Concert Review: Yuja Wang

Tuesday 7 October 2014

The first thing to note about this concert is that the programme completely changed from the time I booked the ticket (barely a month ago). Arthur Rubinstein made the point in his autobiography that an audience is willing to accept any programme that a pianist will play, so long as he or she is a “favourite” but god help the pianist who changes the programme, because they will instantly feel cheated. Well, that pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter, even though the revised programme was one full of pieces that I love. I don’t like arriving at a concert hall only to find out that the programme is entirely different from the one I had paid for.

The originally announced programme had been the following:

Isaac Albéniz

Iberia (extraits)

Enrique Granados

Goyescas (extraits)

Mili Balakirev

Une fantaisie orientale op.18

Frédéric Chopin

Fantaisie op.49

Franz Liszt

Etudes d'exécution transcendante (extraits)

Franz Liszt / Richard Wagner

Mort d'Isolde

This was really mouth-watering; I am a huge fan of Spanish piano music and the cornerstones of this repertoire are Iberia and Goyescas. I played some pieces from Iberia myself, so it is music which is very close to my heart. Then there’s Liszt, who is one of my all-time favourite people (not just as a composer but as a pianist and man). I would have loved to have heard Yuja’s stunning technique in the transcendental etudes.

When I walked through the door of Salle Pleyel that was the programme I was expecting to hear. However, the following is the programme that I actually heard:

Franz Schubert

"Liebesbotschaft" extrait de Schwanengesang D 957, transcription de Franz Liszt

"Aufenthalt" extrait de Schwanengesang D 957, transcription de Franz Liszt

"Der Müller und der Bach" extrait de Die schöne Müllerin, transcription de Franz Liszt

Sonate D 959

Entracte

Alexander Scriabine

Prélude pour la main gauche opus 9 n° 1

Prélude op. 11 n° 8

Fantaisie op. 28

Prélude op. 37 n° 1

2 Poèmes op. 63

Sonate op. 68 n° 9 "Messe noire"

Mili Balakirev

Islamey (fantaisie orientale), op 18.

So the only piece from the original programme that remained was Islamey, which is not a piece I particularly care for. The change had apparently been published on the Salle Pleyel website, but those of us who had already bought tickets weren’t informed of the change. I don’t even know if it was listed in the programme (which at 10 Euros, I didn’t consider worth buying).

The Review

This was my first time hearing Yuja in person and my first time in the Salle Pleyel. I was seated at the back of the “Orchestre central” section, right in line with the keyboard. A couple of seats to the right and I wouldn’t have been able to see her hands.

The first few pieces on the programme didn’t make much of an impression on me. Although, I was still getting used to the acoustics, I didn’t think she was really projecting all the way to the back of the hall. However, she really started to reach me emotionally in the Schubert A major Sonata D 959, which is a favourite piece of mine. If I had to describe her playing in one word it would be “controlled”. Not just in terms of volume, but also tempo, tone colour and temperament. It really sounds like she is able to execute her exact mental conception of a work at the piano. As any pianist (or artist) would know this is the hardest part of the job, and the one that makes us all sometimes cry tears of frustration and despair.

The highlight of the first half (and the concert in general) was the slow movement of the Schubert which was just gorgeous. Her perfect control meant that volume, tempo and tonal ebbs and flows were all perfectly balanced and perfectly executed. Moreover, her interpretation was very musical and displayed great taste and thought. The audience interrupted her before the start of the scherzo with applause that seemed to momentarily disturb her concentration (one of the main reasons not to applaud between movements). In the final movement she got to showcase her stunning mechanism, although it never felt like she was actively trying to do this, instead it just sounded like the means to her musical ends.

During the intermission, I remained in my seat in a kind of daze. I was just re-listening to the music I’d just heard in my mind’s ear. The second half was almost as stunning as the first. She played a variety of Scriabin, all with great taste and superb control. The only thing I would question was her decision to leave off the nocturne for the left hand op 9/2. I played opus 9 for my final piano exam and I really came to see them as one piece rather than two. I think the highlights of the Scriabin sets were the Fantasie and the Black Mass sonata. After listening to the tonal control she displayed in the Scriabin, I would love to hear her in Debussy. She closed the programme with Islamey, which she gave a very musical treatment, particularly in the middle section. It is hard for a pianist to make this piece sound like music to me, but she almost managed. She also displayed some stunning leggiero scales just before the return of the main theme. She did, however, do some strange things in the final part of the piece, omitting the section with the glissando and adding interlocking octaves to the end à la Horowitz. Puzzling. Particularly the omission of the section which I consider to be the highlight of the piece. She was very generous with encores, offering Schumann-Tausig Der Kondrabandiste, Art Tatum’s Tea for Two (after Youmans), Gluck-Sgambati Melody from Orpheus and repeating Islamey as the final encore.

Overall, I was very impressed with the concert. I will definitely attend her future recitals in Paris and highly recommend that anyone who has the opportunity to hear her does so. She might be marketed like some kind of sex goddess, but this is one young pianist worthy of her fame. There is absolutely no fakery or exaggeration in either her playing or her demeanour at the keyboard (none of that annoying swaying or face pulling). In fact, she struck me as more of an introverted performer than an extroverted one, which was surprising. As a final point, I will say that being terribly moved by what I heard, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for myself at no longer being able to play (even if I had a piano). Hearing her really made me miss the instrument to which I had dedicated so much time and energy. Even if I don’t have what it takes to make a career as a performer, I still miss being able to play the piano for myself.

Pianissimo

Is it just me or can people not play a real pianissimo anymore?

Maybe they just don’t want to?

Despite currently living in that cultural wasteland known as Australia, I have seen many live performances, including some very famous pianists such as Kissin, Hough, Kovacevich and Perahia.

However, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone really play what I consider a true pianissimo; that heavenly whisper that takes your breath away.  

Maybe there is just a dichotomy between concert-hall and recording studio playing?

I know pianists are usually concerned with projection in the hall and I guess in Australia you can’t count on having good acoustics, but it is really annoying when you attend a performance and never hear the dynamics drop below mezzo-forte.

On record, I can think of many great pianissimo players; Horowitz, Hofmann, Ginzburg, Curzon just to name a few. In fact, most of this great pianissimo playing was live, which shows that at least back in the day pianists weren’t afraid of playing softly. Indeed, I’ve read quotes from people who said that Horowitz’s playing in the 1980s was the softest they’d ever heard. Compare this to today's crop of pianists, particularly younger pianists, from whom I can’t recall hearing any great pianissimo playing even on CD.

By contrast, I’ve heard many pianists play loud. These days, even slightly built young girls seem to be able to draw a big sound from the piano. I’ve even heard playing so loud I thought my ear drums would explode (Evgeny Ukhanov in Bach-Busoni Chaconne and Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition; it was really too much).

When I move to Europe in a few weeks I should have the opportunity to hear many more famous pianists in concert, probably in much better acoustics. Hopefully I’ll finally get to hear the pianissimo that I’ve been missing. If I still don't hear it, then I'll have to conclude that people either don't have the courage to play softly, or can't.

Sergio Fiorentino

In this post I will discuss the late, great, Italian pianist Sergio Fiorentino (1927-1998).

Along with Josef Hofmann, he is my absolute favourite pianist. If ever there was an artist after my own heart it was Fiorentino, more specifically the Fiorentino of the 90s after he restarted his international career. After some introductory preliminaries, I will discuss some of my favourite of Fiorentino’s early recordings.

Fiorentino never had the career his talent deserved; instead he devoted much of his live to teaching in his hometown of Napoli. This changed when his friend and supporter Ernst Lumpe arranged for him to appear in Germany, which lead to new recordings being released on APR and renewed international interest. Unfortunately, the second coming of Fiorentino’s career was curtailed by his sudden death in 1998. At that time he was playing as well as ever.

Since then Ernst has continued to preserve Fiorentino’s legacy, maintaining an online presence for Fiorentino and generously providing copious amounts of Fiorentino’s recordings to fans around the world for free. Unfortunately, Fiorentino’s recorded legacy has been tarnished somewhat by the ‘Hatto affair’ perpetrated by his erstwhile record producer William Barrington-Coupe. As such, all recordings released by Concert Artist under Fiorentino’s name after his death have to be treated with suspicion (fans will note the sad irony, given that Fiorentino had spent much of his recorded career as an incognito pianist, recorded as “Paul Procopolis” amongst others). Ernst Lumpe has been doing his best to verify the authenticity of these recordings, please visit his site for more details.

I was introduced to Fiorentino’s pianism through the recordings that Ernst had made available on MP3.com. I think this was around 2003-2004. Sadly I don’t seem to have any of these individually downloaded files anymore. However, I have a particularly vivid recollection of an altogether barnstorming finale of Beethoven’s Appassionata Sonata, which clocked in at 4 minutes + not much (without the repeat).

Later, I got in contact with Ernst, who sent me many CDs worth of Fiorentino’s studio and live recordings. I also bought all the Fiorentino CDs I could find. These recordings date from different periods in Fiorentino’s life and it is interesting to see how much his playing changed as he developed artistically. The primary criticism of the young Fiorentino was that he tended to be quite two-paced, alternating very fast and very slow tempi. To a certain extent I can understand this criticism, for example his early recordings of Schumann’s Carnaval suffers from this. Recording for small independent labels, Fiorentino didn’t have the luxury of time and copious editing; he usually recorded many works on the same day, basically “live”. For example, he recorded the entire Rachmaninoff Preludes on one day! Compare this to recordings made by the current generation of pianists, which are virtually assembled bar by bar! In fact, two things that are beyond reproach are the young Fiorentino’s technique and tone, which is amongst the most beautiful and singing I’ve heard (other contenders are Hofmann and Ginzburg). Indeed, despite his flaws, there are some absolutely incredible recordings amongst these early releases.

The greatest of these is his 1958 recording of the Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor, which unfortunately is only available on youtube in a poor transfer, but which I'll happily send in a good transfer to anyone who wants it. This version has no equal, to my ears, and believe me I’ve many, many versions of this piece. As expected his tone is gorgeous and singing, but beyond this it is his interpretation that makes this recording incomparable. I especially love the way he plays the hushed opening of the development; it is pure poetry, moreover the feeling is 100% genuine, there is no sickly sentimentality or false profundity that so often mars the cantabile playing of lesser pianists. Another high point is the first movement cadenza (which is one of my favourite moments in music). It’s funny because Fiorentino himself thought it come out a mess (I beg to disagree!); he hadn’t realised that it was to be recorded separately and had preferred the way he had played it when the rest of the movement was recorded. What I like the best about it is how he builds to the climax, the way he executes the accelerando and crescendo are perfect, there is no starting super slow then suddenly speeding up towards the end, instead it is expertly gradated poco a poco (as Schumann wanted).

Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor (warning, poor vinyl transfer, skips)

Another amazing recording of the young Fiorentino is his Liszt Transcendental Etude no 6, ‘Vision’. It’s actually a pretty unique interpretation but it works so much better than how pianists usually play this (much slower and a lot more pedantically). Fiorentino’s opening is on the brisk side and strictly no-nonsense. What I love in this recording is the way he builds the intensity towards the euphoric climaxes. At one point he does an incredible piano subito that just takes my breath away. To be honest this is the only version of this piece I want to listen to. It just goes to show how dependant Liszt’s music is on the interpreter; when Fiorentino plays this etude it sounds like a different music, I can really hear the ‘vision’ that Liszt was depicting!

Liszt Transcendental Etude no 6, Vision:

Another incredible Liszt recording is his Funerailles, his octaves might not match Horowitz (whose playing of this piece can only be described as a fiasco) but it is certainly much more controlled, musical and genuine in feeling. Fiorentino was never one to play to the gallery. Indeed, there are many moments of pure tenderness in Liszt’s poetic tribute to his fallen Hungarian comrades.

Liszt Funerailles

A final early recording that I love is his Bach Italian Concerto. I am rather sick of hearing this incredibly hackneyed piece but when I do listen to it, Fiorentino’s is the recording to which I constantly return. He makes this piece sound fresh again to my tired ears.

Well, that’s enough on the young Fiorentino, really I could write all day but I have a programme to prepare. I will write another instalment later, I hope you take the time to listen to his recordings. Frankly, if you consider yourself a classical music lover you’d really be missing out if you don’t.

Tchaikovsky – Evgeny Onegin

One day I will write a proper essay on Evgeny Onegin, maybe in the form of comparative study between the novel and the opera. But for right now I just want to jot down some spontaneous thoughts on what is, in my opinion, Tchaikovsky's greatest work as well as my favourite opera.

I am a fan of all things Russian; music, language, ballet and women. 

Evgeny Onegin is my favourite opera and also my favourite work by Tchaikovsky.

N.B. I refuse to refer to it as “Eugene Onegin” as English speakers often do, as, to quote my Russian piano teacher, “Eugene is not even close to Evgeny!”.

Even more that Boris Godunov, I think this is the greatest of all Russian opera.

I find it hard to articulate exactly why I love this work but I will attempt to do so.

Firstly I love the libretto, based on Pushkin’s novel in verse (which is my absolute favourite book).  The story is certainly one of the most captivating ones set to music (Carmen is another).

I empathise strongly with both Tatiana and the ill-fated Lensky.  Both are people in love for the first time, and idealise the objects of their affection. Tatiana projects all the heroes of her favourite novels into Onegin's image, while Lensky… actually I don’t know what Lensky sees in Olga, who doesn’t seem to offer much beyond a pretty face and lively personality. It’s heartbreaking that Lensky threw away his life for such a woman! I certainly would’ve fallen for Tatiana myself.

Tatiana's letter, sung by the wonderful Galina Pisarenko:

 

Tchaikovsky clearly recognised the emotional plight of the two figures and gave them the stand out arias from the work; the letter scene for Tatiana and the “куда куда вы удалились” (where have you gone…) soliloquy for Lensky. The former is full of hope and passion while the latter is wistful and longing, yet both make my heart break for the characters. By given these characters better music than of our eponymous hero, Tchaikovsky is tipping his hand a bit; it’s quite clear he doesn’t care for Onegin. Indeed, Tatiana’s husband, Prince Gremin is given a beautiful aria of his own, whereas he barely makes an appearance in Pushkin’s poem.

 Lensky's aria, sung by the incomparable Sergey Lemeshev (he really owns this role):

 

Musically, what impresses me the most is how well Tchaikovsky has set Pushkin’s text (which is often quoted in its original form).  At no point does it feel like “Aria”, now “Recitative”, now “Aria” etc. Rather each seems to progress naturally from one to the other in a continuous manner.

Tchaikovsky sometimes struggled with form in his works, but this tendency is not present in Evgeny Onegin. In fact he displays considerable skill in the way he organises and develops his thematic material. For example I think it’s a masterstroke to bring the “Letter scene” theme when the tables are turned and it is Onegin pleading his love to Tatiana.

I also like that vocally we have not just the typical Sopranos and Tenors but also a Bass-baritone (Onegin) and a Contralto (Olga) in major roles. I'm also a sucker for lyric voices.