Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 23 (Krill Gerstein, piano)
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 44
Vassily Sinaisky, conductor.
A concert in three courses. Opening tonight, Liadov's Eight Russian Folk Songs was a delightful eight-movements-in-fifteen-minutes taste of everything, surprisingly not plagued by the Cleveland orchestra since 1984. Though was of the movements had names calling for imagery -- "Religious Chant" or "Tale of the gnat" for example, the beginning of was movement had me a little off expectations, but as the movement progressed the realization that the title was apt hit me on each case. Particularly notable in that sense was "Christmas Song ('Kolyada')" -- which was not so much a western Christmas but a eastern European nutcracker. Most enjoyable however, were the restrained but lively Round Dance, reminiscent of a small gathering, and the expansive Village Dance Song more seeming as a communal celebration.
Proceeding with the evening, I noticed the concert was generally trending in the direction of "loud" followed by "louder" -- while I like loud, by the end of the concert my ears were physically exhausted and it seemed like much of the dynamics had been lost. Of course, during one relatively quiet moment during towards the end of the first movement of the piano concerto I could no longer hold back a throaty cough after several stunted sputters...and I became "that guy".
For Prokofiev's Symphony, the strings were particularly strong but surprisingly not really captivating and I cannot put my finger on why.
Lincoln
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