pianomania: RACHMANINOFF PIANO CONCERTO 2 & SYMPHONY 2 / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

RACHMANINOFF

PIANO CONCERTO 2

& SYMPHONY 2

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Saturday (13 January 2024)

This review was published on Bachtrack.com on 15 January 2024 with the title "Patrician performances distinguish Singapore's belated Rachmaninov anniversary nod".

The year 2023 marked the 150th anniversary of Russian pianist-composer Sergei Rachmaninov’s birth, and 80th anniversary of his passing. Other than a single performance of Symphonic Dances last August, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra under music director Hans Graf seemed to have deferred a definitive celebration until this month, with performances of the second and third symphonies and piano concertos. This was a case of better late than never.

Veteran American pianist Garrick Ohlsson helmed the solo part in the Second Piano Concerto in C minor (Op.18). Close to 39 minutes, this had to be one of the most expansive performances encountered. The opening chords tolled lugubriously, and with the orchestra’s entry also concurring, the big melody played as a doleful dirge. As both pianist and orchestra were on the same page, it took some time for the first movement to be set alight. The kindling was Ohlsson’s fastidious and detailed fingerwork, still nimble for his 75 years, and his ability to sonorously project. The piano’s tinny treble abetted on that count, but detracted on the warmth quotient.

The Adagio sostenuto central movement saw Ohlsson accompany several excellent wind solos, including Evgueni Brokmiller’s flute and Li Xin’s clarinet, the latter bestowed with the plummest of melodies. Weighted down by the cautious pacing, it was a slow boil that threatened to sputter out but thankfully never did, instead rising to a rapturous climax with lush string playing as the final payback.

The finale’s scherzando aspects were well realised, with any doubt of Ohlsson’s ability to negotiate fast and tricky passages being unequivocally quashed. The big tune at the centre soared but without hint of sentimentality (an accusation regularly levelled at Rachmaninov), and the closing cadenza taken deliberately, capping the arpeggiated salvo with one brilliant rolled chord. That moment summed up this patrician performance, that one’s patience being rewarded with an unexpected but worthy coup de grace. Loud and prolonged applause yielded two encores: the first two Waltzes from Chopin’s Op.64, first the C sharp minor lavished with rubato galore and the D flat major (“You have to guess what this is” was his quip) with more surprises up his sleeves.

The performance of Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony in E minor (Op.27) was similarly broad, spanning close to an hour in duration. The first movement’s introduction mirrored the concerto’s lugubriousness, but the Allegro moderato that followed compensated with a lively verve, sufficient indication this was not going to be a geriatric reading. It however skimped on the regular portamenti that coloured performances under previous music director Lan Shui, thus the cloying and more sentimental aspects of the music were all but eschewed.

The scherzo-like second movement was volatile and exciting, essentially the Dies Irae chant sped up to be almost unrecognisable and with dance elements thrown in. The tumultuous central fugato was reliving of a similar segment from Tchaikovsky's Pathetique but Rachmaninov was not to be denied his moment. In the Adagio, the symphony's throbbing heart, Ma Yue's clarinet solo was plain-spoken with clarity as its main virtue. Here the music's dreamy longueurs were well fleshed out under Graf's guiding hands, before the rollicking finale's tarantella rhythm brought the symphony to a clangourous close.