Garrick Ohlsson
REVIEW: Schwarz provides stellar advocacy for neglected American works with Palm Beach Symphony
From South Florida Classical Review
By David Fleshler
American music of the 20th century is a tougher sell for audiences than the works of Tchaikovsky, Dvořák and other composers whose output helps symphony orchestras keep the lights on.
But it can be hard to fathom why, considering the two composers whose pieces were performed Sunday by the Palm Beach Symphony at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. Paul Creston’s atmospheric Invocation and Dance and Howard Hanson’s dramatic, lyrical and ambitious Symphony No. 2 are as accessible as most popular works of the 19th century
…
But overall, this was a majestic account of a terrific symphony that is played far too infrequently. Schwarz and the orchestra deserve credit for giving South Florida listeners the rare chance to hear a live performance.
After intermission, the acclaimed American pianist Garrick Ohlsson took the stage to perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
Ohlsson is known for his fine technique and huge hands, which allow him to tackle passages that challenge other pianists. He could make the piano thunder in passages such as the grandiose openings of the first and third movements. He made it sparkle in effortless performances of rapid passages that decorate melodies in the orchestra.
But what was most striking about his performance was the sensitivity and style he brought to the work’s softer passages, to its melodies and to the elaborate ornamentations that accompany themes in the orchestra. In the first movement, he brought a sense of vulnerability, without ever losing the rhythmic pulse, to quiet melodic passages that expressed the work’s yearning romanticism.
In the last movement, he brought style and simmering heat to the famous second theme. And sensitive as he may have been to the work’s inward moments, he could draw a huge tone from the piano. Orchestra and soloists combined for a stirring account of the fortissimo concluding anthem, which like its counterpart at the end of the Piano Concerto No. 3, is a touchstone for admirers of Rachmaninoff’s music.
Standing ovations come pretty cheap these days, but this one was deserved. Ohlsson responded with two encores, a sensitive, probing performance of Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 9, no. 2, and a deft, witty account of Chopin’s Minute Waltz.