Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
Brahms and Bellincampi
Auckland Town Hall
June 6
Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples
The opening of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No 1 is dramatic with the timpani delivering a tumultuous sound accompanied by ferocious strings. The intense opening was intended by the composer to be a depiction and reflection on Robert Schumann’s attempted suicide in leaping into the Rhine at Dusseldorf few years earlier.
For the first few minutes it was the orchestra which dominated as pianist Alexander Melnikov waited for his entry. Showing what would be his intense approach to playing he seemed restless as he contemplated the piano – leaning into it and caressing its surface as though communing with the instrument.
Following the stormy performance of the orchestra Melnikov made his entrance, referencing the orchestras’ dramatic themes but with simple and deliberate playing as though reflecting on the drama which had just occurred.
Much of the first movement saw him responding to the themes that the orchestra had explored with a bravura performance where he developed the main theme, playing with a relentless insistence.
Melnikov’s relationship with the piano continued, at times he appeared to be praying and at other times conducting. All the time he appeared to physically respond to the performance of the orchestra, his body moving reflectively in time to the music.
In the second movement his playing was almost lethargic inserting some delicate passages into the orchestras brooding sounds. Then in the third movement the music seemed to electrify him with some relentless playing which was almost Byronic, of the individual confronting his demons, loves and destiny.
His Brahms encore finished as a cell phone call came through in the hall, so when he was leaving the stage, he put his hand to his ear with the universal sign of “I’ll call you”, eliciting further applause from the audience.
The other work on the programme was Brahms’s symphony No 2, a glorious pastoral work inspired by a holiday at the resort of Lake Worth in Austria. The work is full of images of nature and the heightened drama of the alpine environment.
While it is a captivating depiction of the landscape there are undertones of melancholy with the strings, timpani and brass creating a sense of disquiet.
The more reflective second movement conveys a sense of an emotional journey and the delights of life. all leading to enlightenment.
Then in the third movement there were charming dance-like seqcnces followed by the dramatic fourth movement with its big crescendos punctuated by idyllic interludes, the audience kept in suspense as the work raced to its fiery conclusion.
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