Evening star., 1961-10-31

The Berlin Philharmonic.
once again one Of the great Or
chestras of the world, returned
to Washington last night to
play a superb program under
the direction of its brilliant
conductor, Herbert Won Kara
jan.
Characteristic Of the Berlin
Philharmonic sound is that Of
its strings-rich, relaxed and
subtle. There is never any sense
Of strain. Everything is bur-
nished bronze. The men are re-
ceptive to the slightest whim
Of their director, magnificently
disciplined and capable Of the
most extraordinary virtuosity.
Mr.. Won Karajan chose to
begin the evening on a re-
strained note with the Bach B
minor Suite for flute and
strings, and gave the familiar
work a reading which can only
be characterized as glorious.
And. furthermore, it was a
reading which was completely
true to the spirit of the age in
which it was written. Mr.. Won
Karajan used well under 80
strings and directed from the
keyboard of the harpSichord,
supplying a tasteful and unob-
trusive continue.
II. as in most Won Karajan
interpretations. the pace was
on the leisurely side, the tex
ture of the work was crystal
clear and the phraSing was
aristocratic.
Karl-Heinz Zoeller, the or
cheStra's first flutist. played
the solo part with easy virtu-
osity and gossamer lightnesS.
After the Bach. Mr.. Won
Karajan and his men turned
their attention to the Stravin-
sky Symphony in c. a work
now IL years old. This must be
ranked among the more enig-
matte pieces of the great man.
Architecturally, the SYM
phony in c clearly adhereS to
classical precepts, but even
though the form is logical and.
indeed. extremely easy to fol-
low, its content strikes me as
singularly bloodleSs and cere-
bral. The thematic materials
are all very short-breathed
Even the slow movement, OBJ
viously composed as a sort of
aria. never does manage to
achieve a consistently lyrical
long line.
To my mind, only the first
movement Of this 40-minute
symphony-really a most am
bilious piece-Sounds convinc-
ing. The rest is skillful, inter-
esting writing, as is virtually
everything that Stravinsky
touches, but contrived rather
than inspired.
Here is q work which per-
haps would have profited from
less refined approach than that
Of Mr.. Won Karajan-it needs
the frenetic. nervous Gallo
touch rather than the cool
grace 1t had yesterday.
After the intermiSsion. the
Berliners turned to what every
one was waiting for-Johannes
BrahmS-and the wait proved
TO be very rewarding. One could
easily fall in love with this kind
of Brahms.
Mr.. Karajan's deliberate tenn
po gave the WIND and brass
choirs full scope for the display
Of their artistry. The first horn
was responsible for some par
ticularly poignant moments,
and even the first oboeist, using
the strange, pinched, nasal tone
more characteristic of orches-
tras from Eastern Europe than
from the West. merely added a
touch of bittersweetness to the
whole.
In some ways the reading was
something Of a surprise, eS-
pecially the way in which the
orchestra was kept in leash un-
til the very last furious mo-
mentS Of the final movement.
But the relief OF hearing the
orchestra at long last break
loose was a big thrill, certain
ly the biggest of the evening
and yfJifh II yaYa Karo ion Iauifi