A symphony with diabolical overtones by the undeservedly little-known composer Nikolai Myaskovsky and Sergei Rachmaninov’s ever-popular Third Piano Concerto are both up this hour. Highly regarded by fellow composers Prokofiev and Shostakovich, Nikolai Myaskovsky was largely neglected in Russia and the rest of the world then and now, writing most of his 27 symphonies for the desk drawer. His Symphony No. 10 references “The Bronze Horseman,” a poem by Alexander Pushkin.
In it, Yevgeny, the protagonist, is engaged to a woman who dies in a flood. In grief, he stands before a statue of Peter the Great on horseback and curses the Czar for having built the city in a swampy region with frequent flooding. The statue comes to life, and the horseman pursues his accuser until the latter loses his mind and drowns. At the beginning of the symphony you can hear the dark waters of the Neva River rising, and at the end there can be no doubt about the fate of the man who cursed the czar.
Sergei Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto is insistent, brillant, highly virtuosic – and very Russian, as pianist Boris Berezovsky explained in an interview with DW: “It’s just a very simple and beautiful melody. That’s what art should often be: simple and beautiful. Even a child can play this melody, and that’s nice. Later, the piece becomes very complicated, but Rachmaninov always inhabits a typical Russian landscape: endless and nostalgically beautiful – and at the end, very optimistic.”
This concerto does in fact take the listener on a long journey from darkness to light: from the cautious, nearly depressive beginning to the triumphant conclusion that doesn’t want to end.
For our performance, soloist Boris Berezovsky had the piano positioned in an unusual spot: at the center of the orchestra. “I always believe that a concerto is like chamber music in a big format,” the pianist explained to DW. “I feel much, much better when I play inside the orchestra. There’s no comparison.”
Berezovsky also had a disarmingly simple answer to the question: What is the biggest challenge with Rachmaninov’s Third? “The challenge is to play as many right notes as possible, as fast as possible and as loudly as possible.”
Nikolai J. Myaskovsky (1881–1950)
Symphony No. 10 in F Minor, op. 30 (excerpt)
Ural Philharmonic Orchestra
Dmitri Liss, conductor
Recorded by Deutsche Welle, Bonn (DW) in the Beethoven Hall, Bonn on September 18, 2016.
Sergei Rachmaninov
Piano concerto No. 3 in D Minor, op. 30
Boris Berezovsky, piano
Ural Philharmonic Orchestra
Dmitri Liss, conductor
Recorded by Deutsche Welle, Bonn (DW) in the Beethoven Hall, Bonn on September 18, 2016.
