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Rating: The "II concert" of Rachmaninov and "The Festivals and Pines of Rome" by Ottorino Respighi for the Roman auditorium of the Parco della Musica, which for three evenings has seen the 'Santa Cecilia' Hall fill up.
And, together, Antonio Pappano, director for only two years and already a public idol, and the thirty-seven-year-old Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, tall, slender, breathtakingly handsome, with a great presence at the piano, playing one of the most beloved concerts by the audience.
My heart beats and I breathe with the soloist in the first deep and tormented chords: an energetic expression of Rachmaninov's will to refound the piano concerto after the Brahmsian experience, despite the rejection of any 'modernism'. And the piano is always 'the' protagonist, never indulging the role of a mere, simplistic 'accompanist', but rather an uninterrupted dialogue with the orchestra. However, despite the undeniable talent and the perfect understanding between soloist and conductor, we perhaps want more from a young pianist who takes on powerful and vigorous music, passionate and captivating, full of warmth and permeated by that long and singable melodism typical of the Russian sound universe made of 'apparently simple' in a constructive solidity, music that can be poignant, nostalgic but also charming, that 'knows' and 'can' speak.
An interpretation that pleased the general public but leaves us 'poor' professionals puzzled, a Rachmaninov that in the fast passages is more ornamental than expressive, with dazzling clarity almost '18th century-like' rather than cantabile, at times heroic but never 'romantic', seems to smile... he, a pianist-composer whose outdated photographs return with such a melancholic demeanor it seems severe. We would not want affectation, but perhaps a deeper meditation. Andsnes, though with a refined and soft sound, lacks the density and fullness necessary to tackle Rachmaninov's always rich writing, has reduced this complex work to the category of predictable 'sequencing', thus depriving it of the magic and poetry that have made it one of the most known and loved works. But he is beautiful and elegant in thanking the audience and orchestrals and plays as an encore Mendelssohn's 'romance without words' which manages to redeem the dissatisfaction with his interpretation of Rachmaninov.
And finally, the longed-for and untried emotions arrive on the wave of sonic brushstrokes of Respighi's music. An orchestra masterfully conducted that lives and breathes symbiotically with its Director, the union of the One with the Multiple. Instruments become characters, sounds and timbres become images: it is not only the magic that Respighi's music evokes and creates, it is Pappano's interpretative choice that emphasizes everything in which the music is substantiated. A conductor with gestures perhaps not always very elegant, but determined, clear, sunny, able to be an inspiring 'guide' among the quotations of Gregorian chants and popular stornelli, among the sound effects and the frequent and difficult rhythm and meter changes that severely test the orchestra's skill. A sparkling and impeccable performance reveals, behind it, the indisputable skill of the individual musicians, but also a rehearsal work done in a climate of openness, frankness, and esteem among the orchestra and conductor.
Pappano has finally filled the gap that had developed in previous years between the orchestra and the figure of the Conductor, breaking down, with his personality capable of demanding without weighing down, the barrier erected by his predecessor Chung and inevitably felt by the audience who, for this, are thankful.
vera mazzotta
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