Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Sunday 17 November 2024,

4☆☆☆☆. Review: David Gray & Paul Gray.

“A solid concert of well-known music with an exciting young pianist.”

Carl Maria Von Weber – Overture, Der Freischütz

Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Concerto No 5 in E flat major, Op 73 (Emperor)

Johannes Brahms – Symphony No 4 in E minor, Op 98

The Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra presented its Birmingham audience with a safe selection of well-known and much-loved music. And there is a lot to be said for that kind of programming when an orchestra and audience are getting to know each other.

Weber’s opera Der Freischütz may not be as often performed in this country as it is in Germany, but the overture is a concert hall staple. After a brooding opening, slightly marred by some fluffy horn contributions, the strings took the lead in an exuberant reading. Bright tones in the violins facilitated a surprisingly playful mood - given the opera’s diabolical subject matter. Conductor, Jonathan Darlington, had a dynamic podium presence, and drew assertive and decisive playing from the band.

Another concert hall favourite followed, Beethoven’s mighty Piano Concerto No. 5 – the Emperor. Italian pianist, Federico Colli has a powerful right hand and delivered clear and ringing tones in the upper register. His lyrical phrasing sang, and the passage work was flawless and crystalline. Nevertheless, he still brought the required power and grandeur when called for. His characterful & eloquent pointing of the finale theme was unexpected, as was so much of this very original interpretation.

The orchestra provided solid support, and proved attentive in terms of balance, but didn’t quite match the imagination and flexibility brought to bear by the soloist.

One mighty masterpiece followed another. Brahms’ final symphonic offering – his Fourth. The opening movement seemed to take a while to bed in. Bright violin tones, so charming in the Weber, proved a bit of a liability here, where more depth of tone is called for. Again, the horns were fuzzy, and some of the woodwind entries didn’t immediately gel.

Things settled down by the second movement; here given a sombre chorale-like reading. The strings played with more body and the ensemble as a whole was bold and tight. A boisterous Allegro scherzo movement followed.

Much is made of Brahms’ technical brilliance in the thirty variations with which the theme of the final movement is treated. The trick with technical brilliance is to make it invisible. Good interpretations of this movement, such as this interpretation, focus more on the organic way the music evolves. The audience should be swept up in the emotional arc and not find themselves counting off the number of each variation. This was a particularly enjoyable reading: compelling, absorbing and beautifully played.

Jonathan Darlington – Conductor

Federico Colli - Piano