Yet when required, as in the finale where the Lisztian qualities in the solo writing are more in evidence, she handled the thundering octaves and rapid downward scales with complete assurance, giving due attention to the marcato marking. Dăriecsu gave a considered and thoughtful reading, with measured tempi, quite dreamy and lyrical in conception. This particular warhorse is often ridden like a mighty steed and treated as an excuse for displays of bravura. A pity though that the last degree of total abandon, a sense that the whirling dervishes were in the room, was missing.ĭăriescu must have taken Debussy’s comment about the Grieg concerto being “pink bonbons filled with snow” to heart. Mandeal took a surprisingly relaxed view of the work, but there were plenty of deep, earthy sounds to savour and the dance rhythms were warmly articulated by the strings.
So the choice of curtain-raiser was entirely appropriate, a piece that nearly always spreads good cheer with its high spirits, the First Romanian Rhapsody by the country’s greatest musical figure (composer, conductor, violin virtuoso and teacher), George Enescu. the Romanian Ambassador underlined in his pre-concert address, with Romania’s National Day falling on 1 December and the centennial celebrations for the foundation of the modern state just weeks away. It was a kind of triple commemoration too, as H.E. How good it was to find the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra honouring the centenary of his birth in this concert with a rarely performed piece by the pianist-composer himself, his Concertino in Classical Style, conducted by his compatriot Cristian Mandeal, and with his fellow Romanian Alexandra Dăriescu as soloist. Within the space of not even a decade in the immediate postwar era, the world was robbed of some of the greatest talent imaginable: Ginette Niveu, Kathleen Ferrier, Guido Cantelli, Dennis Brain and, at the age of just 33, the Romanian pianist and composer Dinu Lipatti.
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