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Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky: Leif Ove Andsnes (piano), London Symphony Orchestra, Antonio Pappano, Royal Festival Hall, London, 6.3.2009 (GD)

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No 3 in D minor, op.30
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No 6 in B minor, Pathetique, op.74


This performance had about it an almost Teutonic sounding grandiosity from both soloist and conductor. By the time we reached the ‘non tanto’ in the quasi development of the first movement of the Concerto Pappano’s conducting and Andsnes playing had something of a four-square quality to it. This contrasted totally with a performance I heard in concert recently from Ashkenazy (as conductor) and the young Macedonian pianist Simon Trpceski, here both soloist and conductor captured the mercurial, agitated, flow of the music which was largely lacking in tonights performance. In its own terms Andsnes playing was quite accomplished but in the first movement’s extended cadenza I certainly felt a need for a more panglossian diverse range of pianism; the kind of diversity one hears in older performances from Horowitz, the younger Ashkenazy, Weissenberg, and of course  Rachmaninoff himself. I also felt a lack of melancholy intimacy in the ‘Intermezzo’, as though soloist and conductor had not adequately registered the truly poetic sense of contrast here. Although the finale was quite rhythmically adroit I missed that ‘Alla breve’ two in the bar lilt; again a basic lack of movement and mercurial finesse so essential to this music. Throughout tonight’s concert Pappano opted for the incorrect non-antiphonal violin seating.

A couple of years ago Pappano made a recording of the ‘Pathetique’ with the orchestra of ‘Santa Cecilia’ in Rome; in terms of interpretation Pappano here was relatively straightforward, dramatic and direct. Tonight’s ‘Pathetique’ was similarly direct in this respect. But whereas the Roman orchestra played with an ‘old European’ (or Roman) warmth, with cantabile strings and mellifluous woodwind intonation, and despite some occasional rough ensemble, the LSO tonight didn’t seem up to form. This was possibly due to compromised rehearsal time. They played with more precision in the preceding Rachmaninoff. Throughout the strings and brass, in particular, played in a rather uncompromising and harsh tone, seemingly unable to effect a real sustained pianissimo. In the morose ‘Adagio’ introduction and up to the big tune before the dramatic development I noted literally dozens of tuning and ensemble problems, and errors in timing. The tutti crash which initiates the development, and most of the development itself, were quite dramatically delivered with one very off moment for the horns. But by the time we came to the developments climax with its ffff markings the whole affair degenerated into noise. Here I had no sense of an ominous dark power being unleased from within the music’s inner structure; it just became louder! 

There was little ‘Grazia’ in the second movement waltz, everything being on the same plodding dynamic level and sounding perfunctory. The third movement march didn’t get off to a very promising start with messy string ensemble. At one point in the first tutti statement of the march theme the timpani seemed out of tune. Throughout the work the timpani played too loudly, thudding away in an unvaried manner with the same large felted sticks, and when we reached the fff march finale, I had no sense of the accumulation of inner menace, things just became ear achingly loud! The same criticisms applied too the great “lamentoso’ finale, although Pappano did just manage the semblance of a pianissimo in the initial statement of the ghost-like, hymn sounding, B minor theme. Also, in the final lament on throbbing lower strings the conductor did coax some effective tonal luminosity, especially from the nine double-bases. But alas this did not really compensate for a rushed, over-loud, rather than stoically tragic, final climax, nor for the deficiencies noted in the performance as a whole.  
 
Geoff Diggines


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