On Saturday 28 September 2024, Leif Ove Andsnes performed a riveting rendition of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Under the direction of Edward Gardner, the programme also featured Rachmaninoff’s The Bells, with soprano Kristina Mkhitaryan, tenor Dmytro Popov, bass-baritone Kostas Smoriginas and the London Philharmonic Choir.
Reviewers were harmonious in their praise for Leif Ove’s performance:
John Rhodes from Seen and Heard International wrote, “Two works by one composer in this concert, very different in nature. Rachmaninoff’s Third Concerto is a fine work, even if it is not as popular as his Second. In many ways, his Third is his most admired. It is one of the most technically daunting of all the major piano concertos. Leif Ove Andsnes sailed through it at a lick, cutting off five minutes from the usual performance time. It held the capacity audience spellbound. Andsnes needs no histrionics à la Yuja Wang to impress, his sheer musicality and virtuosity are plain for all the see and hear. The first movement was full of muscularity, most exciting; rapt attention given by everyone in the hall for the lengthy first movement cadenza. Andsnes poured plenty of Romantic warmth into the second movement, the Intermezzo, before launching into a thrillingly fast Finale. Gardner and the London Philharmonic Orchestra accompanied with precision; pianist and conductor exchanging frequent glances to ensure tempos were aligned. This was a simply phenomenal performance and rightly rewarded by a standing ovation for Andsnes.”
Jane Darcy from The Reviews Hub wrote, “The real excitement of the evening is the presence of one of the world’s most renowned pianists, Leif Ove Andsnes. On dazzling form, Andsnes plays this most complex of piano concertos with such extraordinary virtuosity and style that it would be hard not to fall in love with it. Andsnes gives to his performance both tenderness and attack, paying minute attention to the constantly changing dynamics. One could sense something of his profound understanding of every phrase. After the lyrical opening melody come great swelling passages from the strings, and against this, Andsnes captures both the delicacy and the growing restlessness of the energy so characteristic of the piece. Particularly memorable were sections in which the piano and flute were in quiet conversation, principal flautist Juliette Bausor giving a beautifully sensitive performance.
“Andsnes is a fascinating performer to watch with his calm grace and spectacular dexterity. The London Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Edward Gardner, presents a thrilling interpretation of the piece, particularly in its intense crescendos and fiery resolutions. An exhilarating performance from both orchestra and soloist.”
David Nice from The Arts Desk wrote, “If there was ever a time for the inevitable ‘Rach Three’ (piano concerto, not symphony) in the composer’s 150th anniversary year – and I confess I dodged other occasions – it might as well have come in the fresh and racy shape of Leif Ove Andsnes and the equally alert, forward-moving playing of the London Philharmonic Orchestra under a kindred spirit, its principal conductor Edward Gardner.
“In short, there was no slack either in the concerto or an even greater masterpiece, the Choral Symphony The Bells, and yet no lack of emotional intensity either. Andsnes is usually more a mountain-spring kind of tonemaster, and here he had to ride the torrents. His unexpectedly brilliant way with the concerto revealed itself 13 years ago in a Barbican performance with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the late, much-missed Jiří Bělohlávek.
“It seems, from looking back at the review of that event, that not much has changed, nor should it: the total articulation of every note, whirring middle lines included, the forward momentum which Gardner and his players are also on to at every twist and turn, the refusal to sentimentalise the big melodies. Maybe the lower register isn’t as thunderously rich as it is with some of the work’s most celebrated interpreters – Nikolay Lugansky, for one – but the crystalline other extreme of the keyboard is startlingly at the service of Rachmaninov’s flyaway fantasy, crucial in the long, rooted middle sequence of the finale which can drag in less keen hands. A standing ovation was inevitable; Andsnes eventually gave us as encore the G sharp minor Prelude, Op, 32 No. 12, very much related to the more inward flights of the concerto.”
Photo: Helge Hansen Montag