Vienna Philharmonic
|
Bernard Haitink
conductor
|
Murray Perahia
piano
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, WAB 109
In his Fourth Piano Concerto, Ludwig van Beethoven assigns the pianist a whole new role. He or she embodies the voice of human individuality and subjective feeling and so is allowed to sing out with vocally inspired cantilenas, in contrast to the rigid “objectivity” of the orchestral tuttis—an ideal assignment for Murray Perahia, the master of lyrical internalization. But our “summer of faith” concludes with a work dedicated to no less than “the dear Lord”: Anton Bruckner’s unfinished Ninth, his swan song. The score is replete with religious allusions, from the “Dresden Amen,” which it quotes, to a musical symbol of the Cross. The third movement in particular, the Adagio, proves to be a deeply felt testimony to faith: a prayer and confession in the face of death. With this music Bruckner once again evokes the lofty and the holy, the “mysterium tremendum et fascinosum,” which is at the same time terrifying and exhilarating.
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