Slavic Sounds

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto # 1

Daria Rabotkina: Piano

Slavic Sounds: Orchestra London

Saturday March 13, 2010

by Brian Hay

Fire and Lyricism

The concert began with an impassioned reading of Mikhail Glinka's Overture from his (now largely forgotten) opera 'Rusian and Lyudmila'. The orchestra was on fire as they served up a flourish of string, wind and brass that came in as a surge of boiling and barely controlled primal emotion. There was far more than just storm and stress to this piece though. The second melody was introduced with some wonderfully lyrical playing from the viola and cello sections. This brought the poetic nature of the work to the fore where it remained through to the duration of the piece.

The Composer Who Wore His Heart on Both Sleeves

Saying Tchaikovsky's work is emotionally charged is an understatement. The man had a mercurial temperament that surged into his music and took hold of every note. (He was also a bit of a nut who thought conducting would cause his head to fall off but that's another story.) He also had deeply rooted sense of respect for the classical forms. He revered the technical brilliance and transparent clarity of Mozart's scores. And he had taste. All of this permeates his music. And it makes it very exciting to hear live.

Their are few matches for the flourish of grand romanticism that opens his first piano. Like the composer the members of the orchestra and pianist Daria Rabotkina bared their souls playing this. The orchestra roared like the surf from an ocean. Daria Rabotkina drew waves of thunder from the piano. It was captivating to watch and to listen to.

The second theme introduced the lyricism of the piece and showcased those qualities in (Daria) Rabotkina's playing. She's a pianist who defines each note very clearly. Her spacing between them is measured with pinpoint accuracy. Her flexibility with tempos and ability to vary the volume of single notes or entire passages is exceptional. She has a strong sense of drama. And she plays with a great amount of passion. She captured the raw emotion inherent in Tchaikovsky's concerto because she shared it while she plays.

The lovely theme which began the second movement had Rabotkina and the orchestra conjuring wave after wave of sheer poetic beauty as they built the road to the rousing finale which followed. That brought forth passages of fabulous string playing, screaming brass and thundering percussion. The dialogues between sections were spellbinding. The crescendos were inspiring. It was a great performance.

But the Last Word was Not from Russia …

The inclusion of Antonin Dvorak's Seventh kept the program from being one of entirely Russian music. The nature and scoring of the work made it a good fit though. Dvorak is another composer who kept the emotional content of his music close to the surface. But, like Tchaikovsky, he respected the older forms, had taste, and applied great restraint to his writing. His Seventh Symphony, like his other works is rich in melodic content, and vibrantly scored. Dialogues between orchestral sections is almost a constant. Dialogues between parts of sections is another device the man employed frequently, and well. The confrontation between horns and trombones that he set through different segments of this work was something to see. The orchestra handled these segments beautifully.

The musical dynamic of this show was a thing of beauty. The interplay between orchestral sections, especially between the winds and the string players was something to behold. The work of the cello and viola sections when they were in the spotlight was exemplary. The work of the brass players was stunning. The conductor for the evening, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, was a show by himself. With his wild hair and animated manner he conjured images of Anton Rubenstein himself on the podium. His fiery interpretations only reinforced the image of the bombastic conductors of the nineteenth century who brought houses down with the intensity of their interpretations.

It was an excellent performance.

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