Rachmaninoff and Bartok with Gerstein and Pintscher

It’s hard to believe that Rachmaninoff’s Third Concerto didn’t meet with immediate success when he brought it to the United States during his 1909-1910 tour.  Critical response was mixed and audiences generally preferred to hear his Second Concerto.  The work wasn’t performed with the Cleveland Orchestra until 19 years later by Vladimir Horowitz during his first American tour.  Rachmaninoff himself played it at Severance in 1932.  Both pianists collaborated with Nikolai Sokoloff – the Cleveland Orchestra’s first music director and a friend of the composer’s.   

Last night featured returning guests: pianist Kirill Gerstein and conductor Matthias Pintscher.  Gerstein most definitely has the chops for Rachmaninoff’s Third – considered by some by some as the most challenging in the standard repertoire.  (Although some pianists have told me they consider the Brahms Second Concerto more difficult on account of its awkwardness, Busoni’s massive concerto – not part of the standard repertoire – must take the cake as it’s grueling 75 minutes long.)  There was no sense of strain even during the work’s most thorny passages. But Gerstein imbued the work with a sense of musical virtuosity very much in the spirit of the composer’s own rendition – as preserved via his 1939 recording with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy.  This is not to say that Gerstein wasn’t his own man, interpretively.  For example, Gerstein played the work complete – without the disfiguring cuts the composer began to favor in his later years.  Also, the pianist played the heavier, more chordal of the first movement’s two printed cadenzas – a decision with which I disagree, although the passion and conviction with which it was played were unmistakable.  Further, the approach was a bit more imaginative when it came to variations of tempo and the use of inner voices – particularly during the first movement.  This was a performance who prefer Rachmaninoff without the treacly goo which has been imposed on it by sundry performers – a Rachmaninoff with its dignity intact.

Gerstein was rewarded with an extensive ovation, and returned the warmth with a brief encore: Debussy’s The Girl with the Flaxen Hair. 

As with neighbors and neighborhoods, it only takes one inconsiderate audience member to impair the experience at a symphonic concert.  Last night’s example was provided by a clod who spoke at full voice during the concerto’s rather quiet opening – then dropping an object during another quiet moment later.

Following intermission, Pintscher returned to the stage to conduct the orchestra in Bartok’s complete ballet score, The Wooden Prince – a work with which I’m only passingly familiar.  Here is an example of how Pintscher’s background as a composer enhanced the performance.  A sense of unity permeated a work which could easily devolve into a series of dance sections.  Pintscher skillfully led the orchestra through the work’s myriad challenges and there was characterful playing during the English Horn and Trumpet solos.  First Associate Concertmaster Peter Otto rose to the occasion with his solo during the Princess’s Waltz.  All earned the warm ovation the followed. 

While main floor was at near capacity for the Concerto (including a piano student in front of me who was silently replicating the work’s passages), many left during intermission.  Bartok still has the reputation of being a “difficult” composer to hear among some.  While it’s sad there are those members who are unwilling to challenge themselves, the bottom line is that at least their tickets were fully paid for.