Power and pathos in Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.2: Jeonghwan Kim, Mark Coughlan, OpusWA at Government House

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Power and pathos in Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.2: Jeonghwan Kim, Mark Coughlan, OpusWA at Government House

South Korean tyro Jeonghwan Kim matched power with pathos in a searing rendition of Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto with OpusWA Arts Orchestra at Government House Ballroom this weekend.

Barely-there tolling piano chords built a rumbling crescendo to trigger the melancholy opening theme in full orchestra, pitting the Fazioli grand against towering symphonic effects across the stage.

A quiet moment put the focus back on piano for a second huge crescendo then meditative musing; lavishly Romantic in tone with hints of the oft-quoted Adagio to come.

Kim’s vast range met every technical challenge of an immensely demanding piece, rolling from full-on effort to leisurely lyricism in an instant.

***** afforded the soloist a break before another rhapsodic interlude re-engaged his more delicate instincts, quickening with strings towards an urgent climax.

Solemn tutti playing cleared the air for a gentle preamble to the Adagio second movement, piano duetting with woodwind as the famed theme emerged, almost unannounced.

Less was more with Kim relaxed and limpid in tone over serene strings; morphing to heightened drama in solo and ensemble, cooling on clarinet then folding back to piano.

A sudden stirring across the keyboard fired up all sections, falling away to a solo flourish then deeply ponderous phrases, fading as strings drifted in to swell the theme before ebbing to close.

Resurgent energy in the ensemble launched the Allegro scherzando finale in quicksilver cascades through the piano’s upper register, plunging to weighty chords then throwing to a woodwind-***** choir.

Meandering piano instilled calm before pizzicato punctuation spurred a fresh ******* in scintillating flurries and jagged phrases. Minor-mode strings took the lead, answered in piano modulating to major as pizzicato returned to trigger woodwind then more strings.

Kim replied in grandiose style with spectacular swagger in the climactic buildup as the Adagio echoed again in a high-octane cadence.

A balmy encore of Chopin’s Etude in A flat major, Op.25 No.1, then settled the room after so much exhilaration.

It was the first Saturday night show in 18 years of Music on the Terrace, normally a Sunday matinee affair, and artistic director Mark Coughlan quipped that a 45-minute symphony was needed as a warmup to the pyrotechnics of the Sydney International Piano Competition winner.

That symphony was Dvorak’s Ninth, “From the New World”; another sure-***** favourite of the Romantic repertoire.

Soulful lower strings led in woodwind then horns, their delicate spiritual strains suddenly interrupted by urgent energy and thunderclap timpani.

Crisp delivery of surging intervals filled the still air of the ballroom, morphing to folkloric dance, major to minor then back. Mellow flute gave pause before more intense intervals driven by horns to every corner of the ensemble.

Coughlan as conductor cut a figure from the Old West, coaxing his charges like a horseman of Dvorak’s ********* era. Broad measures invoked the open range, and scurrying strings and woodwind the hills and rivers, with brass chiming in like a cavalry call.

Cooler woodwind spoke of hope in the New World while brass evoked Manifest Destiny in plangent, driving chords as Coughlan rode the whirlwind to its close.

Mystery in brass reset the scene, fading to strings as Rachel Pointon’s plaintive cor anglais tapped a rich vein of longing in the Largo second movement; perhaps Dvorak’s yearning for home.

Woodwind embraced the lament, passing to strings in calm meditation then calling back cor to wind up the charm in a serenade of strings, an afterglow of sunset.

Renewed drama in the Scherzo galvanized all sections, the infectious theme passed around feverishly over descending brass. Woodwind led in a second measure as if in a dance, with echoes in brass of the first movement, mixing and repeating through to a dramatic cadence.

Strident bowing broached the Allegro **** fuoco finale with a brass ******* both fateful and forceful. Harsh figures softened to dance then mellow woodwind before returning to fireworks, echoing all the above.

Coughlan held a tight rein on numerous changes in tone and tempo down to a tumultuous climax, anticlimax, and majestic conclusion.

Music on the Terrace winds up on December 1, at 4pm, with The WA Jazz Project in Government House Gardens.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Power #pathos #Rachmaninov #Piano #Concerto #No.2 #Jeonghwan #Kim #Mark #Coughlan #OpusWA #Government #House

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up