Prokofiev's Second Piano Concerto was once deemed hell in sound. A key work of pre-Soviet modernism, full of deliberately shocking dissonances and ear-splitting sonorities, it scared the audience half to death at its premiere in 1913. Nowadays its harmonies no longer cause offence, though the slithering figurations of the first movement and pulverising rhythmic repetitions of the intermezzo can still leave you feeling queasy. The solo part, however, is of such indecent difficulty that it remains one of the most gruelling challenges a pianist can face. Particularly if you're standing in for someone else and playing the concerto at a day's notice, as Nikolai Demidenko was tonight, replacing Arcadi Volodos in a performance conducted by Yevgeny Svetlanov.
Demidenko avoided what Prokofiev called self-conscious "acrobatics". The vast cadenza that forms the development of the sonata-form first movement is often turned into a circus act, but Demidenko welded it into the structural flow of the movement as a whole, allowing the emotional climax to come at the point of the orchestra's re-entry. The scherzo was all mercurial lightness and wit, while the intermezzo, with Svetlanov holding the beat rock-steady, shredded your nerves. The house went wild when it was over, with Yevgeny Kissin, who was sitting in the audience, leading the applause.
Svetlanov, now in his mid-70s, has been absent from the UK for too long, and the rest of the concert served as a reminder of what we have been missing. He swept the Philharmonia through Glinka's Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture with breathless excitement, prompting playing of knife-edge brilliance.
Rachmaninov's Second Symphony can veer towards sentimentality, but there was no trace of it here. Instead, there was a monumental spaciousness, a refusal to hurry, a perfectly judged unfolding of texture and emotion. The playing was beyond criticism. Rachmaninov's orchestral music has wafted in and out of favour of late, but Svetlanov proved that the Second ranks among the greatest symphonic statements ever penned.
· Further performance at Bradford Corn Exchange (01234 269519) tonight.
