Arcadi Volodos plays it quiet

Schubert Piano Sonata in E major, D157
Schubert Six moments musicaux, D780
Rachmaninov Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op 3 No 2
Rachmaninov Prelude in G-flat major, Op 23 No 10
Rachmaninov Prelude in B minor, Op 32 No 10
Rachmaninov Zdes'Khorosho, Romance Op 21 No 7 (arr Volodos)
Rachmaninov Serenade, Op 3 No 5
Rachmaninov Etude tableau in C minor, Op 33 No 3
Scriabin Mazurka, Op 25 No 3
Scriabin Caresse dansée, Op 57 No 2
Scriabin Enigme, Op 52 No 2
Scriabin Flammes sombres, Op 73 No 2
Scriabin Guirlandes, Op 73 No 1
Scriabin Vers la flamme, Op 72

Arcadi Volodos piano

Barbican Hall, London, 7 March 2019
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As a pianist, Arcadi Volodos, is very much sui generis. His pianism of such quality that it is a wonder in itself, as much for its poetic as technical capacity.

He performed the early incomplete D157 Sonata of Schubert with enormous care and a kind of radiant inwardness which made a maximum case for this sonata.  Most memorable was the hypnotic Andante.  Then began what must be one of the slowest performances of the Moments Musicaux in London recital history.  These are magical pieces, and Volodos' willingness to truly play piano was admirable.  But the effect was ever so slightly soporific.

The sequence of Rachmaninov preludes may have been expected to change the tone, but no.  Reflective, exquisitely weighted performances continued.  The B Minor Prelude Op 32/10 could have been written for Volodos' special qualities.  His velvet touch and deep musicianship turned its 5 minutes into a searching, epic experience.  But was not some drama missing?

Scriabin's miniatures are as important as Rachmaninov's to the piano repertoire and here Volodos' apparently limitless palate of colours and intonation spoke authentically.  There is always a question of how to shape these pieces.  Are they short, incomplete statements, or rounded coherent journeys? Volodos gave us supple pianism, but favoured the moment over the whole.

All of which led us to the inexhaustible mysteries of Vers la flamme (Towards the flame).  In many ways the culmination of Scriabin's mystical beliefs, the build towards the flames of destruction (of music? of the world?) was compelling as Scriabin's roulades of tremolos and harmonies rounded off the advertised programme.

This recital certainly did not catch fire.  However it was a fine meditative experience, eavesdropping on a pianist producing magical sounds, while stuck in a slow inward mode throughout.

Arcadi Volodos

Radu Lupu acclaimed in Beethoven

Beethoven: Coriolan Overture

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.4
Rachmaninov: Symphony No.2 

Philharmonia Orchestra
Paavo Järvi conductor
Radu Lupu piano

Royal Festival Hall, London 3 February 2019

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Based on decades of exalted musicianship, Radu Lupu is very much in the cult-status category in Europe.  The rarity of his visits to London ensured a packed Festival Hall for his concerto, and also some empty seats after the interval.

His musical prestige has for long also been a source of pride for his native Romania and this concert was accompanied by a foreword from the Romanian government during its current 6 month presidency of the Council of the EU.

Not that all of this has in any way affected the man. This evening will live long in the memory for Radu Lupu's direct, unaffected truth-telling. His physical presence on stage with his straight backed chair that of a genial monk, occasionally glancing at his figures with mild surprise they'd hit a wrong note, generally engaged with the music and his colleagues in the orchestra.

Lupu's particular magic was a wonderful match for Beethoven's Fourth Concerto.  Happy to play genuine pianissimos his approach emphasised the delicacy and clarity of the music, far removed from the thicker sonorities that are the norm.  His soundworld remains a delight from its distinctively pearly treble notes to the beautifully weighted harmonies of the bass.  Following enthusiastic acclaim, a perfectly judged encore of Brahms' Intermezzo Op 117/1 followed.

Beside all this Paavo Jarvi's approach to the Beethoven Coriolan Overture was studied rather than dramatic and the more successful Rachmaninov built up in slabs of bold, direct interpretation. A refusal to linger may have tempered the emotion at times, but of course this symphony does not lack for that.  The Philharmonia's woodwind did not have their most characterful night, but the strings and brass played with great depths of tone and drama, and what can be a wayward symphony developed towards a very satisfying sense of culmination at the end.

Radu Lupu

Alexander Karpeyev debut disc

Russian Emigré Composers

Prokofiev Visions fugitives Op.22 Nos. 1,4,8,9,11,14,15,18,19
Medtner Sonata-Ballade Op. 27
Grechaninov Op. 78/1-2, Op. 61/2,5,6
Rachmaninov Nyne otpushchayeshi from the All-Night Vigil Op. 37
Fragments (1917)
Etude-Tableaux Op. 39/7
Stravinsky Three Movements from Petroushka


Students of this blog will recognize this as the disc of the recital that Alexander Karpeyev toured internationally during 2017, the anniversary of the 1917 Russian revolution.  This original and excellent programme features the composers who left Russia immmediately before or after 1917: Prokofiev, Medtner, Grechaninov, Rachmaninov and Stravinsky.

All the music is chosen to illustrate the ‘final flowering’ of these composers between 1910 and 1919.  After leaving Russia, maintaining a distinctive voice was not easy for any of them.  Each of the émigrés developed their own relationship to Russia after leaving.  Prokofiev returned home permenantly after 15 years living in France and the US.  Medtner settled in London while Grechaninov, Rachmaninov and Stravinsky ended up in the US.  All struggled to maintain their creativity after 1917.

Karpeyev is a Medtner specialist and the Sonate-Ballade Op. 27 grows with each listening.  The Finale is particularly winning with its rich melodic inspiration and glittering ornamentation.  The Grechaninov character pieces are all very well characterized, and the recital reaches the apex of its nostalgia for old Russia with a marvelous rendition of the "Nyne otpushchayeshi" from Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil and the Etude-Tableaux Op. 39/7 with – what could be more Russian – its climax of pealing bells.

The piano is in very good shape and the recording in St Bartholomew's Church in Brighton sets the piano at a slight distance in a resonant acoustic.  The airy sound does least favours to the Prokofiev Visions Fugitives.  Coupled with a romantic performance, the result is slightly unfocused.

The famous Stravinsky showpiece from Petroushka is given a dazzling performance, awash with colour and very strongly characterized.  There were many details I’d never heard before and the expressiveness was a welcome contrast to the famous speed-fest version from Maurizio Pollini.  Not that Karpeyev is exactly slow, just that the story-telling which is inherent in this score is given more space to weave its magic.

This recording beautifully captures Karpeyev’s qualities and sound world: virtuosity led by musicality of great poetry and refinement.  A very fine debut with no doubt more to come.  

Evgeny Kissin hammers the Hammerklavier

Beethoven Sonata No 29 in B flat Hammerklavier

Rachmaninov Preludes;

Op 23 Nos 1-7

Op 32 Nos 10, 12 & 13

Evgeny Kissin, piano
29 March 2018, Barbican Hall, London
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No-one ever accused Evgeny Kissin of understatement.  His technique is prodigious, his dynamic range a match for the largest of halls, and his piano most definitely has hammers.  Indeed for all the obvious wonders to expect, I approached this latest recital with some trepidation.  When last heard at the Barbican, Kissin murdered a couple of Beethoven sonatas with an unremittingly aggressive attack and unclear structural command.

What was painful on that occasion turned out considerably better in the Hammerklavier.  This 50 minute sonata exercised Beethoven for a year and is written with such scale and ambition that any performance is an event.  It carries great dangers of fatigue for performer and listener alike.  I have heard many performances where the overwhelming impression on reaching the fugal finale was that the pianist had made all their expressive points and was just trying to survive to the end.

So let it be said that in Kissin's hands the finale of the Hammerklavier was the pinnacle of the evening and quite unforgettable.  I have never heard such definition and projection in recital.  It was an extraordinary intellectual feat from this pianist.

Earlier on, Kissin’s fantasy-like approach to Beethoven interpretation worked well in this monumental yet strange work.  Kissin treated the epic 20 minute slow movement with sustained emotion and care, but was content to take a more episodic approach to the first two movements. Structurally, Kissin is not one of the masters, but his matter-of-fact but highly cultured approach to phrasing was most effective.  

With Rachmaninov Preludes for the second half Kissin was on home territory.  His approach to each was focused and technically dazzling.  Yet, surprisingly, he did not seem entirely inside this music and the group did not add up to something more than its parts.  And of course there were many encores for a increasingly enthusiastic audience.  Amongst offerings of Scriabin, Tchaikovsky and more Rachmaninov, most arresting was Kissin’s own jazz-flecked Toccata.

Evgeny Kissin

Alexander Karpeyev in full bloom

Recital: "1917 The Final Flowering"

PROKOFIEV Vision Fugitives, Op. 22 Nos. 1, 3, 8-11, 14-15, 18-20
MEDTNER Sonate-Ballade, Op. 27
GRECHANINOV Prelude Op. 78 No. 1
Lullaby Op. 78 No. 2
Waltz Op. 61 No. 5
Reproche Op. 61 No. 6
Caprice Op. 61 No. 2
RACHMANINOV ‘Nïne otpuschayeshi’ from All-Night Vigil, Op. 37 (arr. Rachmaninov)
Fragments
Etude-Tableux, Op. 39 No. 7
STRAVINSKY Three movements from Petrouchka (arr. Stravinsky)

Alexander Karpeyev, piano

Savile Club, London, 22 June 2017

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2017 is of course the 100 year anniversary of the Russian Revolution.  A seismic event in so many ways, Russian music was forever changed also. 

Alexander Karpeyev

Russian pianist Alexander Karpeyev here gave a fascinating and satisfying programme built around works from around 1917 by Russian emigres.  All left Russia before or straight after the revolution, and had greatly varying relationships with their homeland afterwards.  

Some like Rachmaninov never returned.  Others like Prokofiev and Medtner did, not that they got along once back in their homeland.  "His playing was good, if a bit boring", the prickly Prokofiev wrote in his diary after a Medtner recital.

No such problems on this night.  Karpeyev has a burgeoning reputation as an interpreter of the period and at a sweltering Savile Club it was not hard to hear why.  Karpeyev's magnificent technique combined with a powerful artistic vision of each piece.  Medtner's Sonate-Ballade benefited greatly from this kind of advocacy and reached an engulfing conclusion.  Karpeyev, amongst other things, is the Artistic Director of the International Medtner Festival.

Rachmaninov, and - a composer new to me - Grechaninov were broadly aligned in their lush late-romantic sound worlds.  Karpeyev strongly characterised each miniature.  A particularly magical moment was a rarely heard piano arrangement of Nyne otpuschayeshi from Rachmaninov's All Night Vigil.  In the original the conclusion requires "octavists", especially low bases customarily found in Russian choirs who sing one octave lower than the normal bass voice.  The piano also concluded deep in its lower registers.

After the pealing bells of Rachmaninov's Opus 39/7 Etude-Tableux, we were left with that most thrilling of 20th century piano showpieces - the Three Movements from Petrouchka.  Stravinsky never thought much of the piano, considering it essentially a percussion instrument.  But what an exercise in rhythm it is, with a stupefying set of technical hurdles for the performer to jump.  Karpeyev's performance was technically spectacular but also brought out its musicality, with transitions particularly beautifully handled.  It was an overwhelming musical experience and brought the audience most deservedly to their feet.

B list Philharmonia

Richard Wagner: Overture, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Sergey Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.2 
Gustav Holst: The Planets

Philharmonia Orchestra
Damian Iorio conductor
Ronan O'Hora piano
City of London Choir

14 October 2016, Royal Festival Hall, London
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The story goes that the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra reached its nadir a decade or so back when it was performing on the same night in London and Manchester.   The Philharmonia is hardly in crisis, but lends its name and a B list to evenings such as this.

While it's off the books of its official season, nothing was disastrous, or memorable, from this Philharmonia Orchestra.  A general adequacy prevailed.  Its counterpart was an audience of insistent applauders, destroying every atmospheric coda, and presumably as welcome as an internet troll for the conductor.

In many ways the Wagner was the most cogent performance of the evening.  The Rachmaninov featured a fluid soloist in Ronan O'Hora, and an unwelcome star performance from an alarmingly loud clarinet in the Adagio.  The clarinet threatened to overwhelm our unpreposessing pianist - surely a Rachmaninov first.  But it could not spoil a movement in which O'Hora bewitched an audience otherwise prone to distraction.   


Holst's The Planets could not help but engage, with Saturn particularly finely done.  But orchestral balance was a constant problem for conductor Damian Iorio.  The conclusion of Mars was white noise plus timpani.  Jupiter was jolly, and unwieldy.

Bizarrely, tickets for this were more expensive than the real Philharmonia concerts.  So if no musical memories will linger, I can feel a charitable donation has been made to the orchestra's balance sheet for the year.