The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic’s eclectic programme for the penultimate Prom of the summer bore the stamp of Domingo Hindoyan, who took over as chief conductor two years ago and has been expanding its repertoire in new directions. The two main works, though, were reliable Proms hall-fillers. In Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 3 the soloist was Nobuyuki Tsujii, his playing urgent in the opening movement then densely textured in the second, as if in response to the thick, velvety sound Hindoyan coaxed from the strings during their big melody. Perhaps the finale lacked something of the music’s playfulness, but the robust propulsion of Tsujii’s playing counted for much. Afterwards Hindoyan helped Tsujii (who has been blind since birth) pick his way back through the violins to the piano for his encore – the Concert Etude Op 40 No 1 by Nikolai Kapustin, two minutes of gleefully manic jazziness thrown off by Tsujii with irresistible poise and spark.
