A "perfect" Mozart performance

Murray Perahia made, after some twenty years, a triumphant return to the London summer concert scene last week as part of the BBC Proms, together with long-time collaborator, Bernard Haitink and the mighty forces of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

He performed Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 and the Royal Albert Hall was sold out with many young prommers queuing around the house to get in. Those who managed to put their hands on a ticket were rewarded as Maestro Perahia performed a memorable Mozart, complete with his own cadenzas for the 1st and 3rd movements.

Michael Church at the Independent commented that "Perahia moved in with expressive precision: his relaxed semi-staccato style sent the notes soaring up into the dome. He imbued the romanza of the second movement with intimate warmth, and his delineation of the variations in the third was vivid and persuasive. He finally got a roaring, stamping ovation: that queue had been for him."

Read the complete review here.

At the Guardian, critic Tim Ashley noted that "Perahia's lyrical yet declamatory style makes him the ideal interpreter of this work, with its operatic tensions and intimations of tragedy. The nervous energy he brought to the opening allegro and to the uneasy finale was balanced by a slow movement that was perfect in its formal control and piercing sadness."

Read the complete Guardian review here.

The London Telegraph called it "perfect" (complete review here) and the London Times pointed out the "gentle musical partnership" between Perahia and Haitink which "always eschews display and ego games" (complete review here)

Congratulations to Murray, Bernard and the CSO on a wonderful evening, all around!

17 September, 2008

Contact: Mark Newbanks or Victoria Just