Of tempests and northern stillness: Paavo Järvi at the Concertgebouw

Beatrice Rana’s reputation preceded her at the Concertgebouw, where she performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 3 in C minor with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Paavo Järvi. The evening offered a compelling journey from Beethoven’s impetuous drive to Nordic scenarios, with expectations running high in the hall.

In the concerto, the soloist enters with arresting boldness, and one could almost imagine the astonishment of the audience at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien on 5th April 1803, when Beethoven himself sat at the keyboard. The audacity of those three opening scales set the tone for a dramatic contest between soloist and orchestra, demanding courage and conviction from anyone who follows in his footsteps. Rana responded with assurance: her articulation was clean, her phrasing taut and the dialogue with the RCO precise and alert.

The first movement unfolded with impressive clarity and control. Yet in the Largo, some of the expressive warmth that usually characterises Rana’s playing seemed restrained; the movement, for all its polish, missed a measure of lyrical abandon. In the closing Rondo, the Concertgebouw provided buoyant support, its rhythmic vitality driving Rana forward. Her performance was powerful and rhythmically tight, although at times a touch more refinement might have lent the music even greater grace and fluidity.

The evening’s second part changed register entirely, opening onto musical landscapes of striking clarity and breadth. Järvi turned to Sibelius’ Symphony no. 2 in D major, music from a land that nearly borders his native Estonia, sharing its Nordic temperament and vast horizons. The first movement unfolded with natural expansiveness, and Järvi’s pacing allowed the architecture to unfold with clarity. In the Andante, the lower strings sang with a sombre, burnished tone, while the woodwinds coloured the texture with cool luminosity.

In the Scherzo, however, one wished for a sharper rhythmic edge. The writing here is impetuous and thunderous; a more incisive pulse might have captured the sense of elemental urgency that Sibelius conceals beneath the surface. Still, the finale brought a satisfying sense of culmination, Järvi shaping the climaxes with confident control and a feeling for long-breathed continuity. The evening closed as it began, in balance rather than excess, leaving the audience gently cradled among the calm waters of northern waters. A fine night of music, marked by craft and control more than revelation, yet no less engaging for that restraint.