Music has a way of transforming people, including artists themselves. The audience at the Vancouver Symphony concert on Saturday evening (April 23) was forewarned before the concert began that featured soloist Alexander Toradze was feeling a shortness of breath, and although he had passed a COVID test he might not be able to perform the scheduled program. There was a long pause of several minutes before the legendary pianist carefully walked to the Steinway center stage, accompanied by Dr. Michael Liu, the orchestra’s pianist who is on the staff at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center.
Toradze looked uncomfortable initially, but after he positioned himself at the keyboard and started playing Igor Stravinsky’s “Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments,” he became totally committed to music making. It was quite remarkable considering the difficulty of the piece, which contains a lot of dissonance, tricky entrances for all players, and super-thorny passages for the pianist.
The winds (brass and woodwinds) plunged into the ponderous opening statement as if they were towing a huge weight (which seemed to be exactly what Stravinsky wanted), and then suddenly, Toradze pounced on the keyboard and music took off like a scattershot in all directions. The pointillistic and percussive lines continued at a fast pace with rapid-fire collaboration between the orchestra and the soloist. It finally slowed down to some of the mournful dirge of the opening before acquiring sustained fortes and an emphatic ending that elicited applause from the listeners.
The second movement had a tender and prayerful quality in which Toradze caressed some of the notes in the exposed sections as if searching for just the right sound to bring out the cantabile feeling of the music. The segment in which the oboe, flute, and English horn accompanied Toradze was exceptionally balanced.
Toradze and company marched into the third movement with gusto. After a brief segue to the dirge from the first movement, the ensemble resumed to a lighter and almost humorous style before quickly wrapping things up with a snappy ending.
After resetting the stage for the strings, Toradze returned to the spotlight for Dmitri Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto. He made this lighthearted piece sparkle its playful themes in the first and third movements. The beautiful second acquired an ethereal effect when Toradze cast gentle, melodic lines above the drone of the lower strings. The third movement bustled at breakneck speed with a delightful, syncopated line that had slight, catchy variations.
The audience responded to Toradze and the orchestra with enthusiastic applause, and Toradze thanked the orchestra and music director Salvador Brotons for accompanying him with great sensitivity.
After intermission, the orchestra gave a heartfelt performance of the Ukrainian National Anthem. This piece was not on the program, and it resonated in the hall because more than half of the audience stood up while it was played.
Brotons and the orchestra closed out the concert with a stirring rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Second Symphony (“Little Russian”). The orchestra terrifically conveyed the melodic themes – some of which are based on Ukrainian folk songs – with an excellent esprit de corps. The horn solos were exceptionally played by Charles Crabtree. The trumpets, trombones, and tuba had a field day with their passages, especially in the final movement with its exchange of volleys. The violins cruised along very well except for some quick ascending runs in the final movement.
Brotons, who excels with Russian music, conducted the Tchaikovsky impressively from memory, and the audience rewarded the musicians with cheers. Everyone went home with a smile.
Postscript: Toradze went to the emergency room at one of Vancouver’s hospitals on Sunday. I was told that he was not able to perform. So the orchestra began Sunday afternoon’s concert with the Tchaikovsky and showed video replays of the concert on Saturday evening. Everyone wishes Toradze a speedy and thorough recovery. Extra kudos to MD Liu.
As a member of the audience, and a Board member of the Vancouver (USA) Symphony, this extraordinary performance by pianist Alexander Toradze was, in retrospect, even more extraordinary when we learned of his health condition. Many thanks to Mr. Toradze for being willing to perform and with such enthusiasm and charm.
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