United Kingdom Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky: Vadym Kholodenko (piano), BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Gemma New (conductor). Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff, 31.1.2026. (LJ)
Prokofiev – ‘Classical’ Symphony in D major, Op.25 (1916-17)
Rachmaninoff – Piano Concerto No.4 in G minor, Op.40 (1925-6, rev. 1941)
Tchaikovsky – Symphony No.6 in B minor, Op.74 (1893)
Three Russian greats made up the programme for this concert with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) conducted by Gemma New at Cardiff’s Hoddinott Hall. It opened with Prokofiev’s short but evocative ‘Classical’ Symphony in D major, Op.25. This was followed by Rachmaninoff’s jazz-inspired Piano Concerto No.4 in G minor, Op.40, played by Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko. After the interval, New and the BBC NOW returned to perform Tchaikovsky’s final and soul-searching symphony, the ‘Pathétique’ in B minor, Op.74. This concert was recorded by BBC Radio 3 and will be broadcast on Classical Live, so do tune in.
Readers will be familiar with these three titans of Russian music. Their names alone conjure a soundworld that is entirely their own. Prokofiev is all about innovation. His music is almost stubbornly inventive, but it also has plenty of wit and a precisely calculated form (no doubt stemming from his dual reputation as an enfant terrible and a great chess player). Rachmaninoff is the old soul. As a die-hard Romantic, Rachmaninoff’s music has more in common with that of Tchaikovsky than Prokofiev (whom he met in Russia and later in the US, where they both relocated due to the turmoil of the Russian Revolution and creative censorship that followed). Tchaikovsky is the go-to composer for emotionally vivid music. His orchestration consists of grand, sweeping melodies which carry varied themes, including unrequited love, psychological introspection, and victory in war.
The challenge, then, for the instrumentalists, soloist, and conductor was to showcase such well-known repertoire in a way that translates each composer’s sensibility whilst also highlighting new and distinctive elements of each piece. They especially succeeded in this regard during the second movement of Rachmaninoff’s piano concerto and the and the first movement from Tchaikovsky’s ‘Pathétique’.
During the second movement of Rachmaninoff’s piano concerto, Kholodenko sat with his back arced forward and head drooped as if he was being pulled towards the keys. Not only his posture but the elemental quality of his playing brought to mind Glenn Gould. Kholodenko himself refers to the Canadian virtuoso in a 2019 interview when talking about his connection to Rachmaninoff’s music: ‘Like Glenn Gould, we can bring something more three-dimensional into play’. Kholodenko achieved this extra dimensionality and texture by underlining Rachmaninoff’s New York jazz-inspired syncopated rhythms, impressionistic pauses and trills. His characterisation of this movement saw him hold on tightly to the deeply introspective nature of the music rather than indulge the virtuosic runs and cadenzas that feature more prominently in the first and third movements.
For his encore, Kholodenko played a miniature by Rachmaninoff that inspired this second movement, further demonstrating a more mature interest in communicating ideas and emotions rather than impressing his audience with a more ‘wow-factor’ piece. Instead, Kholodenko’s encore was arrestingly beautiful and made me think of how suited he would be to playing Gershwin, Ravel (his Piano Concerto in G major in particular), and Korngold.
The BBC NOW’s string section performed well throughout the second movement of this piano concerto. New’s attention to the strings, particularly the violins, helped anchor the more impressionistic and improvisatory piano part. Her ability to guide and unify the strings is perhaps unsurprising given her initial training in the violin as a child growing up in New Zealand.
This sensibility could also be heard during the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Pathétique’ with the string section sounding tight when playing pizzicato at the end of the movement. Here, New ensured that emphasis was placed with intention. This enabled the orchestra to avoid any sentimentality that can distract from the more interesting and darker elements of the piece, which is often interpreted as an invocation of the composer’s depression and death (perhaps by suicide) in 1893. This was also the case in the piece’s slow final movement (Adagio lamentoso), but an audience member’s telephone alarm sadly detracted from the intimate atmosphere created by the orchestra which ebbs away with an air of resignation at the end of the piece. Despite this unfortunate distraction, under New’s baton, the BBC NOW sounded dramatic and poignant as they resisted the temptation to sit back into Tchaikovsky’s melodies, remaining focused and intentional.
This was not the case, however, during Prokofiev’s ‘Classical’ Symphony which sounded hurried and circus-like rather than light and Viennese. Prokofiev deliberately evokes Austria’s two famous composers – Haydn and Mozart – in this lighthearted and optimistic work. It is a piece that openly references the majesty and jest of these composers. During the performance, there were some appropriately airy and mischievous moments with the bassoons and double basses playing well, but there was a slight lack of cohesion that did not allow space for the piece’s charm to resound. This said, the BBC NOW certainly gave the audience accomplished performances of these familiar pieces, even if they did not always balance the light and dark temperaments within each movement.
Lucy Jeffery