...a vigorous, crisp and clear performance without a trace of Romantic excess
Rachmaninoff with the New York Philharmonic11 Oct 2018
Following “Tao,” the orchestra was joined by the brilliant pianist Garrick Ohlsson for Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, a vigorous, crisp and clear performance without a trace of Romantic excess.
“The wonderful American pianist Garrick Ohlsson was the soloist for the Rachmaninov, a big bear of a man with a Horowitz-like heft to his playing. He had an almost insouciant way with the early variations, his sizable hands flitting up and down the keyboard, his touch light yet never at less than ample when it came to sonority. His natural gravitas played out in the more sombre variations, the Dies Irae sections benefitting from an air of solemnity. His dexterity in the fiendish solo passages leading into and out of the hyper-romantic penultimate section was most impressive, as was his spirited finale.”