GABOR TAKACS-NAGY &
POLINA OSETINSKAYA /
BACH AND SCHUMANN
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Victoria Concert Hall
Friday (13 February 2026)
This review was published in Bachtrack.com on 17 February 2026 with the title "Gábor Takács-Nagy's Schumann trumps Bach at the Singapore Symphony".
The perennial question whether Johann Sebastian Bach should be played on the piano surfaced when the Singapore Symphony Orchestra performed two keyboard concertos led by the Hungarian conductor Gábor Takács-Nagy. Old Bach’s instrument was the harpsichord, part of the continuo, but the keyboard role soon grew in prominence, with his Brandenburg Concerto No.5 (1721) being acknowledged as the first harpsichord concerto. By the time he crafted his solo keyboard concertos (c.1738), the instrument used was still the harpsichord, not the upstart pianoforte invented by the Italian Bartolomeo Cristofori. How should one thus begin to approach the two concertos performed by Russian pianist Polina Osetinskaya on a modern Steinway grand?
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| Photo: Yoricko Liu |
The SSO is not a period instrument ensemble, and seldom performs with harpsichord except at baroque concerts. It nevertheless did its best to tone down vibrato and volume all through the dainty Keyboard Concerto No.5 in F minor (BWV.1056), where the piano traipsed around gingerly as if it were a harpsichord. The best moments were in the central Largo where the piano’s elegance accompanied by just pizzicato strings outshone just about everything else.
In the more extended Keyboard Concerto No.1 in D minor (BWV.1052), the piano drifted in and out of the accompaniment, unsure of whether it was still part of the general ensemble or a soloist breaking out. Other than short cadenza-like flourishes, the former status prevailed but Osetinskaya made sure she projected well without being drowned out. The central Adagio sang like an aria, but one is left wondering whether a violin or oboe would have been more persuasive. All stops were pulled for the finale, which went full-virtuoso mode with the piano striving to break out of its strait-jacket but ultimately pre-destined to fall short. No fault of the pianist, who showed what she could do all on her own, in Egon Petri’s polyphonic transcription of Sheep May Safely Graze (from the Birthday Cantata) as lovely encore.
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| In a short preamble, GTN promises his direction is better than his speech. |
Schumann’s Second Symphony in C major completed the concert with Takács-Nagy conducted from the floor and without baton. This apparent closeness to a slightly larger than chamber-sized forces yielded a performance that was taut, swift and lean without an ounce of fat. This most Beethovenian of Schumann’s four symphonies was not going linger around and smell the roses, yet there were moments that hinted of expansiveness. The measured pace of the opening and the slow movement which unfolded majestically were cases in point.
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| Photo: Yoricko Liu |
The second movement’s Scherzo saw very accurate string prestidigitation which brought a very wide smile from Takács-Nagy at its close. The very busy finale breezed through with purpose and there was time to ensure that the quote of Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte (To the Distant Beloved), a declaration of Robert’s love for Clara, was not being underplayed. Schumann had trumped Bach on this very evening.
The original review on Bachtrack.com can be read here:
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