CAUGHT BETWEEN A RACH AND TSAR-ED PLACE
For those not familiar with composer and classical pianist Hershey Felder, he’s something of a living homage to great composers of the last 200 years. In 1999, he debuted his one-man show George Gershwin Alone after interviewing many of the composer’s family members. Its success prompted him to make this his career niche, creating solo tribute shows where he narrates and plays as Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, Leonard Bernstein (see hyperlinked Stage and Cinema reviews), Irving Berlin, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Claude Debussy. One of his trademarks is breaking character at the end to take questions from the audience about the man he just played and how the show was created.
Rachmaninoff and the Tsar: A New Musical Play marks a new variation on his trademarked format. In playing Russian pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, he adds a second character for the first time. Rachmaninoff’s life ends, as the play begins, with his painful death from cancer at his grand home in Beverly Hills. For those final weeks in 1942 the great man is numbed with morphine. The play concocts that, during this time, he envisions himself meeting Russian Tsar Nicholas II (Jonathan Silvestri) and the two men sharing their distinct and sometimes overlapping struggles with one another. Nicholas questions Rachmaninoff fiercely about the significance of composition and music, giving Felder the excuse to play many of the composer’s pieces, which he does masterfully.
Despite the fact that Tsar Nicholas’s despotic choices created miserable, desperate times for Rachmaninoff’s family, in the world of bizarre-but-true tales, their two lives actually did overlap in an odd way. Nicholas’s entire family was massacred within minutes, but there was a legend that one daughter, Anastasia, survived and was spirited away. Years later, a woman bearing a strong resemblance to Nicholas was touted as being Anastasia. Rachmaninoff, in a case of “You can take the man out of Russia, but not the Russian out of the man,” felt an obligation to ensure that she was taken care of and saw to it, for many years, that she was cared for in New York, despite the two not getting along at all. (More to this interesting tale at this link and by seeing the show.)
At times, video is projected behind the men, mostly while Felder is playing, to help fill our imagination with images of early 1900s Russia. Unfortunately, the ability to see the images under Video Designer Stefano DeCarli was frequently challenging at Balboa Theatre. At one point, I was baffled at thinking I was seeing a Klansman before I realized that what I was seeing as a pointy hood was just a triangle of light that was picking up fog on the stage.
The entertainment value on this program is tremendously mixed. Most positive is Felder’s ability to play classical music practically without rival, which is part of why I was so eager to catch this production. In addition, there’s no questioning that Rachmaninoff led an interesting life on both sides of the world and that Meghan Maiya’s research on the man was intensive (Felder wrote the play). The problem is that the bickering between Rachmaninoff and Nicholas gets weary to listen to after so long; despite a plethora of great music, the play itself is one note. Despite my anticipation of the two-man format invigorating the show, the result was actually that the previous shows held my attention better than this one. Perhaps that is true to Rachmaninoff; perhaps, directed by Trevor Hay to play him as he was, he’s just not a very amiable and relatable character. But, accordingly, one leaves feeling more informed of his sad tale than moved by it. Thankfully, both men do have interesting histories, so there’s a lot to share in this production that includes fantastic playing of some of the greatest compositions of all time.
photos by Stefano Decarli
Rachmaninoff and the Tsar
reviewed at Balboa Theater, San Diego
ends on August 31, 2024
one hour forty minutes, no intermission
for tickets, visit Ticketmaster
also plays South Coast Rep’s Segerstrom Stage February 19 – March 2, 2025
for tickets ($70-$110), visit SCR
then plays Ensemble Theatre Company in Santa Barbara April 3 – 20, 2025
for tickets ($40-$94), visit ETCSB
for more info and tour dates, visit Rach and the Tsar
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
OK, I am admittedly a highly biased fan of both Felder and Rachmaninoff, and I walked out at the end fully uplifted and enthralled. Although I agree with some of your negative comments, I think we can forgive Felder with your own words: “Perhaps that is true to Rachmaninoff; perhaps, directed by Trevor Hay to play him as he was, he’s just not a very amiable and relatable character.” I see Rachmaninoff in much the same light as another of my heroes, L. van Beethoven, who was a well-documented misanthrope with a musical heart and soul of gold. Both gentlemen, with their respective problems (depression and deafness), related to other people primarily through their compositions, and we are blessed that this rich legacy has stood the test of time so well.
(Also, from my third row center seat, immediately behind the “splash zone” chairs, the projections were quite visible and worked well.)
To me the biggest surprise was feeling a rush of renewed and refreshed patriotism following the well-chosen encore of Rachmaninoff’s heartfelt and powerful rendition of our national anthem. The Russian/USSR experience constantly reminds us of how well off we are.
What a fantastic musical play!!! Deep, overwhelming. Great acting. And of course…the music. Speechless…