Page 374 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

After the coolness of Myaskovsky came the heart-on-sleeve Russian romanticism
from Benjamin Grosvenor, in a composition which needs no introduction — Rachmaninov’s
evergreen Second Piano Concerto, displaying plenty of detailed articulation and nuance.
From those all too familiar opening chords it was the bass notes and the voicing which
stood out; this was obviously going to be an interpretation that would be very distinctive.

Wong followed Grosvenor, following his cues and quite literally running with them. The
tempos of the outer movements were brisk, the gentle inner movement was beautifully
executed, with woodwind solos superbly shaped, and Grosvenor alternated his role as
accompanist and soloist with effortless ease. The final movement pulled away from the
buffers with caution. This was short lived; as the momentum gathered, the pace quickened,
increasing the intensity and excitement. This finale was certainly on the express tracks,
whilst it felt it could have slipped quite easily off the rails, it was undoubtedly exhilarating.
Before the final bar, members of the audience were already on their feet.

A carefully considered encore followed, Ravel’s Jeux d’eau bridging the gap between the
Rachmaninov and Mussorgsky. Grosvenor's execution of this was beautiful, however it did
highlight the lack of projection and clarity in the piano’s upper register. This had been
noticeable in the Rachmaninov too, but with the detail Grosvenor had executed in the
middle and lower register in his left hand it compensated sufficiently. It was difficult to attain
whether this was an idiosyncrasy of the instrument or individual choice, but with just a little
more treble sparkle both the Rachmaninov and Ravel would have gleamed with a high
gloss rather than a matt finish.

Benjamin Grosvenor, Kahchun Wong and the RLPO
© Wesley Storey