pianomania: RACHMANINOFF PIANO CONCERTO 3 & SYMPHONY 3

RACHMANINOFF

PIANO CONCERTO 2

& SYMPHONY 2

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Thursday (18 January 2024)

This review was first published in Bachtrack on 22 January with the title "Satisfying second part to Singapore Symphony’s Rachmaninov Anniversary bash".

Rachmaninov is likely the favourite composer among concertgoers in Singapore, and not even Tchaikovsky has the same draw as his younger compatriot. Two pairs of concerts by the Singapore Symphony commemorating Rachmaninov’s 150th anniversary, each with a piano concerto and symphony, were filled to the rafters. If the tandem of Second Piano Concerto and Symphony the previous week proved a hit, this one with Third Piano Concerto and Symphony lagged some distance behind.

South Korean pianist Jae-Hyuck Cho is not a household name, certainly far less known than Garrick Ohlsson from the week before, but proved he had the chops. His performance conducted by Hans Graf was satisfying because it occupied the Goldilocks zone: not too fast, not too slow, and just about right for all tastes. While not being middle-of-the-road, it was free of idiosyncrasy, with none of the preening and posturing many young keyboard wizards are guilty of. He knew how to project and made the music sing. Consistent with a lack of ostentation, he also chose the shorter, leaner and more mercurial first movement cadenza less often heard these days. He was in good company, as this was the version Rachmaninov and Horowitz themselves played and recorded.

The orchestra brooded in the Intermezzo’s opening, setting the stage for some really emotive playing from Cho, culminating in the scintillation of a whimsical waltz sequence before launching headlong into the Alla breve finale. From here, it was a white-knuckle ride all through its pulsating and breathless end. Credit goes to all for not making any excisions, which had severely truncated Rachmaninov’s own and Horowitz’s earlier recordings. An enjoyable performance, made all the more memorable with Cho’s unusual encore that was his own transcription of Philadelphia-born composer Albert Hay Malotte’s The Lord’s Prayer cast in D flat major (shades of that 18th Variation), much in the chordal style of Rachmaninov himself.

Occupying the concert’s second half was the Third Symphony in A minor (Op.44), a work which lives in the shadow of the Second Symphony. Despite being two thirds its length and possessing the same melancholic quality and textural opulence as its predecessor, the shortcomings stood out. Paucity of gushing melodies was one, and Rachmaninov’s overarching nostalgia and struggles coming to grips with 20th century modernity (this was 1936 after all) left him an anachronism. Attempts at dissonance and grittiness in the first movement development, though well-handled by the orchestra, would pale heard alongside his compatriots Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich.

The second movement attempted something daring, by interpolating a martial scherzo-like sequence into its pages, but it was the yearning – encapsulated by guest concertmaster Andrew Haveron’s excellent solos – that became its lingering memory. By far the weakest movement was the finale, which began promisingly but soon petered out with a lack of thematic inspirations and ideas. What recourse was there? Throw in a furious fugato. Check. Then play around with the Dies Irae chant theme. Check. Balance all this with a slow and reflective segment. Check. Give Jin Ta’s solo flute extra work to do before a hasty coda and requisite big bang to close. Little wonder the applause was less vociferous than for the concerto or the whole of last week’s concerts. The musicians, who did their jobs well, were not culpable, so does the blame fall on poor Rachmaninov?