Review: Saskatoon symphony delivers audience favourites on opening night

There aren’t many pieces of music more theatrical than Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto.
Take the opening: The pianist starts alone, striking a single chord so softly and ominously that the audience is immediately sucked in and breathless. Another block chord follows, and then another, getting progressively louder and more tense.
When the tension finally seems unbearable, the dam breaks and the pianist lets loose huge arpeggios spanning almost four octaves. The orchestra joins in