Return of top Belgian musician welcomed Michelle Tilken on her podium State Orchestra of Athens. On 18 March he conducted Sergei Rachmaninov’s Fourth Piano Concerto with Plamena Mangova as soloist and Dmitri Shostakovich’s popular Fifth Symphony.

The evening began with “Rhapsody of Asia Minor” by Yannis Konstantinidis, which the Smyrna composer himself described as “a musical embodiment of life and a world lost forever.” The work uses authentic traditional melodies of Asia Minor. Their processing and especially transparent orchestration with a clearly defined role, especially woodwinds, directly refer to Ravel, and the ending does not hide its influence from the absolutely corresponding ending of “Bolero”. All this was perfectly recognized and reproduced by Tilken. Of course, a prerequisite for a successful interpretation of this particular work is the equally successful transmission of the special style and aesthetics of the dances of Asia Minor, an element that is not always easily perceived, and in all its dimensions, the main musician of another tradition.

Michel Tilken staged a drama of Dmitri Shostakovich’s popular Fifth Symphony.

Bulgarian pianist Plamena Mangova looks like a “force of nature”. Repeatedly exuberant, turbulent, sounding big and absolutely reliable, as well as impressive virtuoso comfort, it was the perfect choice for Rachmaninoff’s special Fourth Concerto. In this work, the piano is used not so much as a solo instrument, but as part of an imposing orchestra, with which it often collaborates, but is just as often opposed to it. Therefore, all of the above characteristics of Mangova are necessary so that the soloist is first heard and not dissolved in a sea of ​​once extremely dense orchestration, and then able to articulate a distinct discourse where Rachmaninoff foresees this. In the two live parts of the work, one could feel anxiety for the performance of a furious piano part, noticeable even with closed eyes.

Frankly, this element was reinforced by the fact that the pianist performed the Concerto in sheet music, which she or the girl sitting next to her leafed through with obvious concern about the swiftness and speed of the piece. Mangova revealed her art outside of the program in the famous “Night” no. Chopin’s 20: a very special interpretation, with a safe and strong sound, not at all fleeting, which, thanks to the poetic construction of phrases with great plasticity, achieved an extremely expressive result.

Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony was performed in the second part. The performance was supported by excellent input, mainly woodwinds (Janis Oikonomou, Pilafzi, Tsekos) and harps (Hagara, Krutseros). More than the flashy mechanical live parts that were very well tuned, the slang performance stood out, where Tilken brought out the drama of the writing, extracting a particularly expressive, intense sound from the strings.