Symphony has a theatrical opening night
There aren’t many pieces of music more theatrical than Rachmaninoff ’s Second Piano Concerto.
Take the opening: The pianist starts alone, striking a single chord so softly and ominously that the audience is immediately sucked in and breathless. Another block chord follows, and then another, getting progressively louder and more tense.
When the tension finally seems unbearable, the dam breaks and the pianist lets loose huge arpeggios spanning almost four octaves. The orchestra joins in and sweeps the audience away on a fantastic journey of unforgettable melodies and virtuosic bravura.
For the Saturday opening night of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra’s season, Canadian pianist Tony Yike Yang joined Maestro Eric Paetkau and the symphony in mostly delivering on the promise of this perennial audience favourite.
At only 19 years old, this was Yang ’s first public performance of the technically challenging concerto. Despite only recently adding it to his repertoire, he made efficient work of the thousands of notes that lie waiting to trap the unprepared pianist. Many passages sparkled and Yang has a deft ear for balancing the musical voices to highlight the most important one.
However, in contrast to the technical excellence, the interpretation seemed to lack poise and structure. The tempos were occasionally staid when they should be passionate and then frenzied when they should be controlled. Ensemble between the piano and orchestra was not always locked in, which contributed to a general sense of the piece being unsettled.
What was missing was a sense of chamber music, of mutual communication between Yang and members of the orchestra. For example, the opening of the second movement is home to one of the most memorable melodies of all time, famously borrowed by Eric Carmen in his 1976 hit “All by Myself.” In the original Rachmaninoff, it’s played by clarinet while the piano accompanies. On Saturday night, Yang seemed rigid and inflexible in the face of this gorgeous solo. Luckily, given his prodigious talent, this is unlikely to be the last opportunity for Yang to perform the concerto. With more experience, hopefully he can be more successful in raising his head above all the notes.
After the intermission, the orchestra presented a wellthought and clean rendition of Brahms’ second symphony. This provided a welcome contrast to the first half; whereas Rachmaninoff ’s brand of romanticism features no-holds-barred outbursts of emotion mixed with showmanship, Brahms’ works tend to be more calculated and carefully crafted.
Paetkau showed a keen appreciation for the architecture-like structure of this symphony. Every theme was well placed in relation to each other and, because of this, the nearly 40-minute-long work never overstayed its welcome.
The third movement, in particular, was sublime — the first theme was ethereal, with a lilting lightness. The intricate passages that followed were also impressively clean in almost every section of the orchestra.
Such a respectful and enjoyable performance of a challenging classic speaks well for the musicianship of the SSO as it enters into its 88th season.