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United Kingdom Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninov, Smetana: Kirill Gerstein (piano), London Philharmonic Orchestra / Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider (conductor). Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London, 10.2.2023. (JC)
Rimsky-Korsakov – Overture from Ruslan and Lyudmila
Rachmaninov – Piano Concerto No.2
Smetana – Vysehrad; Vltava; Sárka; From Bohemia’s Woods and Fields from Má vlast
The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s ‘My Homeland’ live performance, was a part of their A Place to Call Home collection, which goals to convey up matters comparable to belonging, exile and displacement to the limelight by music. As proof of their perception in integrating music with social points, the live performance started with the orchestra’s Artistic Director asserting their need to assist Turkish and Syrian folks by providing them free tickets for the live performance in gentle of the tragic earthquake which occurred just a few days prior.
A tall and assured Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider strode in, took to the rostrum and, with out additional ado, launched the orchestra straight into Glinka’s energetic and energetic Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila; he didn’t even trouble bringing a rating. The orchestra responded with equal fervour, and immediately the entire place got here alive as Glinka’s firecracker of a gap quantity moved the viewers straight to the sting of their seats. The orchestra moved as one, and the terrifyingly quick passages all all through the piece have been executed flawlessly and with ease, permitting the charming and catchy musical concepts of Glinka to come back by. The conducting was flamboyant and trendy. Normally I’m not one to pay a lot consideration to the five-minute opener of a live performance which is clearly programmed to construct the hype for the principle act and permit for any latecomers, however the LPO’s efficiency of the Glinka overture positively raised spirits which have been already excessive and expectant of Kirill Gerstein.
When Kirill Gerstein, in his trademark go well with jacket over a black turtleneck, started taking part in the all-too-familiar chords which open Rachmaninov’s notorious Second Concerto, it was just a bit bit above audible. One frightened about whether or not the sound was going to fill the huge Royal Festival Hall, however he was solely simply getting began. As the orchestra swarmed in with a gushing first theme, Gerstein rode the waves of its huge sound, getting an increasing number of passionate. Under his fingers, Rachmaninov’s music bent this manner and that; it did by no means really feel like this was music written for Gerstein to play, however fairly music which got here from inside himself. The tempo he selected was unorthodox for such a well known piece; it appeared rather a lot quicker than what live performance pianists usually select, nevertheless it did convey out the lengthy, luscious melodic traces far more clearly, giving a way of feelings overflowing one another. It was a heartfelt efficiency stuffed with cantabile singing typically unheard in performances of this excellent concerto. Tempo didn’t appear to be a acutely aware resolution of Gerstein; it ebbed and waned relying on the emotional content material of music, making us far more conscious of the craving embedded in Rachmaninov’s lengthy traces.
Nor did virtuosity appear to pose an issue for Gerstein. For somebody who programmes Busoni’s authentic music subsequent to all of Liszt’s Transcendental Études, it might be pure to imagine that Rachmaninov’s Second, even taken at a breakneck velocity, wouldn’t pose a lot of an issue for Gerstein. However, beneath his fingers, the mammoth of a concerto appeared in some way to have shrunken in dimension, turning into a factor which he might mould in accordance with his whim and can. One might make a case of how this diminishes the stature of the piece and, as my buddy talked about, the casualness with which he tackled the technical passages did considerably result in a sparseness of texture; nonetheless, his need to convey out the cantabile traces produced a singularly distinctive imaginative and prescient of the piece. Special point out should be made to the orchestra for following Gerstein as he blazed by the concerto. The second motion was completely stunning; the best way Gerstein did rubato made the piano come as near being vocal over the lilting orchestral accompaniment as potential.
Confident Kirill Gerstein took the ultimate motion of the concerto – which accommodates infamous technical challenges for the performer – at breakneck velocity, by no means relenting aside from when the attractive second theme enters, which Gerstein dealt with with nice suppleness, singing his coronary heart out on the piano. The fantastic thing about his cantabile tone was completely arresting. I additionally actually loved the best way he emphasised off-beat accents throughout the quick sections so as to create an virtually syncopated impact; it made the motion all of the extra thrilling. Naturally, Gerstein acquired a well-deserved standing ovation straight after the triumphant ending of the concerto.
For the encore, Gerstein performed a fantastic transcription of Rachmaninov’s ‘Silent Night’.
The second half was dominated by 4 actions from Smetana’s gigantic set of symphonic poems, Má vlast (My Homeland), which evokes pastoral and heroic pictures of his nation, then Czechoslovakia. Despite Szeps-Znaider’s obvious information of the rating (from reminiscence) and the boldness he exuded in his conducting, the orchestra didn’t appear very assured with a lot of the symphonic poems aside from the well-known second one: Vltava. Nor did I really feel linked to the music, so the efficiency didn’t significantly entice me. Even although the night’s live performance took its identify from Smetana’s composition, for me it was Kirill Gerstein’s conception of Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto – carried out with a such a robust sense of need and keenness that it virtually appeared extra befitting to the theme of live performance than Smetana’s symphonic poems – that actually made the night a stellar expertise.
Jeremy Chan
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