Page 156 - GTMF 2024 Season Program

August 9 & 10 PROGRAM NOTES

Piano Concerto No. 2 a piano concerto with a solo: listening. If all Rach 2 had going
in C minor, Op. 18 think Beethoven Piano Concerto for it was a hit parade of lovely
No. 4, think Saint-Saëns Piano melodies, it would certainly by
continued Concerto No. 2, think Samuel now have gone the way of
Barber Piano Concerto. Like the scintillating tune-fests by the
Hollywood co-opts that might Beethoven, and unlike the likes of Henri Herz and Friedrich
have flattened a lesser Saint-Saëns or the Barber, the Kalkbrenner. That it remains with
composition. As the last word soloist opens the work quietly. us today—if anything stronger
in panting romantic ardor Solemn chords increase in volume than ever—is a testament to its
it was the perfect satirical and intensity until they erupt quality. Beautifully constructed,
accompaniment to Tom Ewell’s into a shower of arpeggios; the superbly orchestrated and
infatuation with Marilyn Monroe orchestra enters with the primary surprisingly taut, Rachmaninoff’s
in The Seven-Year Itch; it survived theme while the piano provides youthful “comeback” concerto
that usage unscathed. In 1976 its accompaniment. It is only with the sets its innate lusciousness
slow movement was massaged rapturous, arcing second theme within a framework of rock-solid
into the three-handkerchief that the piano takes firm charge structural integrity.
pop-ballad weepie “All by of the melodic proceedings.
Myself” by Eric Carmen; that The second-place Adagio
one was a bit harder for it to sostenuto begins by treating the
live down. And then there’s soloist even more modestly; the © 2024 Scott Fogelsong
“Full Moon and Empty Arms”... strings play a hushed passage
Which leads many listeners to that is distinctly reminiscent of
expect a familiar showpiece. the opening solo, after which the
Rach 2 is, after all, one of the piano enters not with a theme,
undisputed E-ticket rides in the but with languid arpeggios. The
repertory. But it repays attentive exquisitely hesitant main theme is
listening nonetheless, revealing assigned first to solo flute, then to
itself as a concerto in which the clarinet—that last an instrument
piano is more often a complement that enchanted Rachmaninoff
to, rather than leader of, the almost as much as it did Brahms.
orchestra. That may seem counter- It is only with the Allegro
intuitive given the concerto’s scherzando finale that we hear a
well-deserved reputation as a traditionally spotlighted entrance
technical workout second to for the piano soloist: a martial
none. But all those pyrotechnics introduction in the orchestra
serve a purpose, and that sets the stage for a spectacular
purpose is by no means mere sweeping spray from the soloist.
showmanship; the piano, with its Even then, however, more often
percussive, bell-like sonorities, than not it is the orchestra that
rich washes of sound, and singing gets at least first dibs on interesting
quality, is often used to provide a melodic material—including
striking orchestral color. “Full Moon and Empty Arms.”
The opening of the first two Few if any concertos can match
movements illustrates Rach 2 for great tunes and
Rachmaninoff’s ensemble-like thrilling passages. That can lead
treatment of the solo part. The to a subconscious discounting
first-place Moderato-più vivo of the concerto as overheated
partakes of the well-established and overplayed. But that is letting
but slender tradition of opening familiarity get in the way of clear

154 Grand Teton Music Festival Season 63