Photo, BBC/Chris Christodoulou
REVIEWED FROM LIVE RELAY ON BBC RADIO 3
Saturday, September 5, 2026
Royal Albert Hall, London
On paper the 1834 piece by Louise Farrenc seemed out of place to the visiting Muncheners. And while its seven minutes are effective, and well-performed, it offered little, whereas something by a Bavarian composer would have been appropriate, such as Werner Egk’s 1949 French Suite (after Rameau), which Fricsay recorded and I have heard only once, conducted by Eugen Jochum, and which would have retained any intended French Connection.
Following what seemed a longer than usual platform change to get the piano on (given the inconsequential Farrenc why not have it in position from the off?), Martha Argerich played one of her relatively few Concerto choices (a list notable for what she doesn’t include) in a sparkling and shapely reading notable for her interaction with the orchestra and the latter’s sensitivity to her. For all the superlatives and expectations placed upon her, Argerich’s musicianship is ego-free, and was especially soulful in the slow movement, without obviousness, with the Finale crisply joyous, and the first-movement cadenza (added later by Beethoven) was a mix of spontaneity and formality. That she is now eighty-five is but a statistic, and, given Lahav Shani is also a pianist, it was no surprise to find them side-by-side for the magical ‘Fairy Garden’ conclusion of Ravel’s Mother Goose.
Following the interval, Brahms’s final Symphony. Shani has said that the Munich Philharmonic “loves to play slow”, which may be a reference to Celibidache’s tenure (1979-95). Certainly Shani gave the first movement time to lyricise without losing direction if a little ‘cool’ emotionally so that the coda wasn’t quite the impassioned release it can be if musically sovereign. Pointing-up the poetical also informed the Andante moderato, its song, supplication and splendour, riposted by an ebullient Scherzo. Shani waited awhile before launching the Finale, a Bach-based passacaglia, respecting its organisation yet knowing when to yield, such as for the flute solo, going on to tie-up loose ends with a bracing coda, not as defiant as some but belonging to what had one before. A Hungarian Dance followed, No.5, not one of the three that Brahms orchestrated if perfectly good and fierily delivered. .
Louise Farrenc: Overture No.2
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 2 in B-flat
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No.4 in E-minor
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0030v6d