Good Brahms VC but a boring Schumann

27 Oct 2007 Isabelle Faust, MPO, Bamert

Isabelle Faust made her DFP debut in the Brahms Violin Concerto. Unfortunately, the memory of previous great performances of the Brahms (in the DFP hall) was stuck in my mind. The virtuosic and brilliant rendition from Leonidas Kavakos and also the varied and subtly modulated/coloured performance by Joshua Bell were much better than Faust's rendition. Technically, she was up to scratch but in trying to be different, she drew attention onto herself (rather than Brahms). Tonally, she was not as brilliant as Kavakos or as subtly varied as Bell. Her playing was generally good but the tone was slightly ragged and ugly (when she had to do a heavy spiccato (or a colle stroke) at the heel of the bow). Bamert led the Robert Schumann Symphony No 2 with his usual boring & efficient manner - without imparting any great insights to this marvellous music.