Vienna, 1812- Pollença, 2025. The closing, in E flat major

PollençaVienna, February 1812, Carl Czerny, Beethoven's disciple, premiere in the imperial city on Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 later baptized and recognized as Emperor, the last of these characteristics composed by the brilliant maestro from Bonn and the first that he was unable to premiere himself due to his deafness. Pollença, August 2025, Paul Lewis, accompanied by the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Víctor Pablo Pérez, began the closing concert of the 64th Pollença Festival. Johann Friedrich Rochlitz, director of the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, wrote: "Without a doubt, one of the most original, inventive and effective concertos of all that has been written, although one of the most difficult to perform." We will add a small and sparse addendum. The tonality already announces its originality from the first fortissimo, in E flat major, by the orchestra, answered with the same bravery by a piano that seems to be playing a cadenza from beginning to end of this monumental first movement. A clear and imposing omen of what would come next with a solid and vigorous performance, virtuoso, of course, but without missing a single detail of the vast amount that an infinite palette treasures. The orchestra, with the always temperate conductor, was no extra in that story; in fact, after this introduction the orchestra showed all its virtues, power and effectiveness, with a ritornello of almost a hundred bars, until returning to the initial game, with a powerful chord and the corresponding pianistic reply, but now redirecting the narrative towards a second movement of a lyrical delicacy. Twenty minutes, twenty, of undeniable excellence and quality. From the second movement, in E flat minor, a whole series of sensations emerge, which immediately make us forget the exuberance of its predecessor, as if we were entering another universe, from an emotional orchestral introduction and an ethereal response from the soloist, who once again follows his cadenced path. Rondo finale, once again displaying the initial and heroic vigor of an impeccable and relentless score, performed by protagonists who displayed a perfect and harmonious conjunction that makes one think of the ideal symbiosis, with the squaring of the circle. Mamballetas and encore. Schubert, theAllegretto in C minor, undisputed heir to a tonality that Beethoven also mastered and that would deserve another article that is not this one.

The second part, at the antipodes, but at the antipodes of everything, with Shostakovich as the protagonist, of whom they offered, in the first place, and changing the order of the program, the Funeral March, Op. 55, from the movie The Great Citizen, followed by the joy of a crown filled with thorns. The great response that no one expected. With the Symphony No. 9, in E-flat major, The composer who has given rise to the most legends and conjectures, since no one knows the true story, surprised the audience with a ninth that seemed like it was going to be monumental and turned it into a scherzo of five movements and only twenty-five minutes long, more or less. Another display of versatility with an orchestra that seemed to be having as much fun as the composer and, of course, Víctor Pablo Pérez surely did. That is to say, if The Emperor We've called it original, but it's difficult, almost impossible, to find an adjective that can do even the slightest bit of justice to a piece as brilliant and eccentric as it is surreal. Once again, the performance is impeccable, for a score with no small number of surprises and nuances. A joy, an immaculate conclusion in E-flat major, which the maestro rounded off with the gift of a small and energetic Stravinsky.