I love Claus Peter Flor's conducting. Make no mistake about that. I generally love his concert programming too. Make no mistake about that too. But having yet another Dvorak Cello Concerto and Symphony No 9 is programming overkill. I also love Dvorak's Cello Concerto - which I think is the finest cello concerto in the repertoire.
The sudden resignation of Kees Bakel as conductor laureate left maestro Flor with little choice but to do a programme swap from Elgar Symphony No 1 to Dvorak 9 on 29 January 2011. Maybe if we could have hear the Suk Asrael Symphony (which the MPO have recorded for BIS) instead of the Elgar, would been very nice indeed. Asrael had been performed before but this would be a nice change from Dvorak 9.
Jean-Guihen Queyras plays a cello made in 1696 by Goffredo Cappa. The interpretation of the Dvorak Cello Concerto was sweet-toned from the French cellist (who was making his DFP debut) without being large than life. There were a few minor technical slips but his interpretation was hugely enjoyable and the audience was rewarded with a Bach Cello Suite encore.
The Dvorak 9 (after the interval) was well played but the dynamism of Flor's previous DFP concert of the same piece was more memorable in my mind. Perhaps the MPO was still feeling the effects of Bakel's very sudden withdrawal and resignation.
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