Rachmaninov and Beethoven rock the Opera House

Marcello Mottadelli left the Cairo Symphony Orchestra with a bang on 11 June, conducting two of the most enthralling classical pieces and featuring talented pianist Mohamed Shams

For the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, Saturday 11 June was a special day, for a number of reasons. The programme featured two great works from the classical music repertoire:Sergey Rachmaninov's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30and the famed Eroica,L. van Beethoven's Symphony no. 3 in E flat Major “Eroica”, Op. 55.
This is not the first time that Mohamed Shams, a 27-year-old Egyptian pianist chooses to play Rachmaninov's piano concerto no. 3 with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra; he already performed this extremely demanding work three years ago. Young as he is, Mohamed Shams is a very talented and a very ambitious pianist, something he has demonstrated in numerous concerts in Egypt and abroad. His repertoire includes many challenging works for piano.
The conductor, Marcello Mottadelli, added yet another flavour by announcing that after three years of serving as principal conductor of the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, this would be his final concert. I have avoided commenting on Mottadelli's work for months, for reasons to be explained below. For now, let me stick with Rachmaninov.
Sergey Rachmaninov (1873 –1943), pianist and composer, earned an exceptional place in the history of classical music as one of the finest piano masters of his time, a contemporary of Shostakovich and Stravinsky who managed, nonetheless, to be perhaps the last representatives of Russian Romanticism. Among his piano concertos, no 2 is the most popular. Written in 1901, it was an instant success, a miraculously birth following a long struggle with depression and creativity block. But it's Rachmaninov's piano concerto no. 3 (often referred to as "Rach 3") is even more mature and far more elaborate on both the technical and emotional levels. Composed in 1909, the concerto premiered in the same year with Rachmaninov himself as a soloist. Until the end of his life Rachmaninov went on performing the composition, making a profound mark on generations of pianists and audiences alike. Spending a significant portion of his life in the 20th century, Rachmaninov is among a handful composers and performers whose own recordings we can enjoy.
The enormous emotional charge Rachmaninov channeled into the concerto no. 3 covers numerous marvelous details, soothing and shocking, in turn, but always providing a convincing solution to a musical problem. Rach 3 carries many beautiful poetic lines but its lyricism is never too blunt. The fine, but well-defined lines of romantic music are especially apparent in the first movement (Allegro ma non tanto); and they become abundant in the second movement (Intermezzo: adagio).
Rachmaninov playing this concerto set a model of its interpretation that does not have to be followed by other pianists, but reveals what probably remain the best technical approaches to the musical phrases it contains. Rachmaninov's interpretation is also a rather fast tempo in comparison with many other performers, whose speed ranges from the very fast and startling (Martha Argerich's or Vladimir Horowitz's, who nevertheless do not sacrifice the excellence of the interpretation) to the extremely leisurely (Vladimir Ashkenazy) and the lyrically crawling (Evgeny Kissin).
Performing Rachmaninov piano concerto no. 3 with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, Mohamed Shams chose to follow the tempo of the master himself. This interpretation helps the pianist avoid over-romanticiing the concerto, even if he sometimes – a very few times it must be said – Shams tended to mash the notes. This is an extremely demanding composition to move through and requires accuracy with every note; all in all Shams's performance is evidence of technical maturity. Shams has what it takes to meet the technical demands involved, but more importantly he is a passionate performer and this serves him beautifully in the multiple strong climaxes that occur in the first and third (Finale: alla breve) movements.
Equally strong was the cadenza of the first movement: Ossia. Shams gave a powerfully expressive rendition of this extremely difficult piece of music. This cadenza is a soaring peak of the composition and can give an impression of a climax, which might be the reason Rachmaninov decided to compose another, more lyrical cadenza to replace it, which he and many other pianists perform. Shams's passionate interpretation of the concerto, naturally influenced choice of Ossia, which he performed with breathtaking skill, producing powerfully emotional and technically pure music.
Shams managed to exercise enormous power also in the final, third movement too, through which clearily-defined accents rhythmically led the listener into each consecutive climax, going up the emotional scale and eventually reaching a pinnacle.
The more lyrical parts of the second movement would have benefited from a refinement of edges and contrasts within the phrases, but Rachmaninov's extreme sensitivity can elevate many lyrical lines without rendering them. It is in the second movement, in particular, that Rachmaninov provides multiple overlapping melodic lines and it is up to the pianist to frame the dominant one without sacrificing the others (played with the left hand). This is yet another challenge of the composition; Shams drew wonderful pictures with his performance, and greater distinction from the left hand would have raised it to even higher levels.
The last challenge of the concerto is the music journey expressed through continuity from one passage to another. Being an extremely polarised composition in musical ideas, and breathtaking with their contrasting elements, the pianist needs to be constantly aware of the tempo versus the dynamics. Shams often reduced the tempo to stress the softer dynamics, especially as he ended lyrical phrases. This mode of expression is very powerful, but it is an interpretation popular with young performers who are naturally influenced by the weight of emotions emanating from Rachmaninov's music. On some occasions, however, these procedures break the continuity.
Concerto no. 3 provides endless challenges and, as has already been stated, it is a musical fiend, which, though deeply attractive, requires enormous control and awareness for its duration. Excellent on the technical level, Shams understands the concerto and controls it emotionally. Minor flaws could be mentioned, we could debate the interpretation of specific segments, but it will be interesting to listen to Shams perform this concerto again in a few years time – it will probably be among the most memorable ever.
*****
And onto Beethoven's Eroica, in the second half of the evening: it was rather inappropriate for Mottadelli to open the concert with a pompous speech in which he cited his own valuable contributions to the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, adding a brief presentation of future international assignments. Not only should such valuable contributions be assessed by another party, Mottadelli's impressions of work with the orchestra would have been far more interesting. And it is about time to point out that, in the three-year marriage, while Mottadelli added an important item on his CV, the Cairo Symphony Orchestra gained very little.
Not only was Mottadelli's attitude pompous, but his attire too was often problematic (turtle-neck one time, tuxedo the next – and never a thought to what the orchestra are wearing!). Now as before his gestures were completely strange to conductor's vocabulary: friendly waves to the brass section, jazz hands at times or thumbs up to Shams in the first half of the evening. More important of all, his understanding of the material he conducted was always conditioned by self absorption rather than creative communication with the orchestra. Over dozens of concerts, Mottadelli not once demonstrated musical vision. While he built his own personal repertoire, he seldom contributed to the artistic development of the musicians.
No need to elaborate much on Beethoven's Eroica conducted by Mottadelli. One of the greatest compositions of all times and Beethoven's hallmark, Symphony no. 3 stands at the threshold of musical Romanticism. It is believed that having listened to Eroica, Haydn commented on Beethoven, “He's done something no other composer ever attempted... everything is different from today.” Eroica is among the staple compositions of all concert halls; and any conductor aiming to capitalise on its wealth must have a clear idea of his own vision and how he would like to transfer it through orchestra to audience.
It is pointless to discuss each movement by itself since, under Mottadelli's baton, the same problems recurred in all of them – and there were too many problems. Mottadelli managed to literally destroy the orchestral structure of the composition, something that was painfully obvious in the second movement (Marcia funebre: Adagio assai). The lack of unity, balance and coordination among different sections of the orchestra was unbelievable; so were the failures of solo entries. Unbalanced dynamics struck the ears, especially in the second and the third (Scherzo: Allegro vivace) movements. Coordination problems are not to be blamed on the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, which has demonstrated its ability to perform Eroica to a much higher musical standard. There were many problems with the solo lines; the horns, once again, failing to deliver many beautiful lines and the bassoon failing in the third movement, yet it remains principally a conducting problem.
In Ahmed El Saedi's Symphony no. 4, I mentioned an unpleasant tension, but this has nothing to do with the abilities of the orchestra itself. Moreover, El Saedi had a clear vision for Beethoven's work. In Eroica, Mottadelli seemed to be too preoccupied with his own ego to pay attention to the music itself. I had avoided criticising Mottadelli because it did not make the best sense to do so in the context of the reviews in question, but this feels like the right moment to give an honest assessment of his performance over three years.
Since 11 June was his last concert, one could have expected a special energy to pour into Eroica, lifting the composition into the deserved level of perfection and at least a positive impression of the conductor. This did not happen. All I can say is that it is well for the orchestra to finally seek the kind of resident conductor they deserve – and my hope is that this is what it will get.
Photos: Sherif Sonbol