Last night my husband and I were privileged to spend another evening with the Ann Arbor Symphony.  The program, titled Russian Romance,  included three pieces all energetic, rich with imagery, full bodied and lush.

They opened with the Overture to Rusland and Ludmila, from an Opera about a princess and her betrothed warrior, composed by Mikhail Glinka in the mid 1800’s.   The strings raced up and down long runs of notes as if they were a single instrument, the clarinet showcased in the middle captured my heart and the sound of the orchestra swelled and filled the hall with such a robust sound it was clear this piece was meant to be a fanfare for the rest of the evening.

Also on the program was Symphony No. 5 composed by Prokofiev in 1944.  Each of the four movements brought such imagery to my mind.  The first movement reminded me of a massive Russian army marching across a cold barren landscape.  The second movement was more “Peter and the Wolf ” -ish, only bigger, with animals running and frolicking in a deep Russian woods.  I’m pretty sure I heard an elephant or two in there as well.  I think this movement was my favorite.    The third movement started off reminding me of a dream scape, soft, floating, somewhat sad.  But it quickly turns into a nightmare with shrieking woodwinds and ranting strings moving closer and closer to some horrifying climatic event that we didn’t even want to imagine.  The fourth movement combined bits of all three, the playfulness of movement two intertwined with the marching army of movement one and the dreams in movement three.  And it all came to a crazy, frenetic, crashing conclusion that left us all gasping for air even as we began to applaud our appreciation.

But the highlight of the evening?  The twenty-five year old Israeli pianist Roman Rabinovich playing the Piano Concerto No. 3 by Rachmaninoff.  Prior to the concert he gave a little talk, and when asked what we as audience members should listen for during his performance he paused…thought a moment…then said: “There are a lot of notes.  And you should listen to every one of them.”  We all laughed.  Later he said we “shouldn’t think too much…just let the music take you.”  Good advice.

It started out lush and full as if someone was falling in love, then moved into a playful period, as if the two lovers were enjoying their new relationship.  But soon ominous tones began to infiltrate; trouble in paradise?  The music became more frantic and it became clear (to me anyway) that this was the story of an overly dramatic teenager.  Then came slower, and more plaintive music, almost contemplative music that moved toward angst and confusion.  Then the flutes calmed the senses and the oboe has a conversation with the rest of the orchestra as well as the piano.   The music become plaintive again and then the piano takes over, reminding me of an older couple walking hand in hand through the landscape, remembering their history together, the memories portrayed in different parts of the movement lively and full of life, including the dancing of a waltz together near the end of the lives.

Then the music chages again and it is as if we are on horses galloping through hills and woods, perhaps on a hunt.  We’re soaring over fields and I followed the pianist’s advice…I let go and flowed with the music for the rest of the piece.  I can’t tell you the details from this point on…it was as if we were flying and this talented young man was the horse with wings.   As the piece came to an end with a lush, fully orchestrated swell I knew the young lovers, the older couple and everyone in the audience lived happily ever after.

And as the last note slipped into the heavens the audience erupted.  Rabinovich played three encores; it was as if we couldn’t let him go.  Such talent.

What a gift all the musicians gave to us last night.  I wish you all could have been there.