Photos by Khalid al Busaidi
A new and innovative challenge took place recently at the Royal Opera House, House of Musical Arts, in conjunction with Salle Gaveau. On stage were a Steinway grand piano, an orchestra, a conductor, and two young winners of the Monte Carlo Piano Masters Competition. The programme consisted of two concertos from the Russian Romantic repertoire, performed in chronological order across two halves.
The La Corelli Orchestra, which specialises in opera as well as symphonic scores and is currently supporting performances of “La Fille du Régiment” in the main theatre, took their places on stage. From the Education and Outreach team at ROHM, Maryam al Kaabi and Noor al Mahrouqi appeared in blue Omani dress to introduce the proceedings in Arabic and English and informed the audience that the soloists were competing for votes.
Leader Nicolò Grassi stood for an important tune-up, while a film of Russian pianist Nikolai Kuznetsov speaking earlier was projected at the back. The soloist and Italian-born conductor with strong Russian connections, Alessandro Cadario, then entered for Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B minor and prepared to begin.
Unfortunately, the horns faltered in the famous opening of this much-beloved concerto, but Nikolai began the powerful chords with confidence. The balance of sound favoured the piano; however, the acoustics in the hall were somewhat dry, lending a cold quality to the ensemble and contributing to some timing issues between the soloist and orchestra at first. A lovely cello theme was somewhat distracting, as were latecomers being admitted and an intercom broadcast from the back.
Teething problems aside, there was no doubt about Kuznetsov’s superb technique and the energy and passion he conveyed in the tutti sections, supported by strong brass and timpani. He communicated the music through visible body movement in both the lyrical and virtuosic passages, but the tone of the piano lacked the warmth one expects from a Steinway—perhaps due to the cold acoustics of the auditorium once again?
He performed brilliant cadenzas with nearly perfect accuracy in the faster sections throughout, drawing pin-drop silence from the audience in total absorption and concentration. The ensemble playing settled down during the first movement, leading to a tender slow movement that showcased pizzicato strings and delightful solos passed among the woodwind.
The last movement required the soloist to play almost continuously, and Nikolai maintained his expressive physical posture throughout to a stunning final cadenza and climax. After rapturous applause, Nikolai Kuznetsov returned to the piano to perform Astor Piazzolla’s “Libertango”—which left everyone breathless.
Following an interval, the same film projection introduced the slight figure of Hong Kong-born Aristo Sham, who also resides in the States, on his first visit to Oman. He expressed hope that the audience would enjoy his performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor and its varied emotional palette.
Aristo Sham is a less demonstrative player, both physically and visually, but his playing revealed absolute precision in his finger technique and a profound spectrum of emotional colour. The orchestra had now warmed to Rachmaninov’s style of romantic music—which is highly demanding for both the soloist and orchestra—and the first long, extended cadenza was executed with precision and accuracy. Solo phrases from the wind gradually emerged, including contributions from Luca Ridolfi on bassoon and again from Vanessa Sinigaglia on cello, followed by more subtle emotion expressed from the piano as the music returned to the first theme, tender and poised.
The lengthy second movement, although less famous, saw the strings sounding warmer and more romantic in texture. A splendid climax with percussive explosions and crashes, accompanied by rhythmic tutti chords, propelled the movement onwards, suggesting a filmic or programmatic quality. Aristo brought the melody forth beautifully, conveying the pathos in Rachmaninov’s lyrical themes with clarity of touch.
The famous theme reappeared towards the end, characterised by soaring romantic string playing, swelling and expanding towards the final cadenza and explosive climax.
For his solo encore, Aristo Sham chose something similar—a romantic Rachmaninov tableau with shifting tonalities—to conclude an exciting programme.
Let the voting begin—but how can one compare two different concertos by different composers performed by two individuals? The second certainly benefited from a focused, settled audience and a warmed-up orchestra, whereas the former gained from being the more famous, and slightly shorter, work. Both performances were formidable in their different ways, but together the concert was simply the best.
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