Across the Street and into the Heavens
By Mike Winter
A few competitions ago I made a suggestion to Richard Rodzinski (who is an executive who seeks input, even from music critics) that a forum be provided for pianists who don’t become one of the chosen few to continue in the competition. So it was gratifying to walk into McDavid Studio on Monday afternoon to find nearly 200 people seated in front of a concert grand (which has seen much better days) listening to Ilya Rashkovskiy performing the Beethoven Sonata No. 32 in Cm, Op. 111. This was followed by the Hagen “Suite for Piano” and the Em Moment Musicaux of Rachmaninoff. Rashkovskiy was the first of eight pianists who volunteered to perform a 45-minute recital, free to the public, on June 1 and 2. (Fortunately, by day two, the Steinway had been visited by a technician who vastly improved its sound.) By coincidence there was considerable repertoire duplication, chosen mainly from the pianists’ programs prepared for subsequent rounds. We heard two Bach-Busoni Chaconnes, two Op. 111’s, and two of the same Em Rachmaninoff Moment Musicaux. But with such great performances of such great music, who’s counting?
All eight of the pianists gave wonderful performances, discussed below, but the “heavens” part of this story has to do with the recital by Michael Lifits, which concluded with a transcendent performance of the Op. 111 sonata of Beethoven. Lifits’s extraordinary range of dynamics was fully evident–not just the extremes of loud and soft but also every gradation in between. Lifits has the musical wisdom to employ his wondrous palette of sound to weave musical magic. The Op. 111 is already a transcendent piece, so combining Lifits’s tools with that work would, and did, make something special. He played the second movement with his eyes closed but his soul was wide open. The long passages of trills were at full speed, not the measured 32nd notes that can become monotonous. One could feel the struggle of Beethoven’s life, then the resignation, the acceptance, and peace at the end of the journey. But mostly one felt Beethoven as the gateway to the Romanticism that would follow. This performance brought watery eyes, which doesn’t happen to me often. Why Lifits, a semifinalist, was performing in this space for relatively few listeners, instead of in the Bass Performance Hall for hundreds of people in the Finals, will always be a mystery. But we listening are the lucky ones, along with all the others that have heard and will hear Michail Lifits in the years ahead. May the word spread.
Victor Stanislavsky is a very rare musician who chooses his repertoire to explore the lesser-known works of the composers he loves, even for an international piano competition. For example, there was the Schumann’s “Humoreske,” played in the first round, and the Rachmaninoff first sonata, planned for the semifinals. Also on the semifinal program would have been “Turning” by a composer named Bermel, whom I don’t know. We got to hear the Rachmaninoff first sonata, and it is a wonderful work in its way, once you become interested in Rachmaninoff’s development. Stanislavsky explained to me that the work is like an early symphony. It’s certainly symphonic in scope, and well worth hearing. Stanislavsky is a sensitive explorer-pianist, and it’s good to know there are a few pianists who are so committed to performing the works of composers beyond their big hits.
Following Stanislavsky was another top-12 pick of mine, Mayumi Sakamoto. She combines an extremely articulate finger technique with a wonderful sense for long phrase lines. She opened with the seldom-heard, one-movement Prokoffiev Sonata No. 1, in which Rachmaninoff’s influence is obvious. It’s a fun as well as fascinating look at the young Prokoffiev. Another intriguing presentation from Sakamoto was “Rain Tree Sketch I” by Toro Takemitsu. I’ve only enjoyed Takemitsu’s orchestral works, and this piano piece shows the composer equally fluent with the keyboard. She also performed three Rachmaninoff Moments Musicaux (Nos. 2 in E-flat minor, 3, the andante cantabile in Bm, 4, and the presto Em), and concluded with the Bach-Busoni Chaconne. The audience loved her, and for good reason.
Amy J. Yang concluded the first day with an all-Schumann program, the Arabesque and the Davidsbundler Dances. They were very fine performances; everything was in place–a fine way to close Day 1 of the Piano Marathon. (Actually “Marathon” is a bit of a misnomer in comparison with the preliminary round, where one hears six pianists per day in 50-minute recitals. After that four pianists doing 45 minutes each is a breeze. Same for the semifinals, where the same number each day perform a 60-minute recital and a piano quintet.)
Andrea Lam (a semifinalist along with Lifits) opened Day 2; she was clearly restored to her formidable strength. She gave a gorgeous performance of Granados’s “Maiden and the Nightingale,” followed by a powerful yet lyrical Prokoffiev Sonata No. 6. The slow movement was wonderful to hear after a fairly shapeless performance from another pianist earlier in the competition, and the final movement showed real thought along with her superb playing.
Yoonjung Han was another of my top twelve favorites, and she proved true to form in performances of the Bach-Busoni Chaconne and the Chopin B minor sonata. Han is a great phrase-builder. Her Haydn Sonata in E-flat was astounding in the preliminary, as was the Chopin Fm Fantasy and Granados’s “El Amour y la Muerte.” Han is petite, but her sound and her concept are large. These characteristics shined in the Bach-Busoni, and the Chopin sonata first movement was given wonderful shape, the second played truly “leggiero” (fast, softly, lightly and without pedal). The Largo was a songful delight, and the finale was the usual tour de force.
Spencer Meyer concluded the final day with Albeniz Book I of Iberia, followed by the Liszt “Venezia e Napoli” in its entirety. You can see how generous these pianists are with their 45 minutes. Like all the pianists here, Meyer is fully professional, capable of giving a very rewarding recital on any stage in the world. He is very precise in his playing. A pianist friend of mine who is studying the Vine sonata says Meyer’s performance of it on You Tube is the best, and most accurate to the edition, that he’s heard. He played the both composers with flair, with particular emotion given to the prayerful sections of the Corpus Christi Feast Day in Seville.
June 3rd, 2009 at 3:30 pm
How I would have loved to have heard these performances. The Cliburn Competiton website helpfully advised that they would be broadcast live on WRR Classical 101, but while those in TX could tune in, the internet feed was just dead. There has been and promises to be such amazing performances in fantastic video/audio from the “official” competition that I would not complain. But I wonder if there are any recording of the McDavid Studio performances (after what you say Liftis and Lam sound as if they should surely have made the final — but then again, there can only be six - which really makes me feel very conflicted).
June 4th, 2009 at 6:29 am
While I could have used a bit more warmth and sparkle in the Bach, the rest of her programme was stunning,especially under these inhumane conditions. And she trumped both concerto performances of Wu,Bozhanov, although that’s apples and oranges perhaps.