When Jurowski took on Beethoven's quintet in E Flat Major

by Gwen Herat at the LPO, Southbank

We all have our favourite composer and scores. Sitting down at the Royal Festival Hall and watching Vladimir Jurowski conduct Beethoven's Quintet in E Flat with the London Philharmonic Orchestra was a dream from which I did not want to wake up. Sometimes music lovers are so smitten, they hear the scores rising from across the ocean or the wind gently sweeping over trees.

Music has played a very important part in my life, for better or worse. In my youth I have gone through a wide assortment of musical subjects from which the impacts were both rewarding and frustrating but its spirit has kept the fire burning within me that takes me to the Royal Festival Hall at least once a year.

Ludwig van Beethoven's E Flat Major Quintet was written for the piano and scored in 1796 and first performed at a concert by the violinist. Schuppanzigh in 1797.

The Quintet formed a part of Beethoven program chosen by the violinist for his farewell concert in Vienna.

The E Flat Major Quintet was buried in my soul the moment my teacher put me at the piano to play it.

Vladimir Jurowski with a member of the London Philharmonic Orchestra

The first movement opens with a slow introduction where the piano leads into the Allegro. All wind instruments follow one after another with the piano offering a decorated part of the version on the principal theme, after which the piano is allowed into a thematic, haunting mood.

My teacher (Glenice Range) had so much patience to split the score in order for me to grasp its movement and placed the pieces together so that it was not a burden for me to follow but still I faulter to absorb the brilliance Beethoven fed into it.

Major performance

But it looked so much an easy score for Vladimir Jurowski to conduct. It simply melted at his wielding and flowed on to the London Philharmonic Orchestra as they orchestrated the score.

I recall at one of his workshops, he said of Beethoven which was the subject of his first major performance for the season at the London Festival.

He said, 'Is there still something we do not know about him? Doesn't his music already receive enough loving attention all over the world? Jurowski confessed that he really did not know the creator of arguably the most popular melodies ever written. Or to put in differently, 'The composer Beethoven often disappears in our perception behind the myth of Beethoven.'

Jurowski keeps exploring the boundaries of symphonic music, often dwelling into scores that are seldom found in the sheets of major recitals.

He is so dedicated that he takes it upon himself to popularise and surface the lesser known scores of those Masters. His program contrasts the heady power of Beethoven among others.

The classical ethos of beautiful sonatas balanced against the transcendent music of others, come easy to him. Jurowski feels the emotionally gripping Quintet as a visionary and valedictory composition,

one of the facts that keeps me drawing closer to the wondrous conductor.

Lyrical impulse

The unaffected gusto and the powerful lyrical impulse in composers, have often drawn me closer to their work rather than the genius found within them. Jurowski knows how to translate them precisely the way I look at them. His musical integrity, power of conviction along with a haunting imagination, often contrasts with others.

Some may not feel it in their enthusiasm for his music alone but I can pick up the passionate impulse each time he brings down the baton. My attitude to his music is much different to many because I try my best to attend his workshop before a recital. Thanks to my father for turning me into the sensitive creature I am.

I was more inquisitive than surprised when Stravinsky played that night. Stravinsky's ebullient Capriccio for the piano and orchestra shines gloriously, especially played solo by pianist, Emmanuel Ax. Stravinsky has never been so much a favourite of mine but I am fairly updated on his ballet scores some of which I came in contact with during my training era. If I am not wrong, may be it was that Stravinsky who wrote for more ballet than anyone else; even more than Tchaikovsky. The Firebird, Pethrushka, The Rite of Spring, Le Noces and Pulcinella some of which I can pick at random as full-length and several other excerpts.

How mystical it is to listen to Jurowski's iconic handling of the Composers. His art as always, is so kind to the ears of listeners. He shapes and gestures to offer a plethora of seductive music, recalling nostalgia and the boundless joy of fulfilment.