Just taking a break from Garden & Gun magazine thoughtfully left in my hotel room.

As I’m enjoying the finals in the hall, I don’t feel compelled to dash off and peck in my instantaneous impressions like some stringer.  But after sleeping on it, a few brief thoughts.

It’s a shame these things are juried, since, as I’ve said before, it’s a bit like being at the Westminster Kennel Club and choosing between a St Bernard and a beagle…

All the finalists are terrific, interesting pianists whose colorful personalities harmonize with those of the composers whose music they play.  This is, of course, The Cliburn: the adrenaline kick that comes with advancing to the finals really is something. And the added dimension of playing concerti — which really is a different animal from solo playing — is extra special for all. Remember: Every concerto being played here was first played by the guy who wrote it, and without exception, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev were all thrilled beyond words to unveil these magnificent pieces. That thrill never fades. As I often say, if you’re a pianist, and an orchestra calls, there’s no need to think about it. The answer is always: YES. Combine that with being a Cliburn finalist, and being intensely focused, superbly well-practiced, young and at the top of your game, not to mention playing with James Conlon and the Fort Worth Symphony (probably the best piano concerto-playing orchestra on earth), and every performance is filled with specialness.

Mariangela gamely played her final recital: Bach Italian concerto, Chopin Rondo in Eb, Ravel Gaspard de la Nuit, and Shostakovich prelude & fugue in Db. The Bach is almost like one of his Vivaldi or Marcello transcriptions — wants to be played with orchestral grandeur, almost as if it actually were a transcription And on a big modern Hamburg, why not? She didn’t go all “Baroque performance practice scholar” on us, but seemed to take a more harpsichord-y view, with tiered dynamics feeling a bit flat. This is music that has real smiles, and tears (in the slow movement). The Chopin rondo you pretty much only hear if you buy the boxed set of complete works of Chopin, and even then, you might have stepped out when that particular track was playing. Well, what a wonderful, effervescent, youthful piece it is. Great choice. Godowsky used to play it, and made his own really interesting re-arrangement of it (but nobody plays that anymore). Kudos to Mariangela for bringing it, and playing so beautifully. The Ravel, on the other hand, has become a competition staple. A lot of notes; sometimes, you play the percentages…  The others (Di Wu and Haochen Zhang) will end their programs with Gaspard, and it does end with a quiet “fade to black.” A bright and fast closer (the big, noisy Shostakovich qualifies) is a terrific idea — it worked like an encore, as Ken said. Overall, I think Mariangela’s enthusiasm is one of her best assets. Hope she’ll let it show more in the Beethoven and Prokofiev — she deserves to have an insanely great time, and has a lot to look forward to with those wonderful pieces. She’ll rock with Prokofiev.

Usually when I hear someone flutter through the Chopin delicately, I want to shout: “Hey: Pansy! Grow a pair!” Well, in terms of cojones, Evgeni Bozhanov’s Chopin overflowed with buckets of testosterone. As I was watching, I kept thinking of this famous cartoon (click for bigger image):

Look familiar? This might not have been your grandmother’s Chopin, but it was unforgettable and original. Very much in the manner of a big, flamboyant personality like Liszt deciding to “own Chopin” for a set. Maybe not what Chopin expected, but… At times, I thought Evgeni gave one of the best performances of the piece I’d ever heard. Moments of real fire and beauty, and some gorgeously shaped sound. The third movement was more like a Ducati, racing in overdrive, with bits and pieces cracking and falling off, and some patches of “road jelly” left behind…. I see many hotly divided opinions in the blogs, the majority reacting pretty negatively. Well, I thought he was sensational, in all senses. Thrilling in many ways. What a creative fellow. Don’t you wonder what he’ll think in twenty years when he looks back at this video, with more contorted, histrionic faces than Stan Laurel? And those theatrical hand gestures that David Copperfield or pirate Jack Sparrow would envy… With a little face paint, he’d give Gene Simmons a run for his money. Most folks seem to think all the “schtick” was more than a little distracting. C’mon. You have to admit, it’s a gas to watch and utterly unlike anyone else. And I’ll bet you won’t ever forget it. Neither will the judges, whose reactions will likely be pretty mixed. Why, if Kristian Zimerman were here, he’d probably … [finish the sentence please.]

Di Wu played Beethoven #2 in Bb. Face it, this is nobody’s favorite concerto. (Go ahead, bloglodytes, rant about how this one actually is your fave…!) But Di did a great job of making it her favorite for half an hour. Unfortunately… well, how would you like to follow the outrageous Evgeni/Chopin rock-n-roll gig at such a late hour with the least of the Beethoven concertos? She played brilliantly, full of all the right energy. Some of the teeny, tiny, velvety soft lines were disarming — vanishingly quiet — and really made the room listen. I’d forgotten the effect of these, and loved what she did. The rondo was bright and bubbly. She was winsome, feisty, true to the spirit of the piece, and really had fun. I know, blog-folk weren’t all wowed, but I have to think that much of the reaction has to do with the limitations of the piece itself. I mean, if she had said “Oh yeah, Evgeni? Well, you can eat it, because here comes my Totentanz!” Oops, sorry, Totentanz isn’t a classical concerto. When I was 17 I ripped through the Totentanz for a New Jersey Symphony competition. (I remember Earl Wild saying “What do you want to do that for?”). It crashed and burned, and didn’t survive the screening round. Anyway, one’s repertoire choices do make a difference. Maybe Mendelssohn, or Schumann would have fared better? Nonetheless, I’m curious to hear her Rachmaninoff.

And I’m very much looking forward to hearing all of these terrific people play more pieces.

What a fabulous time!

— Mike Hawley

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 4th, 2009 at 9:53 am and is filed under Screening Recitals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.