration of the events of the Revolution of 1905, when on January the czarist troupes massacred pacific demonstrators gathered in front of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. Written as celebration piece, and as such accepted by the regime, it turned to be a denounce of the repression of the Hungarian uprising in November 1957. It is a massive composition, featuring some of the most parossistic and brutal music ever composed by Shostakovich alternating with lyrical moments of soaring beauty.
Joshua Weilerstein gave a fully convincing and thrilling rendering, perfectly balanced and structured, rich in nuances and able to convey the different atmospheres of this enormous score. The second movement, representing the facts of the Bloody Sunday, and the fourth, an epic march anticipating the event of the Revolution of 1917, were superbly crafted and rendered with demonic intensity, supported by the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra in top form in all sections. The two slow movements, one representing the descend of the silent crowd towards the Winter Palace and the other a sorrowful lament on the victims, were voiced with breath-taking intensity.
Edoardo Saccenti