CAPRICCIO - STRAVINSKY'S PIANO CONCERTOS / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

CAPRICCIO 

STRAVINSKY'S PIANO CONCERTOS

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Friday (28 October 2022)

This review first appeared on Bachtrack on 31 October 2022 with the title "An unusual Stravinsky-Mozart combo shines under Hans Graf in Singapore".

 

Compared with the piano concertos of Rachmaninov, Prokofiev or Shostakovich, those of Igor Stravinsky are hardly performed or heard in Singapore. This evening provided a rare opportunity for the Russian’s Concerto for piano and winds and Capriccio for piano and orchestra to be played. Doing the honours was Russian pianist Alexei Volodin, past winner of the Geza Anda International Piano Competition, who will also record both concertos with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra under Hans Graf’s direction.

Photo: Chrisppics+

 

Both works are neoclassical in form, but diverge completely in style and demeanour. The Piano Concerto (1923), scored with wind instruments and double basses resembled Baroque concerti grossi from the era of J.S.Bach. A mock-serious march-like opening, sounding as dry as dust, ushered in toccata-like figurations from the piano. That was where the fun started. Volodin, playing from a score turned by his wife, was hard pressed to keep up with woodwinds and brass with regards to volume and pacing. Its general exuberance eventually found a match with the soloist maintaining an athletic, utterly steadfast and somewhat unyielding mien throughout.

 

Whether this was deliberate or a necessity given the circumstances, was hard to say, but the ensemble finally got to luxuriate a little in the aria-like central movement. Its rare moments of lyricism would soon give way to the finale’s irrepressible syncopations. Now one can safely vouch that the earlier seriousness was merely a ploy, and humour would ultimately be revealed. The orchestra had not played this concerto since 1991 (with Marios Papadopoulos as soloist), and this outing came across as under-rehearsed. A few more tweaks and a credible recording should result.

 

Photo: Chrisppics+

Quite different was the Capriccio (1928), receiving its local premiere, which is closer in spirit to Stravinsky’s ballets from the same period including Apollon Musagetes or The Fairy’s Kiss. The buffer of a full orchestra also gave it a more luxuriant feel, despite having lighter and more transparent textures. Volodin more than coped with the tricky piano writing, jazzily rhythmic in many parts, bringing out playful and whimsical aspects of the music. Judging from the vibrant reading, there is little reason why this piano concerto in all but name should not be as popular as those of Ravel or Poulenc.  

 

It seemed almost incredulous that the Singapore Symphony Orchestra had never previously performed Mozart’s Symphonies No.28 and 30, given the many airings of the A major symphony (K.201) in between. Trust the Salzburg-native in Hans Graf to put that right, and he went even as far to suggest a performance of that trilogy someday. Now that is a great idea.   

Photo: Chrisppics+

 

Symphony No.30 in D major opened the concert, its four short movements resembling more like Mozart’s Divertimenti, works conceived for general entertainment. Lightness and litheness were key, making little demands on listeners. Grace and refinement in both the slow and fast movements were to be outdone by the finale’s mercurial act, which had a surprisingly understated close, a taste of Mozartian humour.

 

In a similar vein, Symphony No.28 in C major completed the evening with more mirth. For example, whoever opens a symphony with a minuet? And in the actual Minuet movement itself, Mozart has the French horn echo in imitation of the strings. The accuracy of execution in the Presto finale also had one imagining the SSO as a genuine Mozart orchestra. That is a great idea too.

 

Star Rating: ****

SSO CONCERT: RACHMANINOV CONCERTO NO.3 / Review

GALA: RACHMANINOV CONCERTO NO.3

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Thursday (3 December 2015)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 5 December 2015 with the title "Ashkenazy leads the SSO through a rousing Rachmaninov evening."

An earlier review from this listener posited that Rachmaninov's name helped sell concert tickets. Now add Vladimir Ashkenazy's to that, a full-house becomes a certainty. In the celebrated Russian-born pianist-conductor's third concert leading the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, even the gallery behind the orchestra was filled to over-flowing.

The concert opened with Vocalise Op.34 No.14, Rachmaninov's only wordless song, in his own orchestration. An early woodwind miscue almost spoiled things but it was the seamless strings that saved it. Melismata from the violins added a glossy sheen, which lightened up the bittersweet mood of the short 6-minute piece.

Usually performed as an encore, it seemed the perfect prelude to the Third Piano Concerto which featured prize-winning Russian pianist Alexei Volodin as soloist. Again another woodwind miscue sullied the exposition, a chant-like melody reminiscent of Russian orthodoxy, but thankfully that was to be the last mishap. The rock steady Volodin, directed by the musician who has recorded the concerto the most times (five at last count), was not to be perturbed.

If he seemed cool in the 1^st movement, it was a wise gambit which allowed his solo part to be better integrated within the orchestra's textures. He let off the brakes in the development section and simply took off, culminating in a cadenza of pure elemental energy. In the unusual accompanied section of that cadenza, he backed down and became the perfect partner to Jin Ta's flute, Rachel Walker's oboe, Ma Yue's clarinet and Jamie Hersch's French horn. 

The orchestral introduction of the slow movement was perfectly weighted, and then the mood turned red hot. This was tempered by a whimsical waltz section where Volodin's scintillating fingerwork floated over the orchestra's busyness. The finale was a white-hot bare-knuckled ride, filled with exciting edge-of-the-seat moments, yet there was even time to breathe in the central variations which revealed a different facet to his virtuosity. A standing ovation yielded two Slavic encores, a Chopin mazurka and Prokofiev's brilliant Scherzo (Op.12 No.10)

  

The second half belonged to the Symphonic Dances, Rachmaninov's last work, and sometimes regarded as his fifth symphony (after Nos.1-3 and The Bells). Ashkenazy's vision was one of terminal nostalgia, reflecting the composer's yearning for his homeland and roots which would never be fulfilled.

The Non Allegro direction on the score was not taken literally, instead with a forceful urgency that dissipated with Tang Xiao Ping's soulful saxophone solo. That and the restatement of a theme from his First Symphony (then thought to be forever lost) took on a greater significance.

The second movement waltzed with ghostly intent like some ballroom scene from War And Peace, and the finale's raucous juxtaposition of the Dies Irae chant with a hymn from his choral Vespers became a paean of sorts. As with many Rachmaninov scores, ambivalence and ambiguity are recurrent traits. So was this a celebratory end or a defiant one?

Judging from the joyous rather than dogged approach from all forces, and Ashkenazy holding high his score to greet the audience's hearty reception, his view clearly pointed to the former.