Naturalness is an extremely complicated concept in art. But where it occurs, it becomes immediately evident. Such an event was now to be experienced in the Isarphilharmonie, where Seong-Jin Cho, accompanied by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, played Mozart’s A major Piano Concerto KV 414 and Chopin’s E minor Piano Concerto. With Mozart, the South Korean pianist, who has lived in Berlin for a long time, keeps the tempi straight, allows phrases to respond to one another, subtly varies the articulation, illuminates the harmony with a sense for subtle deviations.
He retains that intimate delicacy with Chopin, but adds the level of rubato that the music has gained in the 50 years between the two compositions. The big line is never revealed, ornaments are lightly integrated. Cho still weights the individual notes in trills, brings clarity to dense passages with small accents – which requires much more virtuosity than its open demonstration. Even more than with Mozart, however, he can play out his touch culture here, a robust, yet round sound that makes Chopin’s melodies sing enchantingly.
You don’t need a conductor for that. It could only be a nuisance, and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields has long been accustomed to playing without it. Concert master Tomo Keller leads the chamber orchestra at the beginning of the first part through “Lamentatione”, Joseph Hayden’s 26th symphony, and at the beginning of the second through Witold Lutosławski’s “Overture for Strings”, clear in the contours, somewhat sober, as if one were waiting for something bigger .
The encore at the end rightly goes to Seong-Jin Cho, who – of course – didn’t choose a virtuoso piece for it. But Handel’s little Sarrabande from the B flat major suite HWV 440: a simple harmonic framework that Cho obviously decorates – as a line from the Baroque to Chopin and far beyond.