Dramatic Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto Opens the McLean Orchestra Concert Season

On Saturday night Thomas Pandolfi delivered an exhilarating performance of Rachmaninoff’s magnificently tuneful Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor...what Pandolfi achieved with the McLean Orchestra was a rare mix of technical accuracy and cool confidence that created a masterful path through the concerto...preserved was the start-to-finish drama, rather than disjointed pieces of “business” just to display the pianist's chops.

Pandolfi also managed a trick that eludes even some celebrated pianists with Rachmaninoff’s music, which is to avoid transferring the power of the concerto’s thunderbolt bass notes to the top notes...by gracefully teasing out melodies and countermelodies, as well as luscious rolling chords, Pandolfi kept what could otherwise come across as percussive playing within the melodic structure of the full concerto...the effect was seamless, comprehensible and satisfying.

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