For those about to Rach, we salute Yu

By Shannon Boklaschuk, The StarPhoenixFebruary 16, 2010

Saturday night's Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra (SSO) concert had it all -- excitement, drama and romance.

The sold-out performance at TCU Place -- suitably called Love Across an Ocean, as it took place one day before Valentine's Day -- kicked off with an announcement that the Frank and Ellen Remai Foundation will participate in a matching challenge to raise funds for the city's orchestra.

"A community that makes music is a healthier cultural community compared to one that does not," said local music icon David Kaplan, whose speech was followed by enthusiastic applause from the crowd.

Following the announcement, the concert began with a pleasing performance of Edward Elgar's Serenade for Strings in E Minor. As the name of the piece suggests, the music highlights the beauty of the stringed instruments, and the SSO did a fabulous job of playing it, thus setting the romantic tone for the evening.

For the second piece, Johannes Brahms' Variations on a Theme by Haydn, additional musicians joined the string players on stage. The SSO played the majestic-sounding music with intensity, and the dramatic ending was appropriately powerful.

Following a brief intermission, the string players were front and centre again, with a performance of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings. The pretty, and relatively short, piece was the perfect appetizer for the evening's main course: The highly anticipated performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3, by guest artist Thomas Yu.

Colloquially called the Rach 3, the piece is both revered and feared; it is famous for the technical and physical demands on the pianists who attempt to play it.

On Saturday night, 32-year-old Yu -- a former Saskatoon resident who now runs a periodontal practice in Calgary -- was certainly up for the challenge. His performance was, in a word, amazing.

Members of the audience could sense the excitement in the air as Yu calmly stepped onto the stage and took his place at the piano. From the first note to the last, as Yu's fingers furiously moved up and down the keys, the crowd was spellbound. Yu was in complete control of the music and the piano, the mark of a true virtuoso.

You could say he really rocked the Rach.

As soon as Yu's performance ended, TCU Place was filled with explosive applause, as audience members jumped to their feet for a lengthy standing ovation. Cheering and shouts of "bravo" could be heard throughout the auditorium.

After the clapping subsided and two little girls brought Yu flowers, the pianist returned to the stage for a brief encore, which he played in celebration of Chinese New Year.

"Thank you so much for making my dreams come true," Yu said to the crowd.

Thank you so much for the absolutely incredible performance.

It was certainly a night to remember.

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