Feb 17, 2023
RACHMANINOV Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
w/ BBC Symphony Orchestra
Hannu Lintu, conductor
Feb 20, 2023
BEETHOVEN 32 Variations in C minor WoO 80
WIDMANN Intermezzi
BRAHMS 3 Intermezzi op.117
May 9th, 2018
With Vladimir Ashkenazy (conductor)
Brahms: Fantasies No. 1 in D minor
That dense sound of the inspired strings accompanied the exposition of the first theme of Rachmaninov’s concerto, in which Kozhukhin shone both technically (impeccable pulsation, even in the fastest passages of the Adagio sostenuto) and expressively, with intense phrasing in the extreme movements and articulated by a subtle rubato in the interlude while delicate according to the moment, in an outstanding performance. That he also knows how to use the keyboard as a means of communicating the most intimate sensations was evident in the very delicate way he phrased the propina (with an infinite number of dynamic gradations below the piano) “In the church”, the last of the pieces from Tchaikovsky’s Album of his youth.
