RSNO Sir Stephen Hough Plays Rachmaninov Usher Hall Edinburgh 25th April 2026 Review
RSNO Sir Stephen Hough Plays Rachmaninov at the Usher Hall tonight was a chance for this audience to enjoy one of the leading talents of the contemporary classical music scene.
Starting with the headline performance this evening seems apt as it is a remarkable work, the first two movements completed when Rachmaninov was 17 years old, the third and final movement when he was still only aged 18.
The opening brass fanfare of Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto No1 (1919) before swiftly moving to the piano sets the tone swiftly for a work that over its 27 minutes performance time has everything in it that you imagine a piano concerto to have - power and passion in one small package with, for me, the second movement being one of the most perfect pieces of music ever written for any musical instrument. Somehow, even this early, Rachmaninov is introducing strands of sounds of the new Jazz age, with all of its vibrancy, into this work too.
This work in the hands of any competent classical pianist is always a little bit special, but when you hear Sir Stephen Hough performing it, something almost magical takes place. It is clear that this music has taken Hough to somewhere else, opened a door if you like to a special place of music and sound, and we the audience are invited for the performance to share a little bit of what is on the other side of that door with him.
Opening tonight's concert was Ravel - La valse (1920) and his orchestral re-imagining of "The Waltz" for me raises many questions that never seem to be answered. Ravel created this work as a choreographic poem for orchestra, although it is more commonly heard as a concert work. Ravel's own written ballet scenario sets the scene in an Imperial Court around the mid 1800s, and in part the music is an obvious tribute to the master of "The Waltz" Johann Strauss. This music though has a more modern feel about it, and is a perfect soundtrack to so many of those Hollywood dance musicals that were to come along in the late 1920s and 1930s. It is easy to imagine Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers gliding across the dance floor when listening to this music.
The world into which "La valse" was written, the immediate aftermath of the bloodshed and political chaos in Europe/World after World War I, was a very different one from the world of polite society and waltzes. As an ambulance driver during the war, Ravel had witnessed first hand the full horrors of this conflict. At the time of writing even the old capital of European culture and the waltz itself, Vienna, was to all practical purposes in chaos. Although Ravel denied that this music was in any way reflecting any of this, there is an unusually dark opening and closing to this work, almost as if this waltz is sandwiched in between something else, almost like a dream, perhaps even a memory of a world and a time that is now gone forever.
The whole second half of this concert was devoted to one work, Vaughan Williams - Symphony No2 A London Symphony. First performed in 1914 then revised in 1934, this massive, 51 minutes long work, also known as "The London Symphony", also by its time-line is a child of pre and post World War 1 worlds.
There is always a unique voice to Ralph Vaughan Williams’ work, and although here those "Westminster Chimes" will invoke in many people's minds a particular image, there is a dream-like quality to so much of this work.
In many ways, this symphony is more of a symphonic tone poem, or at least, tone movements put together, but whatever Vaughan Williams’ conception of this work truly was, it is outstanding and never feels like the performance is this long as it simply immerses the listener into its soundscape.
Always interesting for me here is the spotlight that is so often given to the often under-used viola. Not too surprising though when taking into account that Vaughan Williams was himself a viola player.
The ending of this symphony is also an unusual one. Here we do not have the often used triumphal ending. Instead the work becomes a whisper, then silence.
Bringing his own individual touch and insight into these three very different works performed, was conductor John Wilson.
The RSNO always bring their best to any performance, but when, as tonight, the music is so obviously a favourite of so many of the musicians on-stage, that little extra something is there too.
Review by Tom King (c) 2026
www.artsreviewsedinnburgh.com
Starting with the headline performance this evening seems apt as it is a remarkable work, the first two movements completed when Rachmaninov was 17 years old, the third and final movement when he was still only aged 18.
The opening brass fanfare of Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto No1 (1919) before swiftly moving to the piano sets the tone swiftly for a work that over its 27 minutes performance time has everything in it that you imagine a piano concerto to have - power and passion in one small package with, for me, the second movement being one of the most perfect pieces of music ever written for any musical instrument. Somehow, even this early, Rachmaninov is introducing strands of sounds of the new Jazz age, with all of its vibrancy, into this work too.
This work in the hands of any competent classical pianist is always a little bit special, but when you hear Sir Stephen Hough performing it, something almost magical takes place. It is clear that this music has taken Hough to somewhere else, opened a door if you like to a special place of music and sound, and we the audience are invited for the performance to share a little bit of what is on the other side of that door with him.
Opening tonight's concert was Ravel - La valse (1920) and his orchestral re-imagining of "The Waltz" for me raises many questions that never seem to be answered. Ravel created this work as a choreographic poem for orchestra, although it is more commonly heard as a concert work. Ravel's own written ballet scenario sets the scene in an Imperial Court around the mid 1800s, and in part the music is an obvious tribute to the master of "The Waltz" Johann Strauss. This music though has a more modern feel about it, and is a perfect soundtrack to so many of those Hollywood dance musicals that were to come along in the late 1920s and 1930s. It is easy to imagine Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers gliding across the dance floor when listening to this music.
The world into which "La valse" was written, the immediate aftermath of the bloodshed and political chaos in Europe/World after World War I, was a very different one from the world of polite society and waltzes. As an ambulance driver during the war, Ravel had witnessed first hand the full horrors of this conflict. At the time of writing even the old capital of European culture and the waltz itself, Vienna, was to all practical purposes in chaos. Although Ravel denied that this music was in any way reflecting any of this, there is an unusually dark opening and closing to this work, almost as if this waltz is sandwiched in between something else, almost like a dream, perhaps even a memory of a world and a time that is now gone forever.
The whole second half of this concert was devoted to one work, Vaughan Williams - Symphony No2 A London Symphony. First performed in 1914 then revised in 1934, this massive, 51 minutes long work, also known as "The London Symphony", also by its time-line is a child of pre and post World War 1 worlds.
There is always a unique voice to Ralph Vaughan Williams’ work, and although here those "Westminster Chimes" will invoke in many people's minds a particular image, there is a dream-like quality to so much of this work.
In many ways, this symphony is more of a symphonic tone poem, or at least, tone movements put together, but whatever Vaughan Williams’ conception of this work truly was, it is outstanding and never feels like the performance is this long as it simply immerses the listener into its soundscape.
Always interesting for me here is the spotlight that is so often given to the often under-used viola. Not too surprising though when taking into account that Vaughan Williams was himself a viola player.
The ending of this symphony is also an unusual one. Here we do not have the often used triumphal ending. Instead the work becomes a whisper, then silence.
Bringing his own individual touch and insight into these three very different works performed, was conductor John Wilson.
The RSNO always bring their best to any performance, but when, as tonight, the music is so obviously a favourite of so many of the musicians on-stage, that little extra something is there too.
Review by Tom King (c) 2026
www.artsreviewsedinnburgh.com
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