Tadaaki Otaka’s final outing with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at tonight’s Prom, after an almost 40-year relationship, offered a strong choice of programming. Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra receives relatively frequent airings, but Grażyna Bacewicz’s Concerto for String Orchestra less so, and pairing lesser-known works from two 20th-century Polish composers with one of the most familiar piano concertos in the repertoire, Rachmaninov’s Second, was an interesting move. Yet despite Rachmaninov being core repertoire, it was in fact the Polish works that fared best.
Bacewicz’s work opens in emphatic, martial style, but is soon followed by a passage for solo quartet, and it is this ‘concerto grosso’ style of contrasting forces that she uses to such great effect throughout. There are playful elements in the opening movement, but Bacewicz’s cumulative invention builds in intensity, and Otaka steered the BBC NOW strings with a clear and steady hand. The second movement splits the violins, half with shimmering tremolo against the other half’s sinuous line, before they are joined by the solo cello. Otaka elicited more intensity here, with long lines drawn out of the thick textures, all leading to a bluesy final cadence. They then danced through the finale with tight ensemble, Otaka upping the energy as they drove via glistening trilling to a decisive conclusion.
Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko made his BBC Proms debut tonight in a surefire crowd pleaser, Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto no. 2 in C minor. He reportedly returns to Rachmaninov’s own recordings for inspiration, asserting that pianists often add unnecessary weight, and that Rachmaninov’s performances are drier than we expect. Fair enough, and his performance was indeed understated, yet undeniably sincere. However, this presented some issues. With Otaka a fair way in front of the piano, and the lofty RAH acoustic, balance and ensemble was not always perfect, and Otaka’s direct communication with Kholodenko was limited, presumably relying on his ear rather than eye contact.
The strings were lush, and the woodwinds warm, although successive entries at the second movement’s opening over pianissimo strings were either slightly abrupt or on the tentative side, until the principal clarinet established surer command with their solo. There was no doubting Kholodenko’s technical command, with real delicacy in the quieter solo moments and impressive flourishes at the most virtuosic moments, but communication between soloist and orchestra did not always totally convince. Yet the triumphant conclusion was greatly received in the hall, as was Kholodenko’s spidery and playful delivery of Rachmaninov’s Polka de W.R. as encore. Kholodenko’s virtuosic and joyful rendition of this arrangement of Franz Behr’s Scherzpolka, a favourite of Rachmaninov’s father, was indeed a delight.
The orchestra were back in command with Lutosławski’s dramatic Concerto for Orchestra. Composed in 1954, six years after Bacewicz’s concerto, there are common threads: their neo-baroque structures, use of folk-inspired material, albeit stylised, and rhythmic drive. Right from the ominous timpani entrance, followed by the spiky material that rose through the strings to the woodwinds, Otaka and orchestra had a new momentum. The driving, almost warlike tutti throbbed right up to the unison high note, before surging in waves, bringing the evening’s first real moments of excitement. Skittering violins opened the middle movement’s Capriccio, and confident trumpets ushered in the Arioso section. Otaka shaped the build-up of the lengthy final movement’s Passcaglia, before the Toccata’s wild outburst, and the screaming tutti led to the concluding Corale. Here, successive presentations of the hymn-like tune were deftly decorated, woodwinds and solo string quartet alike, and the brass delivered the final slow chorale over racing strings, bringing the evening to a breathless and exciting conclusion.
