A "Kaleidoscope of Emotions" with a lot of Romanticism

Schubert - Chopin - Penderecki: the third subscription concert of the Zug Sinfonietta brought romantic music in the broadest sense to the packed Lorzensaal on Saturday last.

Under the direction of Daniel Huppert and with the main soloist Simon Bürki at the piano, music was performed according to the motto "Kaleidoscope of Emotions". Reduced to a single point, the Romantic period differed from the Classical period primarily in its greater emphasis on emotion, as opposed to the previous fidelity to form.

The artistic director Lion Gallusser pointed out in his introduction that this path already began with Franz Schubert, and extended well into the twentieth century, when various composers - such as Krzysztof Penderecki, who played at the concert - repeatedly picked up on Romantic elements in their style.

At least judging by the applause, the young pianist Simon Bürki was the centre of attention for the audience in the packed Lorzensaal in Cham on Saturday evening. The young man commuted between St. Gallen, Kiev and Moscow for his initial training, and is currently perfecting his art in New York, with the concert with the Zug Sinfonietta only being a guest performance.

There are also interesting parallels to the Piano Concerto, Opus 23, by Frédéric Chopin: the then 19-year-old wrote it in his boyhood home country, which he left in order to settle permanently in France after the suppression of the Polish uprising by the Russians. That is why both countries claim him as "their" composer to this day.

Balanced relationship between orchestra and soloist
Chopin was one of the first great composers to be able to perform and compose with a keyboard instrument that was somewhat similar in sound quality and touch technique to the modern concert grand piano. The somewhat smaller sound volume required a more discreet orchestration, especially for the wind instruments, which corresponded exactly to the general conditions of the Zug Sinfonietta.

The relationship between orchestra and soloist, mainly in the first two movements, seemed more balanced than portrayed by most music guides. The soloist's generally discreet use of the pedal also contributed to the transparent and often even deliberately striking shaping of the fast tone sequences. High virtuosity - heightened by the chosen tempo - characterised the third movement.

From Schubert's early work
After the intermission, the Symphony in B flat major, D 485, by the then 18-year-old Franz Schubert, was heard. The young man's six early and shorter symphonies will probably always remain in the shadow of his later world-famous masterpieces. But the B flat major symphony in particular shows many independent traits beyond the revered models of Haydn and Mozart, which still justify its performance 200 years later. For practical performance reasons, the composer had a rather smaller orchestra in mind, and thereby exactly met the requirements of the Zug Sinfonietta.

Pianist Simon Bürki: When he's not performing  concerts with the Sinfonietta, he's mainly in New York
The Zug Sinfonietta plays under the direction of Daniel Huppert                   Photos: Stefan Kaiser

The excursions of the first movement into remote keys such as D flat major, E flat minor and G flat major were new for the time were – and this was no problem for the orchestra, which was composed of professionals. Even in the very lively tempo of the final movement, Daniel Huppert always succeeded in precisely following the clear rhythmic structure.

The prelude was a work by Krzysztof Penderecki (1933-2020) called "Sinfonietta No. 1", a reworking of a string trio written earlier. The work came from a later creative phase of the composer's, in which he again loosened up the "modern" atonality into more conventional structures. From the chamber music original, numerous solo entries by the principals remained, especially the tonally beautiful introductory viola solo by Dominik Fischer.

It was a pity that the concert grand piano had been set up earlier and that the lectern remained unused by the introduction. The performers were thereby not very visible to a large part of the audience during the 15-minute work.

The next performance of the Zug Sinfonietta in Cham will be on Mother's Day, 14 May, with the Violin Concerto by Max Bruch.