Rachmaninov without Romantic excess is lovingly dovetailed with some fine British works.

Adelaide Town Hall

24 May, 2014

Although there was much to applaud in conductor Martyn Brabbins’ choice of dovetailing this program with fine British works (Walton and Maxwell Davies), it was apparent that the capacity audience had chiefly come, with high expecations, to hear the young Decca signed pianist, Behzod Abduraimov, who had thoroughly impressed local audiences with his traversal of the Tchaikowsky No 1 a couple of years ago. This time the bar had been raised even higher with the choice of that ‘finger breaker’, the much-loved yet oh so technically difficult third concerto by Sergei Rachmaninov.

No mean slouch himself, Rachmaninov is still regarded by many as a piano virtuoso of the highest calibre, although it was only when Vladimir Horowitz took up the piece around 1920, that the work truly gelled with the concert-going public and its reputation as a pianist destroyer began to grow, reaching its apogee with the circus surrounding David Helfgott and the ensuing Oscar winning film, Shine, which did much to establish a relationship between the concerto and contemporary audiences.

However, with Abduraimov it was more a case of rather demurely making his...