Pablo Heras-Casado Conducts Dynamic Concert Fit for the City’s Musical Annals Record Books
By GEORGE B PAROUS
“I made up my mind that I will live my life only for the sake of music, and I decided that I will give up everything for [it],” Yunchan Lim has stated at a press conference. “I wanted my music to become deeper, and if that desire reached the audience, I’m satisfied.”
The dynamic pianist must have been very satisfied, indeed, with the reception he received following last evening’s performance, under conductor Pablo Heras-Casado, of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra in C minor, Opus 18. He was resoundingly, uproariously applauded; cheers and thunderous pandemonium reigned through recalls too many to count, and the young man calmly and graciously bowed numerous thanks to the Heinz Hall throng as the floral bouquets began to make the rounds. After Lim became the youngest person ever to win gold at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in the summer of 2022, it was remarked by La Scena that his performances throughout had displayed “magical ability” and “natural, instinctive quality.” But a critic with Seen and Heard Internationally best prophesied last night’s concert and its reception after hearing Lim play Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 – “The applause that followed was endless: a star had emerged before our eyes.” That happened here last night. And it’s a safe bet that it will happen again and again at each new venue, after each display of such deep musicality and astonishing technique as was displayed by the virtuoso last evening. Worldwide audiences will revel in his playing for many years to come, as he is not yet nineteen.
Yunchan Lim (photo by James Holecrop)
Pablo Heras-Casado and the magnificent Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra gave bravura performances during the two-part concert, as was to be expected. Always, the world class players deliver precise, tight and academically correct readings; but they and their conductors consistently do so much more. The soul of the music, the soul of the composer, unfolds before the enraptured audience time and time again. The evening began with a beautiful reading of Claude Debussy’s Prélude à l’après – midi d’un faune (Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun).
The sensual, sensuous composition was sumptuously read by conductor and instrumentalists, increasingly lovely as the work reached its finale. Perhaps it was an air of anticipation that seemed to drag the tempo minutely at the start, but the sum of the whole was a grand interpretation. Its themes were deliciously introduced by the woodwinds – with the delicate yet harmonically advanced accompaniment of soft horns, strings and harp played in grand form by the various sections. The brief piece was a rare breath of fresh, French air in a city which hears too little of the genre, so it sometimes seems, and earned the evening’s first hearty ovation.
The Rachmaninoff concerto’s themes and virtues might be described another time, but everyone knew from the start it was the evening’s main attraction, with Mr. Lim’s playing the pièce de résistance. He kindly added a very generous encore – variations on Bellini’s “Casta diva,” from Norma. At the thrilling conclusion the audience reveled in an exciting intermission, with too many clever commentaries buzzing through the foyer crowd to remember. It was somewhat of a surprise (and disappointment) to see that the orchestra floor quite noticeably thinned for the second part.
Manuel De Falla’s The Three-Cornered Hat was a delightfully entertaining, relaxing second half. The piece’s brilliantly original and lively orchestration was delivered by Maestro Heras-Casado and the huge body of instrumentalists quite vividly and with great aplomb, and introduced the evening’s second soloist, Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano. Her fine tones were heard far too briefly from behind the orchestra – then behind the scenes, as denoted by the score. The allegro molto movement of a Nikolai Kapustin trio was played as a postscript to the concert, and refreshments were available at the Heinz Hall bar room for an additional hour after the performance’s conclusion.
It was a grand PSO night in Pittsburgh. Catch the matinee Sunday while you can!
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Detailed information on the program, and tickets for Sunday’s matinee repetition, can be found at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra website. The gallery looks like the best chance at this point, though some spots remain elsewhere, but the question of how many seats will remain available by Sunday afternoon after news spreads would encourage securing tickets ASAP.
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