After relaxing in the sun outside the hotel for 15 minutes with a coffee and a slice of nice Russian cake (hotel Zarenhof is Russian themed), I took the S-bahn back down to Potsdamer Platz and found a quiet and more direct route to walk to the Philharmonie than using the main road. The train had been a bit delayed but I just made it to the pre-concert talk about the works to be played this evening by Murray Perahia. It was in German of course, so I didn't understand much, but the choice of musical extracts gave me a clue, and it was a chance to relax and get into the musical mood.
I took my seat in the hall fairly early; closer than the last time I was here in 2008 for the Berlin Phil, but still a long way from the Steinway; and on the opposite side. I found this block of seats a little disorientating as the floor slopes slightly towards the centre of the hall, each seat about 2cm lower than its neighbour. The temperature very warm. When we were all in place someone came on the stage and made an announcement about Murray Perahia; it wasn't very clear, but there was applause from the audience at the front of the hall. The lady in the seat in front of me spoke some English and said that Murray Perahia had decided there wasn't enough music in the programme so he would start with some Bach before the official programme.
Perahia came on to huge applause and quickly started playing. The sound was superb despite the size of the hall, though some annoying coughing. It was Bach at his most playful; I guessed one of the French Suites. Then to the official programme: Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata', no. 14 in C sharp minor, opus 27 no. 2, followed by Schumann's sonata 'Faschingsschwank aus Wien' (Carnival Scenes from Vienna), opus 26.
A chance for a breath of fresh air in the interval. The second half opened with Schubert's Sonata no. 13 in A major, D664, and ended with four Chopin works: Polonaise in C sharp minor, opus 26 no. 1; the Prelude no. 8 in F sharp minor, opus 28 no. 8; Mazurka in C major, opus 67 no. 3; and the Scherzo no. 1 in B minor, opus 20.
The applause at the end was massive, and Murray Perahia was called back several times. He made a point of acknowledging the people in the seats at the back of the stage, which was nice; not all performers do. Eventually a Chopin encore, and more applause. And then, after the bouquet, a Schubert encore. We rewarded him, up in Block L, with a standing ovation.
After negotiating the labyrinthine stairs down to the ground floor I spoke to the lady on the information desk to see if she knew the name of the Bach work that had opened the concert. She and her colleague hadn't caught the announcement either, but she suggested emailing the Philharmonie through the website. Which I did when I got back to the hotel. After the weekend I received a very nice reply to confirm that the Bach was French Suite No. 5 in G major, BWV 816; and that the encores were the Chopin Nocturne in F major, opus 15 No. 1, and the Schubert Impromptu in E flat major, opus 90 no.2, D 899.
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