Two Russians and two knockout #2s

The two Russian works that we heard performed Friday night by the New York Philharmonic were each a work by a young artist at the beginning of his career. I always am a bit awestruck at the stories of young genius and the reminder of how much courage it takes for the young artist to make his/her mark in their field. Greg and I attended a fascinating Pre-Concert talk by John Mangum of the Philharmonic which filled in some of the background for each of these works.

Prokofiev wrote his Piano Concerto #2 in 1912 when he was 21 years old and just graduating from the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He wrote this work during a very difficult summer just after a good friend committed suicide. Prokofiev had considerable chutzpa and had used his Piano Concerto #1 written weeks earlier as the recital piece which won him the coveted Rubenstein prize from the Conservatory. Most students played Mozart or Beethoven but Prokofiev wrote these pieces to show off his technical brilliance and the Israeli pianist Yefim Bronfman rose to the occasion. I could not find a Bronfman recording of this particular piece but I hope to in the future because iTunes is presenting all of the Philharmonic concerts for this year. In the meantime I've included another artist from You-Tube because you can see her hands and the segment give you a sense of the nature of this piece.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWKT8VpGkZU

Rachmaninoff was a young artist who had to recoup his courage after a very cruel series of negative reviews, and a disastrous premier of his first symphony. It took several years and several months of serious psychotherapy before he broke through his "composer's block" to produce the exquisite Symphony #2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v60qgwtOQCI


This has always been one of my favorite symphonies-I'll test whether anyone is reading this blog by stating that I could have an orgasm listening to it. If you're reading this I think my statement deserves a comment!

Alan Gilbert conducted a brilliant, uncut version of this lush, romantic, intense symphony. I am looking forward to following Gilbert's career leading the Philharmonic. He floats as he conducts, using his entire body, stretching out to encompass the entire orchestra. He delicately moves on his feet, almost as if he were dancing. And the orchestra responds to his conducting. I don't recall hearing the Philharmonic sound this good. Friday's performance was a vibrant experience "Mr. Gilbert drew a revelatory performance from the Philharmonic" said Anthony Thammasini in his review
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/arts/music/09gilbert.html?ref=music

Our first of many New York Philharmonic concerts was exactly as I hoped the experience would be. We walked 3 blocks to the Clark Street Station, got on the 2 express train to 72nd street. We walked 6 blocks down Broadway and enjoyed the vibrant West Side on a Friday evening. It was simple, cheap, and wonderful. I am planning many more evenings like this for the next few months.