The French horn beckons. Only three tones, two whole-tone steps up in the middle position of the instrument, where softness and radiance are gently combined: In the "Oberon" overture, Carl Maria von Weber calls for the elf king of the same name. Stefan Dohr, principal horn of the Berliner Philharmoniker, played this call in the Berlin Waldbühne with inimitable delicacy, imperceptibly onset, imperceptibly fading away, with a touch of vibrato (perhaps the sound amplification from the loudspeakers also helped here). And when the call comes for the second time after the musing, sleepy pause of the strings, there follows an even more tender echo. Who would want to resist this lure, elf or human?
It is seduction in a quiet way with which the Philharmonic want to bring the audience back to itself. The orchestra has set a whole "Welcome Back Week" with a colorful selection of chamber music at the beginning of the new season, not only to celebrate the end of the summer break, but also the end of the fundamental restrictions on concerts and games during the pandemic. 2000 people, recovered, vaccinated or tested, are now allowed to go back to the large halls with powerful ventilation systems in Berlin. That sounds almost like normal again when the audience flocks to the concerts in large numbers.
A performance with chief conductor Kirill Petrenko in the Waldbühne (where the Berliner Philharmoniker traditionally ends the season) was therefore included in the program as an appetizer at the beginning of the season, 6,000 listeners came and experienced an evening in the gentle drizzle that enjoyed intimacy in the overwhelming architecture of the gigantic open-air theater sought. As if it was a matter of building a roof here in the open air, under which the audience can gather again after the past seasons with holes in them. Therefore a program that, in addition to the delicate and intimate, puts community harmony in the foreground.
Franz Schubert's “great C major symphony” is presented in the booklet as one of the first works of the Romantic period with its emphasis on individual feeling.
At the same time, however, Schubert left the concept of Beethoven's symphonies behind: the development of the work from the conflict of opposites, which are ultimately canceled out.
One looks in vain for hard contrasts in the “major C major”, the themes in the first movement are more similar than they would be different.
The deviations are subtle and are particularly evident in the design of rhythm and timbre.
And above all, it is not the spirit of argument that blows, but that of singing, mostly choral in groups of different sizes.
Light-footed with a touch of dramaturgy
If there is no singing, then there is dancing or at least lively walks. In this respect, Kirill Petrenko definitely understands Schubert's symphony as a work that is light-footed. As with the "Oberon", the horn begins here, even with the same three ascending tones, and then gently paces on, lively and also a bit shy, because alone (even if in harmony with the second horn) it sings not as beautifully as in the community, who soon took part in the singing in the form of woodwinds and strings. Petrenko, a strong organizer of the complex works of the late romantic era, mostly leaves it to happen, giving the orchestra the space it needs to sing. And when suddenly there is drama in the slow, yet bucolic movement,Petrenko has something of a serious upset, but it quickly disappears without leaving any residue. The minor thirds, which pile up dissonantly and are stubbornly repeated, remain an expression of a mood fluctuation from an irritated stomach. Many goodies were previously given to him.
The fact that all of this can be heard in the wild at the Waldbühne, surrounded by tall trees in which the wind rustles, has its sensual and sensual side: Indirectly, but clearly audible, the “great C major” is a natural piece with their gesture of wandering, with their illusions of proximity and distance and, then explicitly, with the imitated bird calls of the Scherzo. Here, so to speak, team building takes place on a nature excursion: not only for the orchestra, which has to come together again after the summer break, but also for the audience, who have not been given the opportunity to experience themselves as a concert community for a long time, and are now on their way again should find their way to the Philharmonie. There will be regular concerts there again,just like the rest of the Philharmonic's program at the start of the season, tells of a newly acquired normalcy. On a small European tour it goes to Salzburg, Lucerne and Paris. Here, too, the auditions from Schubert and Weber are on the program; they will not only be necessary in Berlin.