#seiji ozawa

Rachmaninoff:Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 18 - II. Adagio sostenuto
Krystian Zimerman, piano
Boston Symphony Orchestra | Seiji Ozawa, conductor

My first musical undertaking for the semester: accompanying my friend at a concerto competition. This is my first time serving as an accompanist. The experience so far has felt pretty low-key in the sense that I’m not in the spotlight, but definitely not low-key in the sense that the accompaniment plays a crucial role in the flow of the music and, more importantly, in how well the soloist performs.

God knows how many times I (and probably you) have heard Rachmaninoff’s famed Piano Concerto No. 2, but being the accompanist has revealed to me that I don’t really know this concerto front-to-back like I thought I did—and that my classical listening experiences have become jarringly passive. Both for this concerto and for many other pieces, I pay close attention to melodies, but take for granted the harmonic progressions supporting them; I can recognize instruments, but often do not understand how all of the voices in the orchestra interact with each other in complex dialogue and polyphony. I am also learning firsthand how difficult it is to translate woodwind and string textures to the piano.

So, lessons for the future: accompanying can reveal both previously uncovered insights about a piece of music and unsuspecting areas for improvement in your own piano playing.

Anyhow, my friend/soloist sent me the above recording because of Zimerman’s particularly clean sixteenth notes, which start at around 6:58. Overall, this is just an amazing performance with an all-star cast that demands to be heard.