Russian Percussion

[tamaranth]

Russian Percussion
Originally uploaded by tamaranth

Since Flickr lost my wordage (basically: "here I am in RFH, not staying for Stravinsky in second half as still wobbly post-migraine") I may as well write up the concert here ...

Rachmaninoff's Isle of the Dead and Piano Concerto #2: Philharmonia Orchestra, cond. Jukka-Pekka Saraste, pianist Nicolai Lugansky.
Isle of the Dead was dark, intense, complex: I liked the gradual construction of the 'totentanz' theme, creeping in via the bassline, but found some of the brass/percussion/bass chords physically unsettling (see above under 'post-migraine'!)

Piano Concerto #2 is not Piano Concerto #3 (obviously) but it does share texture -- little scratchy squares of strings, urgent crescendos (crescendi?), bright fanfares on French horn, simple haunting melodies just this side of sentimentality, underlaid with a restless dissonant continuo -- with its successor, and it does end with the exact same flourish. Now I want to hear Lugansky play Rach 3 because his laid-back skill and passion really brought #2 to life for me -- in contrast to Saraste who was elegantly competent but seemed too controlled, restrained, polite for Rachmaninoff.

Other observations: the melody, in particular, reminded me of Tchaikovsky; lovely sly playful jocose 2nd movement, surreal straying piano line in 3rd movement.

Have been trying to work out why this reminds me of WW2: aha, used in soundtrack of Brief Encounter (also, apparently, of The Seven-Year Itch).