Conductor: Juraj Valčuha
Composers: Alexander Glazunov, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Serge Rachmaninov
Piano: Boris Giltberg
Juraj Valčuha conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in this lovely programme of Russian dance-inspired music composed in the years between the 1870s, when Tchaikovsky created his Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23, and 1940 when Rachmaninov finished the only complete piece he wrote in the United States, the orchestral suite, Symphonic Dances.
In between is Alexander Glazunov’s Concert Waltz No. 1, Op. 47 which opens the programme. Written in 1893, it’s a gorgeous piece, inspired first by the waltzes of Johann Strauss II and more immediately by Tchaikovsky. Its rich orchestration includes a fine array of percussion instruments performed here under principal percussionist Andrew Barclay. The harp too plays an important role, especially in the intertwined melody with the flutes. All adds the necessary sparkle to this light, lilting, carefree waltz. Valčuha conducts with precision and grace, eliciting enormous delicacy from the strings and magnificent burst from the brass.
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23, which follows is famous for having been a disaster when first performed in 1874 when pianist Nikolai Rubinstein deemed the work ‘unplayable’. Fortunately Tchaikovsky sent the work to German pianist Hans von Blülow who saw its true magic, calling it ‘a real pearl’. In this concert, world-renowned pianist Boris Giltburg gives a mesmerising performance, matching the piece’s intensity with a mixture of total absorption and a sense of delight.
His playing is exhilarating, from the first powerful opening bars of the Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso. Stephen Johnson in the programme notes describes this movement as dramatising the relationship between piano and orchestra, ‘sometimes an heroic struggle, sometimes closer to a tender or turbulent love affair’. After the middle movement, the Andantino, based on a French folk-tune, comes the third, the Allegro con fuoco based on a folk-tune from Ukraine. The whole orchestra lean into the description con fuoco, creating an explosive fireworks.
At the end of the first half, following rapturous applause, Giltburg returns for a short encore, playing Rachmaninov’s Prelude in C sharp minor. This acts as an amuse bouche for the second half of the concert, a dazzling performance of his Symphonic Dances, Op. 45. It’s a gripping piece, not least for the fact that Rachmaninov includes references to several of his earlier works. We get allusions to his Dies irae and the distinctive melody played on cor anglais from his Russian Vespers.
Again the mood ranges widely. The Non Allegro moves from the powerful opening beats of timpani and trumpet to the gentler section of alto saxophone and woodwind. In the Andante con moto, the blare of trumpets gives way to the lilting but urgent rhythm of the waltz. The final section, Lento assai – Allegro vivace, contains the dark tones of the bells, through brass fanfares to whirling passages of the wind instruments, to end once more on an exhilarating finale.
Reviewed on 19 February 2025
