Berlin Radio Symphony brings Brahms to Seoul
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The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra performs with Frank Peter Zimmerman at the Seoul Arts Center on March 13. / Courtesy of Vincero
By Kwon Ji-youn
The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (RSB) opened with Carl Maria von Weber’s “Oberon” Overture at the Seoul Arts Center on March 13, an ideal preamble to a night of flamboyant technique and refined orchestration.
The RSB (also known as the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin), staged a dynamic yet ariose intro, with an overwhelming second violin presence. The briskly paced performance exploded, cooled and exploded again as the strings pushed the forte dynamic to its peak. It closed with the same vitality.
The orchestra, helmed by Polish-born conductor Marek Janowski, invited Frank Peter Zimmerman to the stage, ready for Sibelius’ Violin Concerto Op. 47. Zimmerman’s intricate execution dramatized the piece’s North European sentiment, a vortex of compulsive, rhythmic riffs against a churning orchestra.
Many familiar with Zimmerman may have wondered why the German violinist chose to give the piece such an embellished interpretation, but he nonetheless succeeded in wowing audiences with tasteful glissandos and arresting harmonics.
The tension was palpable in the concert hall as Zimmerman meddled with the notes in an offhand manner, but the performance was surely mesmerizing, almost addicting. The timpani did, however, seem to have trouble keeping up with Zimmerman’s fingers and bow as the piece built up to a climax.
The Brahms was the night’s highlight. Though most prefer Symphony No. 1 and No. 4 to Symphony No. 2, the RSB’s rendition boasted an incredible degree of focus to receive a lasting ovation.
Its first movement began unsteadily, with coarse sounds here and there in the brass, but its second movement, which at times can seem a tad tedious, proved Janowski was truly in command of the music. Janowski was both patient and powerful, engaging the audience as much as the music did.
Brahms’ characteristic rhetoric and lyricism had the audience’s eyes set on principal bassoonist You Sung-kwon, who, with a piece that accents the appeal of low-toned instruments, impressed with deep and profound phrases.
The cello and bassoon’s harmony in the second movement’s intro was suitably expansive, and following movements brought a more flavorful sound to the performance, which had featured a more jagged and powerful execution until then.
But the RSB seemed to lose balance as it skippered into the fourth movement. The intensity seemed to gather in the brass instruments, and the rest of the orchestra seemed to drown in the trumpet’s force.
Eventually the piece morphed into a fourth movement most are familiar with. Entrances were crisper, and the strings were less prodding, more subtle. Those in the audience rose from their seats to applaud the orchestra and conductor as they rounded the night off.
The encore left much to be desired. Though the orchestra left lingering the final notes of the Brahms, Janowski returned to the stage with “Prelude” from Richard Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg,” which did not quite sum things up.
The RSB was founded in 1923 as a radio orchestra, and is the oldest active radio orchestra in Germany.