Classical concerts in the 19th century were just as colorful in the cast as the annual prizewinner concerts of the ARD music competition: symphony and string quartet, solo concerto and a few arias side by side! The decisive difference might be that at that time all works came from one era and thus mostly from contemporaries.
Today, the spectrum at the first prizewinners’ concert in the Prinzregententheater ranges from the first half of the 18th century with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Concerto for flute, strings and basso continuo in D minor Wq 22 to the end of the 20th century with Bernhard’s “Capriccio da camera”. Kroll (1920-2013). The two third-prize winners were able to excel in two of a dozen subjects for which the ARD competition is the internationally most important: flute and trombone this year.
Last but not least, Leonie Virginia Bumüller played Bach’s flute concerto outstandingly in the stormy finale, always in perfect flow with the Munich Radio Orchestra under the direction of Christian Reif, who tickled a sparkling pre-classical tone out of the orchestra without a baton, but with very speaking gestures and hand position . Only seven instruments form the mini-orchestra for the Spanish trombonist Roberto de la Guía Martínez: flute, bass clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, piano and double bass. In four movements, the octet including the trombone exudes a really good mood as a primus inter pares and offers the soloist plenty of opportunities to convince as a soloist and as a chamber musician.
In a completely different way, the Quartet Integra from Japan enchanted – as in the second round – with Robert Schumann’s A minor quartet op. 41 no. 1. With a great spectrum of colors and expression they did justice to the inner worlds of the composer, always on the fine line between too much expression and too beautiful a sound. The fact that they finally won second prize and the audience award was beautifully certified here.
As in the semifinals, Johannes Obermeier played the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 19 in F major KV 459 by Wolfgang Amadé Mozart. If he were to play a sonata alone, that might be captivating, but acting so cautiously, even solipsistically, with an orchestra permanently creates the impression of monochromy, and one would like the 24-year-old Munich man with a wide range of interests, who plays the saxophone well, studied business administration and Composition, keep shaking and tell him: dare more, play more vividly and colorfully with more courage to take risks, you can do it after all!