Kirill Gerstein after a superb Rachmaninov Third Concerto last week in Verbier with Sir Simon Rattle today brought the same composer’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini to London with the brilliant Thomas Søndergård and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
A performance that from the very first notes there was an interplay between the soloist and the orchestra. This more than any of Rachmaninov’s concertos is where the soloist and orchestra are at one working and weaving together in an intricate web of Twenty Four Variations . It was noticeable how Gerstein was looking at the orchestral musicians with whom he was having a musical conversation of chamber music proportions. Of course the magnificent Thomas Søndergård, looking very much like Stokowski, with his vividly theatrical movements was following every move and coordinating this overgrown chamber concerto allowing it to grow with an architectural shape and sense of direction.
From the very first octave ‘A’ from Gerstein there was a tumultuous sound of fearless assertion. Immediately dissolving into a single finger outline of Paganini’s theme , played with enticing relish and childlike simplicity. Notes weaving in and out in the following variations in which Gerstein was following and chattering with the orchestra. A great sense of improvisation betrayed Gerstein’s Jazz pedigree as he brought such character to each flourish. The chorale like seriousness he brought to the seventh variation was regally played after the rather flippant ending of the sixth. Suddenly the dynamic drive of the eighth was with fearless abandon and dramatic outcries . The variations now beginning to take serious wing as the rhythms became ever more complex, with Gerstein adding wicked accents that kept the ship on an even keel. The aristocratic simplicity of the single long octaves of the tenth was remarkable for Gerstein’s total commitment and poignant declamations. Dissolving into a music box of continuous sounds before ending with the same simplicity where the whole work is later to be dismissed in a puff of smoke! A cadenza over tremolando strings was played with the freedom of a master improvisor and led to the Minuet that Gerstein and the orchestra played with Kreislerian ease and charm.
A tumultuous interruption of the thirteenth saw Gerstein pushing the orchestra to the limit of their dynamic drive, leading to the scintillating ‘jeu perlé solo of the fifteenth where the orchestra joins him and turns this web of sounds into one of those heart wrenching Rachmaninovian melodic outpourings. The sixteenth was played with beguiling hesitancy as the orchestra and piano created an intricate web of meandering notes. Whispered sounds from the piano in the seventeenth were accompanied by spine chilling tremolandi from the orchestra as suddenly this cloud disappeared and the sun shone through with the glowing beauty of the famous eighteenth variation . A sumptuous outpouring from the orchestra with the piano played with remarkable freedom and passionate intensity.
The spell only broken by the pizzicato of the orchestra mirrored by the piano in an intricate web of knotty twine. Rhythms becoming ever more intense and complex with a brilliant display of playing of an orchestra united with the piano in an unrelenting drive of excitement and exhilaration. Bursting into transcendental cadenzas with the piano played with enormous sonorities and burning conviction and a gradual drive to the final inevitable march to the end, only to be diffused by a simple aside from the piano! That’s all, it’s as simple as that !
In all the playing from Gerstein it was remarkable the depth he could bring to the piano part by pointing occasionally to the thumb of the left hand or the tenor register which gave a sumptuous richness to all he did.
The Prom audience with stamping feet and vociferous applause made it quite clear that our hero was not going to leave without a proper goodbye ! Rachmaninov’s Melodie op 3 n. 3 poured from his poetic fingers with mastery and ravishing beauty. Rachmaninov’s heart beating with intimate insistence as Gerstein intoned the melody of heartrending beauty.
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 