Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Springfield, MA
May 19, 2018
by Michael J. Moran
For the final concert of the SSO’s 74th season and his own
17th as their music director, Kevin Rhodes notes in the program book, he
celebrated “one of my favorite composers” with five pieces by Rachmaninoff. But
Rhodes’ selections were unusual in that they all date from late in the
composer’s career, only one of them is a repertory staple, and three of them
are almost totally unfamiliar to the average concertgoer.
Those would be the 1929 orchestral arrangements by Italian
composer Respighi of three “Etudes-Tableaux” (pictorial studies), originally
written between 1911 and 1917 for solo piano, which opened this imaginative
program. The composer suggested their titles to Respighi (“The Fair,” “Little
Red Ridinghood and the Wolf,” and “March”), whose three years of study in
Russia with Rimsky-Korsakov are reflected in the dark Slavic color of these
orchestrations. Rhodes and the SSO performed them with conviction and flair.
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| Misha Dichter |
Next came the only piece on the program that many audience
members would recognize, the composer’s last work for piano and orchestra,
dating from 1934, his “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.” The featured soloist
was, in Rhodes’ words, “one of the grand gentlemen of the piano,” Misha
Dichter. Now 72, the American pianist has lost none of the technical facility
and interpretive depth which launched his international career over 50 years
ago. His nimble fingers captured all the thunder of variations 13 and 22 and
romantic lyricism of variation 18. Orchestra and conductor offered equally agile
support.
Intermission was followed by a vibrant account of
Rachmaninoff’s last work, and, according to Rhodes, “[his] masterpiece,” the
1940 Symphonic Dances, written three years before the composer’s death. While
its three movements recall and even quote several of his earlier works, they
also introduce new instrumental harmonies which make this the most
modern-sounding of all Rachmaninoff’s works. Its mix of nostalgia and defiance
was expertly rendered by all the musicians, including a first movement saxophone
solo, meltingly played by principal Lynn Klock (Rachmaninoff’s only use of that
instrument).
Season 75 will be hard put to match this insightful new
slant on a beloved composer.
