Friday, May 1, 2026
Schloss Esterházy, Eisenstadt, Austria
The annual May the First Berliner Philharmoniker Europakonzert, traditionally a morning affair, this year came from the residence where Joseph Haydn spent thirty creative years, his ebullient Overture in D made a good start, short and energetic. The Suite from Pulcinella, Stravinsky looking to Pergolesi, and making the snatched material his own, vied between stately and scintillating, always expressive, brimming with affection, Kirill Petrenko smiling a lot, with solos (oboe, trumpet, trombone, double bass) taken brilliantly. Step forward Gautier Capuçon for an elegant account of Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations (using the Fitzenhagen revision although the original score has been making headway in recent years) in which his virtuosity served the music rather than self. For an extra, Capuçon essayed Pablo Casals’s Song of the Birds eliciting support from BP cellist colleagues. Finally, Beethoven’s Second Symphony, the introduction keenly anticipating the pulsating exposition (repeated, possibly a tad faster), violins interacting either side of the podium, a few basses huddled into a left-side nook, although the coda didn’t quite storm the skies like it should. The slow movement was blissfully turned while keeping a pulse, the Minuet and Trio were buoyant, leaving the Finale to be whipped through, without harming unanimity or articulacy, yet speed for its own sake brings little reward, Petrenko then making a curious reduction of pace just before the end.