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Millions of persons all around the world have watched the award winning 1945 movie, Brief Encounter. The film tells the heart-wrenching story of a middle class English wife and mother of two children, fatefully brought together in a brief encounter (hence the movie’s title) with a doctor. The action or rather the lack of it, for the affair of the heart remains unconsummated, principally takes place in the austere environs of an urban railway station for the duration of the last months of World War II. The tender romance amidst the two strangers begins when Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson), returning from one of her weekly buying goods excursions to her home town of Milford, gets a little grit in her eye. With a lot of sympathy, a passenger, Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard), a consultant doctor at a local hospital comes to her support and removes the grit. A triumph for playwright, Noel Coward and film maker David Lean the movie captured the mood of a sombre nation. It was in fact an adaptation of Coward’s 1936 one act play, Still Life. The motion picture came second in a British Film Institute poll (1999) of The Top 100 British films. It was also a hit in the U.S. where Celia Johnson was awarded Academy Award for Best Actress. Music from Which Poured Tears Why Sergei Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2 was chosen as the movie’s theme music is not known. However, the romantic drama of the symphony was an inspired choice and eternally related with the movie. Many regard it as the most romantic piece of orchestral music ever written. It reached No. 1 position in Classic FM’s annual Hall of Fame listeners’ choice of 300 best pieces of music. Less well known is the background of the concerto itself; It is of the strangest coincidence that it too was closely surely inspired by an unconsummated love affair of the heart. In 1887 Rachmaninov, one of Russia’s biggest musicians composed his First Symphony. It took two years to finish but unluckily it was premiered underneath the baton of a very drunk Alexander Glazunov, who, to add insult to injury was critical of it. That it was afterwards scathingly reviewed was scarcely surprising. As a consequence of this public humiliation Sergei Rachmaninov became clinically depressed. His self respect destroyed, the gifted conductor, composer, and pianist could thereafter do no more than doodle musical scores. In an try to restore his sense of self worth he was commended to neurologist and novice musician Dr Nikolai Dahl. During 1890 the valued practitioner administered a course of hypnosis accompanied by ‘positive suggestion therapy.’ It was only after four months of each day remedial sessions that Rachmaninov’s ability to create returned, the proof of which is found in a piano concerto that has inspired innumerable music lovers the world over ever since. Inspiration is not Dedication In his gratitude this moving piece of music was devoted to the psychotherapist by Rachmaninov. However, a dedication is not the same thing as inspiration, and anyway the social mores of the day would scarcely have permitted the true inspiration for the music to be revealed. The gifted pianist Howard Shelley, an expert on Rachmaninov, is thoughtful on just who did inspire the composer’s most famous concerto. He writes: “One fellow member of Rachmaninov’s family once suggested to me that rather than Dr. Nikolai Dahl’s hypnotherapy having been responsible for Rachmaninov’s miraculous recovery, it was in truth his interest in Dahl’s highly beautiful daughter that fired him up and got him composing again.” In fact the doctor’s daughter remained a shadowy figure in the background all around Rachmaninov’s life. It can not be creditable that such an interest would have been maintained without encouragement by the composer of what was to become the world’s most loved romantic piano composition. One thing for certain, such is it is everlasting charm; it will never be a brief encounter. © Most helpful customer reviews 17 of 17 people found the following review helpful. The Second Concerto has always been my favorite, and Orozco and de Waart do not disappoint. Except for one point in the coda, where de Waart misses the tympani to cement the climax, the performance is flawless.
I was impressed with the Rotterdam Philharmonic/de Waart performance of the Second Symphony also. Elegant and beautiful, this piece deserves a velvety touch and de Waart delivers.
The Isle of The Dead is also handled exceptionally by de Waart/RPO and it is as mysteriously beautiful as ever.
The Kriesler/Rachmaninoff transcription is a bonus.
This is a tremendous addition to any collection, and a joy to hear. Truly a 5 star CD. 11 of 11 people found the following review helpful. 6 of 7 people found the following review helpful. |
Best of The Best – Orozco and de Waart