Alexeev Puts Spurs To Rachmaninoff Warhorse

The Age

Monday July 31, 2006

CLIVE O'CONNELL

MUSIC REVIEW: MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Master Series No. 6, Hamer Hall, July 27 GLORY OF VENICE Royal Melbourne Philharmonic, Melbourne Town Hall, July 29

GIVING fresh vigour to a piano concerto warhorse, Dmitri Alexeev outlined Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini with an invigorating clarity of articulation and expression during the latest Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concerts.

In this artist's hands, the work took on an unexpected refinement, without the abrupt twists and shifts of emphasis imposed by many a younger virtuoso.

What impressed most about Alexeev's interpretation was its care. Nothing was neglected or diminished in this splendid sequence of variations, even the elaborate sprays of notes in slower sections delivered with deliberate focus and a musical courtesy that spoke volumes for this pianist's interpretative probity. For once, orchestra and pianist built a partnership, Alexeev content to make his points without hogging the limelight.

On either side came Graeme Koehne's Nocturne 1 Twilight, a pleasant sample of neo-Impressionism, and the large-scale An Alpine Symphony by Richard Strauss, expertly managed by most of the MSO's extended personnel under conductor Lawrence Reeves.

GIVING a taste of the great Venetian school of composition, the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir and Brass with Monash University's Viva Voce enjoyed some great passages of play on Saturday night, using galleries, floor and stage of the Town Hall, surrounding the audience with massive washes of sound.

Under the patient control of Andrew Wailes, the combined bodies brought to vivid life that inimitable rolling grandeur where voices and instruments pile on top of each other in lavish common chords.

© 2006 The Age

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