Budapest Festival Orchestra/Iván Fischer at Lincoln Center – Bach & Rachmaninov – Dénes Várjon plays Beethoven
Sunday, January 14, 2018 David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City
Reviewed by Lewis M. Smoley
Budapest Festival Orchestra & Iván Fischer at Lincoln Center Photograph: Kevin Yatarola Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra offered a well-balanced program. Fischer directed J. S. Bach’s B-minor Orchestral Suite from the keyboard, facing a small ensemble including a second harpsichord and with Gabriella Pivon brilliant in the flute part. Adopting well-chosen tempos, Fischer led with elegance and grace, bringing sprightly energy to the dance movements.
Dénes Várjon’s masterful technique and interpretative sensibilities merged perfectly in an outstanding performance of Beethoven’s C-minor Piano Concerto. In the first movement he combined vigorous assertiveness and subtle expressivity to bring urgency and intensity. His sensitive playing was captivating in the meditative Largo, a dreamy atmosphere created, and then brought a light touch and dexterity to the Finale. Várjon and Fischer were in stylistic accord, achieving artful nuance and technical precision. For an encore, Várjon offered Bartók’s Three Hungarian Folksongs from the Csik District.
