United Kingdom Haydn, Debussy, Beethoven and Robert Schumann: Roman Rabinovich (piano). Wigmore Hall, London, 17.11.2024. (CSa)
Joseph Haydn – Piano Sonata in F, HXVI/29
Debussy – Estampes
Beethoven – Piano Sonata No.31 in A-flat, Op.110
R. Schumann – Etudes symphoniques, Op.13
After an absence of nine months, the prodigiously talented Tashkent-born Israeli pianist and polymath Roman Rabinovich made a welcome return to London’s Wigmore Hall in a big-boned, full-toned and technically demanding programme of Debussy, Beethoven, Robert Schumann, and not least, Joseph Haydn. Some, like András Schiff, proclaim Haydn’s piano sonatas to be underrated treasures, full of humour, complexity and elegance. Rabinovich has been recording and performing these highly inventive masterpieces since 2018, and like his mentor Schiff, he adores them. Starting his programme with the Sonata in F, HXV1/29, Rabinovich made much of the comic false starts and eccentric rhythms in the opening Moderato, but, as Schiff has pointed out, Haydn’s humour is no laughing matter and Rabinovich’s crystalline account never lost sight of the movement’s profundity. After a finely decorated Adagio, we were treated to an expressive and subtly modulated Tempo di menuet.
Chronologically, it might have been more logical to place Debussy’s three Estampes after Beethoven’s penultimate Sonata in A, Op.110. Beethoven was, after all, Haydn’s famously ungracious pupil. Nonetheless, the inclusion of Debussy’s suite of evocative musical ‘prints’ midway between the master and his former student did not feel out of place. Rabinovich, who also happens to be a painter of distinction, employed a palette of tonal colours which were bolder than the hazily impressionistic and delicate shades one normally associates with this piece. The rain pelted down relentlessly in his Jardins sous la pluie but there was much to admire in his steely, note perfect rendition.
A bold but thoughtful reading of the Beethoven sonata concluded the first part of the concert. Rabinovich’s narration of the Moderato cantabile was warmly lyrical, creating a contemplative atmosphere which was quickly banished by a startlingly off-beat and vigorously played second movement. The third movement Adagio, so gorgeously expressive when played more tentatively, was loudly declarative, and might have profited from a more varied and subtler dynamic. Nonetheless, all came right in a joyful and life-affirming final fugue.
One work dominated the second half: Robert Schumann’s Études symphoniques Op.13, a monumental sequence of contrasting musical episodes. The 12 movements, some added by Brahms after his friend Schumann’s death in 1856, were based on Schumann’s own fictive heroes, Florestan and Eusebius, and intended to personify the extrovert and introvert sides of the composer’s personality. This challenging work, which tests the extremes of an artist’s technical ability and emotional expression, was played by Rabinovich from memory and delivered with supreme virtuosity, albeit at similarly high dynamic levels.
Two showstopping encores ended the evening, both by Rachmaninov: his Prelude in G minor No.5, Op.23, and No.4 of his Op.16 Moments Musicaux. Those fortunate enough to have been present at this concert and those who missed it might like to note that Rabinovitch returns to Wigmore Hall on 28th February next year in a concert of music by Rameau, Ravel, and Scriabin. It also includes Mussorgsky. It will be particularly intriguing to discover how this hugely gifted pianist and accomplished painter responds to Pictures at an Exhibition.
Chris Sallon