Like many concertgoers, I’ve heard a lot of music but I don’t always recognize what I hear. It’s not usually an issue. Concerts have programs, radio stations now have playlists you can look up online. But encores are not always announced, and this was the case at last Friday’s Lancaster Symphony Orchestra concert. The pianist Santiago Rodriguez, who had just finished playing the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 1, after several trips back and forth from the wings as the standing crowd applauded, was relieved of his bouquet of flowers (do soloists ever get anything else? A book? A tennis racket? A gift card?) and gently nudged toward the piano bench by conductor Stephen Gunzenhauser. Rodriguez proceeded to play a gentle and ravishing piece of music — but I didn’t recognize it. After the concert I rushed off to write my review, forgetting to ask anyone what the piece of music was. And a few days later, someone e-mailed a question — what was that beautiful piece of music? So I emailed the maestro who emailed me right back. Friday’s encore turned out to be the Brahms Intermezzo op. 118, No. 2 — the very same piece Bright Sheng arranged for his orchestral piece “Black Swan,” which opened the concert. Blush! Gunzenhauser also added that on Saturday, Rodriguez played a piece for his 5-year-old daughter’s birthday and on Sunday, one of the “Goyescas” by Enrique Granados.
My review of the concert can be found here.
