Hearing Fullana play the Guarneri's Mary Portman is always an indescribable pleasure. Thursday, at the third concert of the Bellver Festival, it was no exception, quite the contrary. Francisco Fullana, once again, put on an exhibition of talent, gratitude, and commitment to what, in a way and undoubtedly, is also his orchestra and his audience. He demonstrates this time and time again. The truth is that, very probably, even those of us who have been listening to him for years in all and each of his performances at home are not sufficiently aware of his stratospheric level. Perhaps it is because it is in our DNA, but that is another story.
The Armory courtyard of Bellver Castle, an evening packed to the rafters, with a program of such fame and prestige as difficulty in its execution. Fullana, acting as soloist and conductor, gave us a majestic reading of Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor Op. 64, which, despite being well-known and often performed, has not lost an iota of its grandeur and, therefore, always becomes one of those unforgettable magical moments for the spectator. And the magic made its presence felt at the castle. An excellent first movement. All balanced, placid, and flavorful, until reaching the cadenza, for which I have no adjectives that do minimal justice to this moment where precision, rigor, and subtlety come together. Faced with such perfection, excellence, beauty, and demand, there are no words that can describe it as they should.
On the other hand, the orchestra, with a Smerald with more responsibility and work than usual, did not want to be left behind in the task, this miscellany of tonalities that turn the piece into a chromatic kaleidoscope of such dense delicacy. The second movement, linked to the first with a sustained note from the final chord played by the bassoon, lost neither intensity nor magnitude. The third arrived, from a melancholic beginning that gained momentum until a monumental and delicate fanfare, while from Fullana's violin virtuoso notes, chords, and double stops continued to emerge, until reaching another small cadenza, within an impressive penetrating rhythmic swirl. There was an encore, of course. Fullana gifted us with his spectacular violin version of Albéniz's Asturias.
It could have ended here and no one would have been disappointed, but, as always, there was a symphony, number 29, in A major, K. 201, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Francisco Fullana acting as concertmaster and conductor. A dense reading, with much consistency. A careful interpretation that led musicians and audience to bid farewell to Fullana as he deserved, with even some Bravo! from the stage.
