Emanuil Ivanov and John Wilson at the Royal Academy of Music
The return to the Golden Era of Music Making
John Wilson, Henry Wood Chair of Conducting, leads the Academy Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Rachmaninov’s exuberant First Piano Concerto featuring the Academy’s first Piano Laureate, Emanuil Ivanov.
Emanuil Ivanov with John Wilson, what a team when combined with the mastery and youthful passion of the Academy Symphony Orchestra.
Rach 1 has never sounded like this since Byron Janis became arthritic. I am of course talking of live performance because that of Rachmaninov and Richter have always been historic recordings that are cherished by all . As Emanuil rightly says this must be one of the greatest cadenzas together with Prokofiev 2 where the piano is given a chance to almost outdo the orchestra. Emanuil came close but he did not count of John Wilson with his sumptuous Stokowskian string playing of subtle phrasing and colouring or the intricate weaving of the orchestra around the piano or the piano wrapped up around the orchestra. A true chamber performance where the piano and orchestra were united in music making of refined musicianship and a style where balance not force was the name of the game. A piano that could just add gleaming comments to the ravishing string playing in a conversation of intimacy that is all too rare these days.
Read more here at Christopher Axworthy’s blog
