A Shockingly Good Russian Week with Dudamel and Pianist Seong-Jin Cho
/By Truman C. Wang
12/5/2019
Photo credit: Harald Hoffman (Cho), LA Phil (Dudamel)
The near-capacity crowd to welcome the return of Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho last Sunday (December 1) was an indication that Russian warhorses like the Rachmaninoff Second Concerto need not be the sole domain of the Russians. Cho, born in 1994, commands the technical brilliance and expressive power to rival and, in some cases, top the best of them. His K-pop star good looks did not hurt, either.
The Moderato opening of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 immediately set the mood for mystery and anticipation. Cho’s fleet, elegant pianism made the many repetitive chords and figurations in the first movement sound less tedious. The famous Adagio sostenuto second movement (soundtrack of the 1945 film Brief Encounter) was memorable for the perfect blending of the winds and the piano through its achingly romantic, melancholy strains. The Allegro scherzando finale, while not exactly the ‘tornado from the Steppes’ of a young Horowitz (who was/is?), was noteworthy for the sheer sparkle and excitement of Cho’s playing. The LA Phil played beautifully for Gustavo Dudamel, matching Cho in brilliance and expression. A quietly dreamy lullaby, Schumann's Träumerei (from his “Scenes of Childhood”), was a perfect encore to complement the tempestuous concerto.
Next week’s Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto (December 12, 13, 14, 15) will feature Russian phenom Daniil Trofonov, and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. Come and hear the difference
When the LA Phil played Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring in April, Esa-Pekka Salonen was the conductor and I described that performance as “explosive” and “frightening” but full of lyricism and drama. Under Dudamel, the wow factor was still there: the ‘Glorification’ and ‘Sacrificial Dance’ were both executed with savage power and frenetic speed (bringing to mind his Beethoven Ninth last month, with possibly the fastest finale I’d ever heard!) The Rite is, first and foremost, a ballet. Stravinsky’s music still sounds frightfully avant-garde as it did more than 100 years ago to a rioting Parisian audience. Equally revolutionary were Nijinsky’s choreography and Roerich’s pagan costumes that can still provoke controversy in the 21st Century. (A young girl is chosen to be sacrificed and forced to dance in front of a group of adult males.) In the absence of dancers, the best symphonic performances of the Rite can only register half of its intended shock value. Salonen almost made me forget the choreography. Dudamel, however, made me notice its absence, particularly in the ‘Round Dance’ and ‘Circle of Young Girls’ which suffered from exaggerated slow tempi. All nitpicking aside, Dudamel did one up on Salonen and conducted the Rite from memory – a remarkable feat when you consider that even a seasoned player would have difficulty following his/her own part in the score! And just for that, he almost redeemed himself in my opinion.
Truman C. Wang is Editor-in-Chief of Classical Voice, whose articles have appeared in the Pasadena Star-News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, other Southern California publications, as well as the Hawaiian Chinese Daily. He studied Integrative Biology and Music at U.C. Berkeley.