Vladimir Jurowski and the Bayerisches Staatsorchester make it all look so easy

Vladimir Jurowski
© Mark Allan/Barbican

Yefim Bronfman (piano) 

Louise Alder (soprano)

Bayerisches Staatsorchester

Vladimir Jurowski (conductor)

7.30pm, Tuesday 19 September, 2023

Barbican Hall, London

★★★★★

Yefim Bronfman & the Bayersiches Staatsorchester
© Mark Allan/Barbican

Richard Wagner (1813-1883): Prelude to Tristan und Isolde

Robert Schumann (1810-1856): Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54

Encore:

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) – Nocturne in D flat major, Op. 27 No. 2

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911): Symphony No. 4 in G major

Encore:

Mahler: Suite aus den Orchesterwerken (Bach, Johann Sebastian), 4. Air

(from Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068)

Wagner:

'From the opening bars ... Jurowski commanded silence in the portentous rests, with knife-edge precision from the strings, leading up to ‘that’ chord; the strings were indeed the stars of the show'. 

Louis Alder & the Bayerisches Staatsorchester
© Mark Allan/Barbican

Schumann:

'Yefim Bronfman delivered effortlessly clean Schumann'.

'it was his delicacy and tenderness in the ‘Clara’ second subject of the opening movement, and his fairy-like embellishments at the top of the keyboard in the finale that stood out'.

Mahler:

'Jurowski brought out every little detail, but it never felt that he was stressing the point'.

'Louise Alder set the mood perfectly, with intense communication of the text ... Alder’s rich tone and intensity of expression lifted this way beyond the straightforward'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.