Anyone who was stuck at school the weekend before spring break was afforded a once in a lifetime musical experience. The Musical Arts Society of New Orleans presented the Concerto Showcase on Sunday, March 20, a concert featuring the 2004 New Orleans International Piano Competition finalists Jae-Hyuck Cho and Alexander Moutouzkine. The competition is held annually in the summer at Loyola. The winners go on to perform concertos of their choice with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. Loyola’s School of Music hosted the event, which included the finalists and the LPO under the direction of Maestro Klauspeter Seibel.
For a classical piano literature lover, certain composers and works automatically come to mind. There is Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23 – possibly the most well-known piano concerto ever written. Also, a top choice for piano lovers is Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18. This concerto is one of the most difficult piano works to master; audiences can go years without actually hearing this concert performed live and even longer to hear it performed well. Maybe once in a blue moon, one might be able to hear Franz Liszt’s Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major performed live. Liszt wrote music that was challenging for anyone but himself to play.
Those who attended the Concerto Showcase, heard all three of these solos performed by pianists who are the future masters of piano performance.
The silver prize-winner Cho, a native South Korean and graduate of the Julliard School, performed Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1. It is extremely popular as well as difficult. Cho played the concerto with great passion and depth. He took a slower tempo than what some might be accustomed to, but it worked. This brought out harmonies and nuances in the music that might not be as apparent at a faster tempo. It certainly was a thrill to hear this piece.
There was no question as to why Moutouzkine is the gold prize-winner of the competition. The 25-year-old native Russian chose Liszt’s Concerto No. 1 as his concerto. This work is the epitome of virtuoso piano playing, and Moutouzkine attacked the piece in a way that left the audience spellbound. He seemed to dig in to the piano during incredibly complicated sections, in which a more timid pianist might back away.
Due to an injury, the third finalist and bronze winner Darrett Zusko cancelled, and on 48-hours notice, Moutouzkine announced that he would play Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2 in place of the missing finalist. No one in the audience seemed disappointed by the replacement. The Rachmaninoff No. 2 is one of the most beloved concertos. The theme from the second movement became even more popular to recent generations when used as the theme in Eric Carmen’s 1975 hit “All By Myself.”
Moutouzkine’s delicate handling of the piece along with his extremely accurate, yet emotional interpretation left many of the audience members in tears. The LPO played, and Maestro Seibel conducted with a passion and fervor that matched the pianist’s.
The LPO has never played as wonderfully as they did that Sunday.
Justin Hopkins can be reached at [email protected].
