Prelude and Liebestod - Wagner

Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 - Schumann

Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 73 - Brahms

Climbing the chromatic staircase, three steps up, two steps down, Wagner seems intent on attaining an orgiastic climax beyond the power of a human orchestra to deliver. At least in the opera Tristan und Isolde the ascent takes four hours; the compacting of beginning and end in the Prelude and Liebestod means that the climbers do not have time to adapt to the lack of oxygen. In the NCH last Friday, Jacek Kaspszyk encouraged the orchestra to increasingly heroic efforts but failed, inevitably, to reach the summit. This was the fault not of the NSO but of the composer.

Far more exciting was Schumann's piano concerto. It is a work of considerable delicacy, but its contrasts of bold statement and shy lyricism keep the listener on the alert for each change of atmosphere. Though the work is called a concerto, the piano does not intervene, take over or indulge in display; it joins in. Peter Frankl, the NSO and the conductor co-operated in the happiest manner, obviously sharing one aim.

This evening of important works from the 19th century ended with the last of them to be written, Brahms's Symphony No. 2 of 1877. Less forward-looking than the two that preceded it, it is so full of confidence and bravura that it immediately establishes its credentials, demanding its place in the sun. Its noble amplitude and rhythmic elan ensure that it will always find admirers, and the performance never dragged or became heavy, as can sometimes happen with this composer.