Utah Arts Review

Sir Stephen Hough is no stranger to Utah Symphony concertgoers. The British pianist has collaborated with the orchestra countless times over the years, most recently in January 2024 when he gave the local premiere of his Piano Concerto, “The World of Yesterday.”

This weekend, Hough is back onstage in Abravanel Hall playing Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Based on the last of the “24 Caprices for Solo Violin” by the Italian violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, the immensely popular piece has been the inspiration for many composers, but it is undoubtedly Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody that is the best-known and most popular work based on Paganini’s caprice. 

As is the case with all of Rachmaninoff’s works for piano, the Rhapsody is a fiendishly demanding piece for the soloist. Hough’s impeccable pianism and refined musical sense turned the work into an effusive outpouring of lush romanticism, with the bravura writing carefully turning into fluid, seamless, ethereal magic.  

For the pianist, the 24 variations alternate between fast, virtuosic pyrotechnics to gently flowing lyricism. Hough captured the character of each variation with his finely honed playing allowing the music to flow naturally between the variations and deftly integrating the virtuosity into the overall musical structure. In the famously popular 18th variation, Hough crafted a gorgeously expressive reading that underscored the richness of the music and its passion and emotional range. 

The orchestra, under the baton of guest conductor Alpesh Chauhan, matched Hough’s impeccable playing. Chauhan allowed the strings to soar with the melody and supported the soloist with well defined playing. Theirs was a solid collaboration throughout, with the orchestra and soloist playing off and supporting each other.

Hough treated the audience to an encore of a Scottish folk song, charmingly rendered.

The concert concluded with Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, a dark, brooding work that, despite its overall harshness oand gloom, nevertheless ends in a burst of triumph. Chauhan gave a compelling reading that emphasized the power and intensity of the work.

The British conductor, making his Utah Symphony debut, displayed a great deal of sensitivity as he explored the multi-faceted dimensions of the four movements and the expressions and moods that flow through eachs. His direction was nuanced and he elicited well defined and clearly iterated playing from the orchestra.

Chauhan captured the bleak landscape that Shostakovich paints in the opening movement with bold clarity, coaxing the orchestra to play with fiercely expressed phrasings in the strings, punctuated by stark interjections from the woodwinds and brass.  

The second movement is a rather satirical and eerie parody of a scherzo, and Chauhan got the orchestra to play with precision and crisp articulation that underscored the quirkiness of the music. Concertmaster Madeline Adkins and principal flute Mercedes Smith provided notable solos.

The third movement is a deeply felt outpouring of emotionally wrought soul-searching. The music feels as if Shostakovich exposes himself with his innermost thoughts; there is a pathos to the music that is almost unbearable, but draws the listener in with its depth and searing musical lines. Chauhan captures this with his perceptive direction, coaxing the orchestra to play with subtle shifts in inflection and dynamics.

The finale’s frenetic energy is in stark contrast to the previous movement. Whereas the third movement exudes a sense of hopelessness, the finale ends with joyous triumph, as if Shostakovich wants to emphasize that adversity can decisively be overcome.  Chauhan captures this nervous restlessness succinctly, allowing the orchestra to play full out in expressing the positivity at the end of what is an emotionally draining journey.

The concert opened with the Polonaise from Tchaikovsky’s little-known opera The Golden Slippers. Chauhan gave a spirited account of this delightful piece that captured the sunny brightness of the music. 

The program will be repeated 5:30 p.m. Saturday. utahsymphony.org