5th August 2024
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom
RACHMANINOV Symphonic Dances
BUSONI Piano Concerto
Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)
The Rodolfus Choir
London Philharmonic Choir
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Edward Gardner (conductor)
I will be honest. There are certain works I have very little interest in but I turn up to see them anyway because I want to earn the bragging right of having seen them live, even if it means having to stand through Rachmaninov's tedious "Symphonic Dances" for the fourth time at the Proms. Credits where they are due, it was an outstanding performance by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Edward Gardner. It was tight and punchy, the winds were particularly delectable and the performance could not be better than that. It served as the concert opener to Busoni's gargantuan "Piano Concerto" perhaps because both works are constructed from (long-winded) culmination of themes. The Busoni is rarely performed live - 70+ min long, fiendish piano part, requiring massive forces including an "invisible" male choir (sung from the Gallery tonight), disorienting on first listens because the themes are all over the place - it's the best and worst Romanticism can offer. The third movement alone is 25 min long and divided into four parts, mostly meditative explorations. The fourth movement is a banal (and pretty tasteless) tarantella and the final movement basically becomes a choral piece with piano accompaniment. The piano part is often drowned out by the orchestra, almost taking on an anti-soloist role - who actually wants to tackle this unrewarding stamina exercise? It's easier to appreciate the work if you consider it a symphonic poem with obbligato piano. The hero tonight, Benjamin Grosvenor, seemed to traverse the ever-changing landscape assuredly, lyrical where needed, bombastic where necessary, matching the gigantic LPO sound in great overall balance and pace. Completing the performance was a real triumph in itself, but it went well and beyond. The encore was Siloti's B minor transcription of Bach's WTCI E minor prelude, as a nod to Busoni also being a famous Bach transcriber. The Busoni is not something I am desperate to hear again in the near future, but now I can tell people I saw this 15 out of 10 performance live. This is music making of the highest calibre. Just wow.
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