Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra: Sunwook's Rach Three

Rachmaninov said that he wrote the Third Piano Concerto “for elephants” and with its massive chords, cascading and leaping octaves, high-speed runs, dense counterpoint, and wide-spaced, busily embellished textures, it does demand a pianist with strength, dexterity, control, and stamina - and big hands! But the virtuosity always serves dramatic and expressive ends. A mood of dark, impassioned lyricism prevails throughout which builds with urgent expressiveness before reaching an almost delirious close. The Sixth Symphony is one of Prokofiev’s finest achievements. Whilst the Fifth was a heroic response to war, the Sixth seems to speak from a deeper, a more painful side of that experience. It is characterised by its dark sound, emphasised by the extensive use of the lower instruments such as cellos, basses, and tuba, whilst subdued muted violins hang in the air like mists above an icy winter landscape.