Antonio Pappano
"Ragazzi, ragazzi, più piano, ascoltatela!" The "ragazzi" were the members of Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. She was Helene Grimaud. And the one asking them to listen to the sound of the piano was Antonio Pappano, the Wizard. Before the concert tonight there was a short rehearsal. And I attended part of it. Relaxed atmosphere, casual clothing and the conductor saying do this, do that, not too much crescendo there, pay attention to bar no 220... and so on. They were rehearsing the key parts of Brahms's first piano concerto. .
Antonio Pappano
. Half an hour later they were again on stage, in front of more than 2500 people in the Palace Hall, in Bucharest. The concert was amazing. So much care for the soloist. And the orchestra responds to Pappano's sight. He doesn't really have to move the baton. But he has a particular way of conducting. He feels the music as if every note passes through his heart. And he shares all his energy with those 100 people in front of him. .
Antonio Pappano and Helene Grimaud
.Tchaikovsky's 6th symphony was a dream. In terms of symphonies, this is one of my favorites, along with Beethoven's 7th, Mahler's 5th and Dvorak's New World Symphony. This symphony is different as the third part seems the glorious ending. You should have seen the instrumentalists playing this part. It was as if the world ended today and they had to give their best. Such a joy on their faces, so much passion. It was a field of energy between them and the conductor. The fourth part ends with a pianissimo note of the double basses. When this last sound vanished in the air, Pappano lowered his hands. It was over :(. Well deserved applauses followed. But hey, did anyone notice that everybody opened another score? For sure I did. Somehow Pappano knew I'm there and that I simply loved his Trittico at Royal Opera House on Saturday evening (and Tosca, William Tell and everything else he touched).... No, joking. But as encore he chose a piece from Manon Lescaut. Gosh, he conducted operaaaaaa
I had to write a few words. He simply cast a spell. What an energy, what a dedication to music. After three weeks of George Enescu Festival, I can say that this was THE concert. I could call this feeling.. symphonic ecstasy.
They're here and they'll stay for one more concert. Tomorrow evening there's another musical jewel waiting to be listened to. Piano concerto No2 by Rachmaninov .
