Welser-Möst/ Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Großer Saal, Musikverein, Vienna, 21st June 2020
Where its first subscription concert after the resumption of musical life was sober, serious, even defiant, here the Vienna Philharmonic let its hair down and had fun. Franz Welser-Möst, in a post-concert interview, said he’d wanted to programme something uplifting, “something really Austrian” and his programme of Strauss and Schubert had just the desired effect. Indeed, at several points during the Symphonic Interludes from Intermezzo, young oboist Sebastian Breit could be seen just shaking his head and smiling at the music-making going on around him. And Schubert’s Third Symphony finds the composer at his sunniest, its golden beams illuminating Vienna’s Golden Hall.
Franz Welser-Möst conducts the Vienna Philharmonic
Richard Strauss called Intermezzo a “conversation piece” in music, but at several points in the opera he allows the conversation to cease and the small orchestra to take the reins. “Travel Fever and Waltz Scene” bustled along with a sense of anticipation, the Vienna strings soon soaring and gliding. Daniel Ottensamer’s clarinet solo in “Träumerai am Kamin” (Dreaming by the Fireside) glowed. There was humour – and refined string solo playing – at the gaming table during a hand of skat, while the “Fröhlicher Beschluß” (Happy End) was just that, brass and percussion getting in on the act.
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Schubert’s Symphony No.3 in D major was composed in 1815, a few months after he turned 18. After the Haydnesque slow introduction, the Allegro con brio bubbled along infectiously. The orchestra really seems to regard Welser-Möst as one of the family and the conductor looked wonderfully relaxed here, relishing their playing. Apart from hard timpani sticks, there were no concessions to period performance practice – no antiphonal violins, for example – but there was a lightness and litheness to the playing, particularly the airy Allegretto second movement, which was immensely satisfying. The Minuet was brusquely punctuated by brass and timpani, but the oboe lilt in the Trio was done with great charm. The energetic finale was full of zest, bringing the performance to an ebullient close.
Franz Welser-Möst conducts the Vienna Philharmonic
The stream, broadcast live on Idagio’s Global Concert Hall (and via Myfidelio within Austria, Germany and Switzerland), captured a vivid sense of pre-concert atmosphere with the gentle hubbub of a (small) audience gathering and the reassuring thrum of an orchestra tuning up. The sound (I listened via headphones and a bluetooth connection) was excellent. Unlike some other paid streams, the full concert was available to view again on Vimeo immediately after the interview.
Tickets to the Global Concert Hall cost €9.90 and give you 24-hour access. It will be interesting to see which other orchestras and opera houses adopt this model as they tentatively step into the fragile post-corona environment.