Tchaikovsky 5 & Abduraimov Plays Rachmaninoff

The Belgian National Orchestra at Concertgebouw Amsterdam 

Rachmaninoff composed his Third Piano Concerto, perhaps his most beloved work, in the summer of 1909 at the Ivanovka estate, the place where he had lost his heart and soul. The occasion for the composition was the lucrative offer of an American tour, during which Rachmaninoff wanted to showcase himself first and foremost as a virtuoso pianist. However, little time to practise remained after finishing the score: Rachmaninoff prepared for the premiere of his Third Piano Concerto by practising on a silent piano while crossing the Atlantic. After a first performance in November 1909 in New York, none other than Gustav Mahler conducted the second performance of Rachmaninoff's piano concerto. 

Tchaikovsky wrote his Fifth Symphony in 1888, at the height of his artistic powers. A theme - a kind of ‘idée fixe’ after Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique - appears in all four movements. Many interpret this theme as fate, but “if Beethoven’s Fifth is Fate knocking at the door,” wrote a critic right after the premiere, “Tchaikovsky’s Fifth is Fate trying to get out”. The first movement begins with a sombre andante, played by the clarinets. But before this movement ends in a minor key, a childlike joy of life emerges in a lively allegro. The tragic opening bars of the second movement introduce a beautiful horn melody, which suddenly breaks through the gloomy cloud cover like a ray of sunshine. The third movement is a waltz over which fate has little control. In the fourth movement the theme reappears, this time in the major - finally culminating in a triumphant march. 

Antony Hermus, conductor
Behzod Abduraimov, piano