Success in RevelinCONCERT REVIEW
By M. Ruskovic-Kristic
Slobodna Dalmacija
May 8, 2006
Respighi: Antiche Danze ed Arie per Liuto, Suite 1
Schumann: Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra
Mozart: Symphony No. 41 "Jupiter"
Soloist: Petar Kovacic
Genius in music comes in many guises, but one thing you can be sure of: Andre Watts is going to understand it, and perform it superlatively well. The last time he was in Sacramento, not quite 15 years ago to play with the Sacramento Symphony in the Community Center Theater, he showed us the power and eloquence in Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto. Some years before that in a recital in the same hall, it was the startling grandiloquence of Liszt. Saturday night his combination of strength and sensitivity seemed just as gratifyingly right for Rachmaninov's Concerto No. 2 with Zvonimir Hacko and the Sacramento Philharmonic.
In short, a pianist for all masterpieces. Certainly one for Rachmaninov at his best.
There are good reasons why the Second is everybody's favorite Rachmaninov concerto. (He wrote four.) It's more than its flow of gifted melody (Tin Pan Alley cashed two hits out of it) - it's also wonderfully well constructed music, with the contrasts and drama and intellectual interest such music can offer.
Consider the way the piano builds suspense and excitement in the very first measures with a series of gradually swelling chords that become a rolling thunder underneath the dark first tune (with the orchestra joining in unobtrusively). It's a great beginning, followed by the reassuring sunshine of the second melody, in a major key.
A regular development follows, full of stimulating ideas - various aspects of the two major tunes. And another characteristic of the work's personality makes its appearance: the peace that lies a dwindling closure.
Yet another wonderful aspect of the work is how much the piano is an accompanist as well as a leader. The slow movement gives the melody to the flute (Mathew Krejci) while the piano accompanies it (and subsequent voices) with the tenderest of broken chords. Watts played these lovely arpeggios as if they might dissolve in their own feelings. A burst of sudden speed reminded us of his brilliance and power and took us to a cadenza.
Meanwhile the orchestra, under Hacko's careful guidance, was showing us that it, too, knew how to lead the music. All concerned contributed to the moving end of the movement: a trailing away into silence.
The finale is another effective study in contrast: exuberant high spirits (fast, exciting virtuoso work from Watts) and yet another seductive melody. Another cadenza took him all over the keyboard and brought him back to make the melody sing once more. The typical Rachmaninov cadence at the end brought the near-capacity audience instantly to its feet for a long ovation.
The great Beethoven Symphony No. 3 ("Eroica") fared less well, at least in its opening movement, which went at a pace that seemed a bit brisk. The funeral march was properly deliberate. As the score swung from ensemble to individual voices and back again, the individual passages stood out with drama and clarity.
The scherzo was quick but not hurried. The irresistible finale, a merrily swinging progress of variations, was expressively played to its triumphant end. The applause was considerable.