Three nights, three concertos and five symphonies: the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is approaching its deep dive into Mendelssohn with the kind of intensity this still-slightly-underrated composer doesn’t often receive. András Schiff is both conductor and, in the two piano concertos, soloist. The Blüthner fortepiano he’s playing looks like it wants to be a modern concert grand when it grows up. It’s a big instrument for its kind and, in the Piano Concerto No 2 – which began this second concert of the series – its clear, bright tone was a good match for the orchestra. This wasn’t an overly lyrical performance, even though the song-like slow movement flowed beautifully; it was, however, charged with unflagging energy. Schiff picked out the melodies strongly, even while keeping the busy accompanying figuration brilliantly delicate – the finale was a reminder that Mendelssohn, who gave the premiere, was himself quite the virtuoso.
As an encore Schiff played the Variations Sérieuses, a heavyweight solo piano piece lasting well over 10 minutes, probably a meatier item than necessary at this point. Certainly by the time we got to the closing moments of the Reformation Symphony, which followed, the performance had taken on an end-of-evening energy, even though there was another whole symphony to come after the interval.
