Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia - Brahms & Dvorak - 03/14/26

Johannes Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Opus 83 

Antonin Dvorak: Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Opus 70 

Conductor: Daniel Harding 

Piano: Daniil Trifonov 

Life has been good for classical music lovers in Rome lately, as one week after Chinese fearless maverick Yuja Wang’s dynamite performance, the unflappable Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia was getting ready for Russian old soul Daniil Trifonov, who was going to tackle no less than Brahms’ epic Piano Concerto No. 2. The occasion would also incidentally be a very exciting wrap-up of my attendance at the Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone since my Roman stay is slowly coming to an end. 

But then all hell kind of broke loose earlier in the week, when I had to give up my original plan (and the good seat that was going with it) to attend the Thursday night concert due to a frustrating combination of temporary lower back pain and truly apocalyptic weather. Add to that the exasperating finickiness of TicketOne’s website when I tried to buy another ticket on Friday (the 13th!) for the Saturday evening concert, and it is easy to see why just getting to the packed Sala Santa Cecilia in relatively good shape and in mild weather—and with a hard-earned digital ticket—already felt like a small victory of sorts even before the music began. 

While I confess that I have always been partial to the youthful élan and intense drama of his Piano Concerto No. 1, I will also readily admit that Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto Ni. 2, which he completed 22 years after the first one, shows the kind of complexity, breadth and poise that can only come with experience. On Saturday evening, Trifonov handled the sprawling piece with utmost knowledge and commitment, knowing exactly when to let blazing virtuosic sparks fly off and when to exercise an eloquent restraint, and delivered an awe-inspiring performance. 

While the entire journey was magnificent, I must single out the stunning Andante, whose gorgeous theme by the cello first discreetly loomed in exquisite simplicity before slowly leisurely coming into full bloom with a little help from the piano and its splendid ornamental flourishes. This was the undisputed highlight of the evening, the kind of extraordinary moment that feels suspended in time and leaves one at a loss for words once back to reality, not only for me but also for many others considering the eventual thunderous round of applause dedicated to solo cellist Luigi Piovano. 

Amazingly enough, even after this marathon, and with quite a bit of insistence on our part, Trifonov came back with a thoughtfully introspective encore that shall regrettably remain unknown to me. 

After intermission, the originally packed concert hall showed a few empty seats, including the woman to my left, who had clearly come for Trifonov and apparently figured that things could not get any better. In fact, they did not, but then again, how could they? I cannot say that I am a die-hard Dvorak fan, but I am happy I stayed for his Symphony No. 7, which turned out to be a very pleasant tribute to Czech music, not to mention that having a work by Brahms’ number one fan, mentee and friend kind of made sense at this point. The orchestra responded very well to their newish music director—and conductor for the evening—Daniel Harding, and their energized performance of the richly colorful score put a satisfying end to my Roman music season.