Beethoven was a man of intense passions. He had a fierce admiration of Napoleon, which turned to bitter disillusionment when Napoleon crowned himself Emperor. The composer changed the dedication of his Third Symphony from "Napoleon" to the more generic "Eroica."
But this was not the first time that Beethoven had embraced Napoleon in his music. Three years earlier, he saw him as Prometheus, the bringer of enlightenment, in his allegorical ballet, "The Creatures of Prometheus."
This week's St. Paul Chamber Orchestra concerts, heard Thursday night in Apple Valley, featured a suite from the ballet in an exemplary performance under Artistic Partner Christian Zacharias.
This is Beethoven still very much under the influence of Haydn. It is also him at his most freewheeling, liberated from the formal structures of symphonies and concertos, and full of melodic invention. He captures the heroic nature of the noble god, but always within the constraints of Classical sensibilities.
Zacharias' restrained podium deportment belied the intensity of his music-making. He well captured the theatricality inherent in the score.
Beethoven's passions were also very much in evidence in the performance of the Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37. C Minor is Beethoven's key of Sturm und Drang ("Storm and Stress"), like the Symphony No. 5. Zacharias drew a strongly dramatic reading from the orchestra, complemented by his dazzling and deeply felt performance at the keyboard.
It seemed almost indecent not to give an ovation following the stunning cadenza in the first movement. But Zacharias matched with his mournful reading of the Largo. The mood lightened in the lively finale, but not the drama, as he capped it with a riotous presto conclusion.
The strings got a workout in the opening work, Swiss composer Frank Martin's "Etudes for String Orchestra." Martin's music is on the spiky edge of tonal, dry and acerbic, and lightly dissonant.
From a witty and fast-paced etude played entirely pizzicato to a plaintive one for violas and cellos to a fugal etude reminiscent of Bach, Zacharias conducted with an obvious love of the music and the strings responded with a commitment that was thoroughly captivating.
