RACHMANINOV'S much loved second piano concerto was sandwiched between two lively ballet suites in last night's offering from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra at the Lighthouse.
The talented Russian-born Israeli pianist Boris Giltburg, who last year gave a crisp and thrilling performance of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3, received a fittingly enthusiastic welcome to the stage.
His performance was passionate and playful, although bizarrely muted in some of the faster staccato sections of the third movement. The second, slow, movement was a highlight and well suited to his clear style of playing.
The orchestra opened with Falla's rhythmically interesting Three Cornered Hat suite, a colourful Spanish farce represented in the interaction of various instrumental combinations, ably delivered by the BSO.
More satisfying was the conclusion with Stravinsky's Petrushka, which demonstrated the prodigious talents of the orchestra's individual players through distinctive solos and duets for flute, trumpet, bassoon and more.
Conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto kept the ensemble tight during the suites and allowed room for Giltburg's moments of emphasis during the concerto as well.
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