The Flying Dutchman
The dutchman Pieter Wispelwey has inconspicuously slipped into 'super world class' cellist during the last five years. This is also reflected in the extent of his travels across the whole world, hence the nickname - The Flying Dutchman. On 4th and 5th March, he played Dvorak's B minor Concerto with The Prague Symphony Orchestra; it was a dream performance. He wasn't discouraged by a string that snapped during his first performance, he was playing with focus and had all expressive means, including vibrato, under his control; with a prime emphasis on the lyrical and a desire to impress us with his tone. The Prague Symphonic Players under the direction of Libor Pe_ek could have been more precise and respect the soloist better in supporting his nuances.
Pieter Wispelwey provided an unforgettable evening for the Prague audience several years ago when performing Bach's suites. On March 10th he offered a similarly interesting project for the people of Prague when performing all five of Beethoven's sonatas for cello and piano at the church of Sts Simon and Juda. These works performed by Wispelwey and Zagreb pianist Dejan Lazic were interpreted in a very fresh and thoughtful way. Wispelwey unifies his obvious musical humility and devotion with his maturity; in his technique he efficiently makes good use of his knowledge of baroque authentic interpretation. The outcome is a communicating music (so much can be said in a single note!) refrained from superfluous pathos, a music of an interesting timbre. An excellent 26 year old pianist Lazic was having certain difficulties with overplaying during the first half of the concert, but during the second half he was able to conduct himself better and his dialogue with the cellist was much better balanced. Both performers led the listeners through the evening with such energy that one wished to hear the whole concert once again.