Fauré - Pelléas et Mélisande
Chopin - Piano Concerto number 2
Prokofiev - Symphony number 5
Tugan Sokhiev, conductor
Emmanuel Ax, piano
Philharmonia Orchestra
Fauré ****
Warmly played, and with a beautiful flute tone in the famous Sicillienne.
Chopin *****
The highlight of the evening, Ax played with effortless excellence, in his typical note-perfect, precise style, but with beautiful tone, touch ranging from the delicate to the thundering and all with enough flexibility to make him a great Chopin interpreter. In particular it was wonderful to hear a player who could draw out warmth of tone from the left hand parts which are frequently very beautiful in Chopin, but not heard often enough. The final movement was genuinely exciting as he built up a fierce pace which did nothing to harm his legendary accuracy. There seemed to be a brilliant rapport between orchestra, soloist and conductor, and everything seemed to fall inevitably into place. The audience brought him back onto the stage several times - and justly so.
Prokofiev *****
This is a symphony which I had previously heard only in recordings, and somewhat lacklustre ones at that. I felt as if I was hearing the work anew in this performance, which paid special care to each movement, each one a delight, again showing a very strong pairing between orchestra and conductor. I was particularly impressed by the sustained crescendo they produced in the thrilling conclusion to the symphony, which never sounded strained, yet seemed to grow and grow to bursting point. The applause was long and loud, with more than enough time for Sokhiev to single out the chairs and the whole ensemble a couple of times.
These were brilliant, world-class performances!
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