Powerful Matsuev is a more than adequate replacement

Every cloud has a silver lining. The cloud in question was the withdrawal of Mikhail Pletnev from Sunday’s Usher Hall concert, thus rendering Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto null and void. The silver lining was Denis Matsuev and his performance of Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto which was a more than adequate replacement.

Well-known though the Tchaikovsky is, Matsuev gave it some freshness and stamped his own credentials on it from start to finish. He is a performer of power and panache and he certainly gave the piano a run for its money.

Double-forte chords might have been given extra forzando but he was also well-equipped for the work’s lighter touches, the opening and closing parts of the slow movement typical examples.

However, it was the exciting side of the soloist that prevailed and the helter-skelter closing run was timed to split-second perfection, always a heart-in-the-mouth experience.

Matsuev’s co-conspirators in the marvellous performance were Kirill Karabits and the Russian National Orchestra. They had opened the concert with an Elegy for strings by Silvestrov which seldom reached the heights of forte, making it atmospheric and even a touch funereal. However, at only 10 minutes long, it wasn’t enough to suggest it being either a hit or a miss.

A definite hit was Scriabin’s second symphony, new territory for me but well worth revisiting. Critics called it a “second cacophony” but I reckon they’re well wide of the mark. It is broad, expansive, multilayered and melodic and although the fourth movement dipped in quality, its overall effect was one of satisfaction. The orchestra certainly did their bit to champion its cause with an excellent performance.

It proved that for a composer perhaps more feted for his piano works, a competent symphonist lurked close beneath the surface.