22 November 2008 saw conductor Carlos Kalmar and pianist Cyprien Katsaris in a Classical period programme of Haydn's Symphony No 102, Mozart's Piano Concerto No 21 and Beethoven's Symphony No 2. Generally well-played with reasonable sized forces, the Haydn and Beethoven were suitably programmed before and after the Mozart respectively.
Tempi in this concert were well chosen and the Haydn and Beethoven were played in a sprightly manner. The Mozart Piano Concerto followed in much the same vein - often very light and aerial in mood and feeling. Katsaris played it so very fast (it had some obvious finger slips too) that it did not even much time to breathe and ensemble with the orchestra suffered. However, the audience loved Katsaris's performance and there was a long queue post-concert for his autographs (on the programme and the Piano 21 CDs that he brought along).
The best performance of the evening was the Beethoven - which put the piece in its proper context and chronology between the Haydn/Mozart era and Beethoven First Symphony and the massive "Eroica" Symphony. Kudos to Kalmar for placing the piece so precisely.
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