The terrific Trpceski

12 Jan 2008, Simon Trpceski, MPO, Bakels

The Elgar Wand of Youth Suite No 2 made a charming musical entree to the highlight of the evening. Delightfully played by the MPO players (especially flautist Hristo Dobrinov in his solo), the Elgar made a welcome change from the "core repertoire" that has plagued most of Matthias Bamert's programming. It was also very good to welcome back former MPO MD, Kees Bakels at his sparkling best. I had not seen the famed Macedonian pianist at the DFP Hall before, having missed his prior 2 appearances. This time, with Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 1 on the programme, this proved to be an unmissable proposition. Rightly so, as his technical command is peerless, the tone is nice and rounded and his musical manner is straightforward (much like Andsnes but unlike Pogorelich and Toradze). After the interval, we were treated to a MPO premiere of Dvorak's Fifth Symphony. We had heard the symphony performed before by the La Scala PO under Riccardo Muti. However, maestro Bakels was not able to disguise the poor structural construction of the piece. Muti made the piece flow better and his interpretation was more coherent and enjoyable. Anyway, it was a fine night out - thanks to Trpceski's brilliant pianism.