The ERT National Symphony Orchestra’s concert on April 27 at the Christos Lambrakis Hall was particularly successful, as Michalis Oikonomou got the orchestra to deliver an excellent interpretation of Dmitri Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony, and previously George Emmanuel Lazaridis performed Mozart’s 20th with imagination. Piano concert. All this is not a given at all, especially with the ERT orchestra, whose problems are well known.

The evening began unexpectedly, with the popular “Aria” from Orchestral Suite No. 1. 3 Bach. The passage was performed by a large symphony orchestra with an aesthetic reminiscent of the 1960s, when the Baroque was still played by haunting symphonic ensembles with their accompanying slow tempos and “romantic” aesthetic blunted phrasing.

In the end, the “holiday” radiated an imposed joy, as a composer would have experienced it.

Mozart’s beloved Concerto was presented with the same aesthetic. The distinction was made by Lazaridis, who, although he did not add any interludes to the recorded musical text, conveyed it figuratively. Separate sections were worked out in detail, and attention to each phrase gave the music a distinct plasticity. Subtle changes in speed and control of dynamics were not used unnecessarily to demonstrate the pianist’s (great) ability, but to contribute to the expressiveness of the music. It was a performance in the service of the work, which revealed the qualities of the musical text and rightfully received a storm of applause from the public.

In the second part, it’s time for the orchestra. Michalis Oikonomou seemed to control not only the imposing symphony ensemble on stage, but also the audience, who, thanks to his subtle but apparently effective kinesiology, kept silent between the four movements of the piece. Shostakovich’s “Tenth” is known mainly for the “musical portrait” of Stalin, which, it is believed, the composer tried to portray in the second part of the work. Whether or not this is true, which has been disputed by several scholars, the fact remains that this particular Scherzo belongs to the most “disturbing” musical philology, modernistic-mechanistic, nervous to the point of hysteria.

Oikonomou, the orchestra’s new artistic director, not only achieved the coordination of the important forces provided by the musical text, but, most importantly, he expressed the content of the music. He offered not reading, but interpretation. So, for example, in the last movement, the initial lamentation, performed by the oboe, and then by the flute and bassoon, was not only slow, but also created the necessary gloomy atmosphere. In the same way, the “celebration” that followed clearly had an element of forced joy, as the composer must have experienced. An exemplary solo performance (horn: Lagos, bassoon: Kalogeropoulos, clarinet: Androver, oboe: Kontos, flute: Makri, English horn: Dessyla, piccolo: Margaris) secured an excellent result.