Bella e brava che non guasta, as we await the most famous concerto ever written from her magic hands ……Costanza Principe is back in town to illuminate the Eternal City with Tchaikowsky. It was with the subtle poetic playing of a true musician who can shape this well worn war horse into a radiance and beauty that it must have had when the ink was still wet on the page. An artist who looks at the score and with a kaleidoscope of colours and technical mastery can shape such well known phrases into a vibrant musical conversation of great originality.
Leaning on the inner notes of chords to give more depth to the sound and with arpeggios stretched to the limit, for which the very attentive conductor was only too happy to wait for the final delicate caress from his dancing partner for the evening. There was a romantic sweep to Tchaikovsky’s long lines in which both piano and orchestra were united under the expert guidance of Maestro Caldi. The second subject of the first movement was played with the same innocence and languid timeless beauty that she was to bring to her Schumann encore -with a scene of childhood that is too easy for children but too elusive for adults. There was a freshness to Costanza’s playing that made one listen with special ears ready to capture moments of rare delicacy or even overwhelming passion. Costanza is a poet but with the muscles of a giant.The great octave passages that abound in this concerto, so scared the life out of Anton Rubinstein that he refused to play it. Hans von Bulow the faithful son in law of Wagner, fearless, like Costanza tonight ,was not afraid of the challenge that Tchaikowsky demands from his soloists whether piano ,violin, cello or even more dance! On occasion the love and need of prolonging beauty can lead to lack of dynamic drive ,nowhere more than in the cadenza, but it is a small price to pay for such ravishment and intimacy compared to the militia who too often present this concerto as a war horse to be conquered!
Caldi started the ‘Andantino’ much too slow but Costanza together with her colleagues Antonio Troncone,flute and Angelo Maria Santisi,cello soon found the perfect tempo and were justly awarded a special applause by the conductor at the end.
The final Allegro con fuoco rang around this beautiful new summer venue with the same glorious impact that I remember as a child hearing resound around the Royal Albert Hall .They were special Tchaikowsky evenings presented by Victor Hochhauser and we were missing tonight only the 1812 Overture with the canons that used to be fired from the gallery overhead. Canons unfortunately getting closer and closer these days and it is good to find an oasis, especially in the Eternal City, where beauty and mutual anticipation still reigns. A very occasional plane straying from its flight path was the only interruption or minor irritation that reminded us of the world that awaits outside these magical gates.
Costanza awarded an ovation, was happy to share with us a timelessly delicate encore from Schumann’s ‘Kinderszenen’. ‘Of foreign lands and peoples’. An encore that she played slowly with beguiling timeless beauty as she stretched the phrases with poetic fantasy and intimate rapture.( It is the preferred encore of another great lady virtuoso Martha Argerich)
Costanza was paired with her equally beautiful and accomplished colleague Maria Andreeva. A first movement of the violin concerto that is a tour de force for a violinist but also a poetic outpouring that Maria played with passionate commitment and subtle beauty. A cadenza that showed off her technical prowess but always with the character and poetry of a true artist. The Canzonetta was played with ravishing beauty and a stillness that created a magic atmosphere that was only interrupted by the Allegro vivacissimo bursting onto the scene with dynamic drive and sumptuous rich sounds.
Unfortunately I was not able to stay for the encore that I am sure the very enthusiastic audience would have demanded from this magnificent young artist.
Two of the most loved concerti by Tchaikovsky in a dream team under the reins of Massimiliano Caldi with Valerio Vicari’s magnificent Roma 3 Orchestra .
What a way to finish this month of sumptuous music making in this oasis of peace and tranquility, whilst all around the Eternal city is taken by siege by visitors wanting to share in the beauty that only Rome can radiate.
Magnificent performances of beauty and radiance, visual and audial. A magic carpet of sounds descended on Rome to seduce and ravish an audience too often treated to bombastic amplification. Next week the ‘Emperor’ of Roberto Prosseda awaits for the final concert of this summer season that has shared with Rome eight mono thematic concerts dedicated to Wagner, Bruckner, Mahler, Rachmaninov, Verdi, Schumann,Tchaikowsky and finally Beethoven in Emperor’s clothing!
True secrets are shared with whispered subtlety for those that still have ears able to appreciate the vibrant message of beauty, without confines, that only music can portray.
Giovedì 7 agosto 2025 / Venerdì 8 agosto 2025 ore 20.30, Convitto Vittorio Locchi, via Carlo Spinola 11
Ludwig van Beethoven: Concerto per pianoforte n. 5 “Imperatore”; Sinfonia n. 5
Roberto Prosseda, pianoforte
Marco Boni, direttore
The final concert in this series was dedicated to Beethoven – The Emperor Concerto and Fifth Symphony .Sorry to miss this especially as Roberto Prosseda was the soloist
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 