Bozhanov plays Takemitsu, Schumann and Gounod-Liszt
After his explosive performance of the first Chopin concerto, Bozhanov takes on his final recital programme, promised to be full of fireworks.
Go at it, baseball fans. Keep it cool, though.
A quick thought during the intermission:
Bozhanov found himself very much at home. Takemitsu had a delightful sparkle, Schumann manic, and who can argue with all that bravura and bravado in Gounod-Liszt?
Gotta run back to the hall.
Ken Iisaka
June 5th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
I am just praying that he will not be nervous, that he has practiced and that he will let go the music and will not squeeze the talent! Davai Zhenya!!!
June 5th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Well, I’ve been revisiting the music and recordings of the Schumann piece in preparation for Bozhanov’s assault on the score. Whoever said that this was a good choice for him was right. Schumann’s highly imaginative writing and volatile dynamics should allow B. a lot of room for improvisation and personal innuendo. Also, this score is less well known than Schumann’s other great collections, which will provide a lot of cover regarding interpretative expectations. He’s been given the Davidsbündlertänze coloring book. Let’s see if he can stay even approximately inside the lines.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
The KING will be back, crossing my fingers
June 5th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Amazing beginning!!! toi-toi-toi… His hands movements make me imagine he has a paint brush!!!
June 5th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Oops lol I am back in love
He is the one (”Matrix”)
June 5th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Bozhanov is already on the stage??
It doesn’t show anything….
June 5th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Well said Clark. I was also thinking from hearing just the opening of the Schumann now, that even if Bozhanov does not sastisfy the needs of the interpreptative purists that this is going to be one utterly absorbing, imaginative and color readings of this pc. He already has me more taken in that previous readings of it.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Where are the legions of Bozhanov supporters. I am Bozhanov anti-matter in a universe of Bozhanov TRUE BELIEVERS. I think he has made an excellent beginning.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
The Takemitsu was breathtakingly beautiful.
But the Schumann, a piece I know very well, is again a bit too full of Mr. B. and too little of Mr. Schumann. Let’s hope the ratio reverses soon
June 5th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
I am very unsettled by his Schumann.
The Takamitsu was a good opener..
June 5th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Ach Bozhanov, you have no shame
I am crying here now… You are the master, and thank God you are like you are!!! I would like to play with you two pianos someday!!!
I guess Chopin was underpracticed and nerves came out, but here - finally!!! What a touch, amazing timing, taste, everything!!! Pedaling!!!!!!!
June 5th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
B. toys too much with the phrases.. but then when he decides to let them be, the playing is engaging.
It’s a back and forth, pull and tug that is so
unappealing.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Oh, dear.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
This is so hard to listen to.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Wow, I must say that listening to him without seeing him I am struck by how colorful and imaginative this playing is.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
The innocence of the story telling hasn’t been evident so far.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
What a sound, there are always so many shadings, always nuances, never just drilling, nothing is ever burocratic. I agree with Nel, but then again, how about Rachmaninov playing Chopin’s 2nd Sonata… There’s a strong communicator here
June 5th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Well, folks, I just now returned from a great Italian meal to celebrate my birthday, including a very nice 2006 Joel Gott cabernet, in time to settle in for a night of great music.
The Bose headphones my wife gave me are GREAT! The sound of the piano B is playing is like being there. BTW, B is doing a great job in the Schumann. The variety of tone and rhythm is what I’d expect from him when he’s serious about the task at hand. I’m just going to listen and try not to watch his facial expressions.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
I agree Scarlatti lover - the line is choppy to the ear and the end result doesn’t sound musical or artistic. Why does everyone love this guy? Son was much better.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
…ok. this guy is growing on me. i did not like the chopin concerto the other night but i may check it out again. i am enjoyng this unconventional schumann performance. it is about time that someone interprets these masterpieces in a way that makes them fresh and new to the ear. remember gould?
June 5th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Why so much staccato–where are the legato lines
June 5th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Roger — maybe the sound and the rhythm is what one would expect of him, but I’m afraid a not of these rhythms aren’t really written in the score!
I’m also on Bose headphones, BTW. Love the sound.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
I don’t understand that! How can you possibly say Son was much better? This guy has more originality and command than anyone else in the competition……
June 5th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
@houstonite
“choppy” is a great description..
June 5th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Oh, Anton Nel, forget the score. It’s an unfair standard for this Free Spirit.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Very interesting “interview” with B in today’s Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He is intensely private and gave very little information….”I do not wish to answer that question”, etc.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Anton, Maybe my analysis was a bit colored by that fine wine I had with dinner.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Depending on how well one knows the score, it can be said this rendition is not highly accurate and in some cases is downright sloppy. At the least, completely affected playing.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Oh the pain! I can hardly believe I’m creating this sound. And now I will flick my hand this way, and then…
????
June 5th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
I totally agree with samem… Son has no imagination, everything she does comes from her teacher that told her to do this and that, this guy is such a raw, natural and absolutely insane (in a good sense) musician, that after listening to this Schumann I can forgive that Chopin two days ago, especially after listening to the same CHopin from his Cassagrande competition…
June 5th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
IS the server overloaded? I can’t upload webcast when before it was always ok!
June 5th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Although he’s presenting a VERY personal interpretation of the score, I’m more won over by it than I was Wu’s or Yang’s earlier in the competition.
He seems to be exaggerating the various personalities in the work for maximum effect. It doesn’t always line up with what Schumann wrote down on the page, but I like it in spite of quibbles over details.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
@ Taiwan: Server working OK for me in NY.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
@ Clark:
Forget the score? What about respect for the person who took the trouble to write it down? How would you feel if you were a composer and someone deliberately altered what you wrote because their ego is bigger than…
June 5th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
me too, wiggins…………
June 5th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
The score, the score… He’s just not a slave to the notation, that’s all
June 5th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Roger, Happy Brithday! What city are you in? What restaurant did you go to? Maybe in honor of the music, you had tournedos Rossini!
June 5th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
His playing can be very appealing when he allows it to breathe.. there are captivating moments, for certain, but then the sudden jerks, and forced accents create very disturbingly erratic lines.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
A slave? I don’t think I’ve heard so many wrong notes in a performance of this epic piece.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
@Taiwan
I’m from Switzerland.
I have also problem.
I can’t see live performance….
June 5th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
At times, I feel like I am hearing Prokofief and not Schumann..
June 5th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
more importantly, what will the judges say?
June 5th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
For once, a pianist who recalls this is the “Davidsbundtler”, not “Waldscenen.”
June 5th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Well at least no one can accuse him of not trying hard enough. Just look at how sweaty his face looks!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Is he not as prepared, or maybe nervous?
June 5th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
And we’ve been told that politics and religion were polarizing. . .now we have Bozhanov!!!!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
LOL. When you play this kind of thing it becomes part of you, of course, and listening to another play it you can easily be offended by a different interpretation.
The guy is a wonderful pianist, but I have a hard time with “his” way. My problem
June 5th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
There! We’ve found a TRUE BELIEVER! The metromic recitation of what’s written down is not what’s meant by “the score.” “The score” is a metaphor for what is “intended.” There are any number of magnificent interpretations of these great composers that do not adhere slavishly to the score, but they are informed by musical intelligence.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Now I feel like I am hearing Liszt
June 5th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Bummer. No Cliburn for me today.
Overloaded server. Too many fans. Even the Semis and Prelims videos don’t load!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Sigh.
He’s just not a slave to notation.
Perhaps he’s in the wrong industry, then? Are we not interpreters? Of notated music?
I just can’t have a lot of respect for this kind of playing, where someone decides his articulations or dynamics or phrasing are better than that of the composer. And I’m no enemy of interpretation, but this isn’t interpretation, it’s flat-out contradiction.
It’s not bad playing. Is it Schumann?…..eh.
I felt the same way about the Takemitsu, despite some lovely sounds.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Maybe if people just stopped doing anything but actually listening and not to exactly what they expect.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
anton….is that trill correct?? (for my own personal edification) ive never heard it played between b and c#… am i just imagining things?
June 5th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
I expect more right notes than I am hearing.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
@Taiwan Tells:
Tune in to KTCU online — you can at least hear it…
http://www.ktcu.tcu.edu/
June 5th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
His facial mannerisms aren’t as distracting as in the Chopin but his hand flourishes are a bit much
June 5th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
I am hearing Bozhanov………………..
June 5th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
@ Eric.
NO! I was puzzled by it too…
(as well as by some accidentals in the Franck Quintet…)
June 5th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
I was wondering about that trill as well and can’t recall ever hearing it that way before!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Outside the lines, Clark. Energetic, wild, passionate and sometimes with great colors.
But all too often it was simply impetuous and technically out of control (#3; #6 was beyond caffeinated, it was too frantic with missing notes; #9 LH was just too present because it’s easier to play; #13 lost its power because of the speed and inaccuracies; I’m stopping because I want to listen.) #14 is Clara’s ethereal aria. Worth waiting for, even with the memory slip.
The number of wrongies is just surprising. If he turned back the energy level two notches, I’ll bet the magic would appear.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
I can see how B’s playing can polarize the jury.
No doubt they switched from debating their choices to a point counting system. Not sure who benefits.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
The trill? A mere ornament in Bozhanov’s world.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
As I told you Clark the interpretive purist might not like Evgeni’s reading of the Schumann. I can see their point, and even I got a bit of feeling that Liszt is playing HIS version of some of the parts.
But good grief, that SOUND…..B I G! I know its probably compleletly impossible the sound engineers for the Cliburn would not have the exact identical mic pick-up sensitivity and volume output for ALL contestants, and ALL webcasts ;-), but it seems on my computer every time Bozhanov touches the same piano that others have played on, I have to turn DOWN my volume in comparison to EVERY other constestant. My speakers are still breaking up, and my headphones too when he gets into the loudest sections.
Still, he HAS my attention thru all of this. I have seldom EVER heard Schumann like this.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
What a genius…He cast a spell on me for sure…
June 5th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
lots of wrong notes
June 5th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
I find this to be a very-stylish rendering of Schumann …full of colour and dramatic shifts. The Takemitsu opening had great colour and tonal nuance.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
@John Mc: “beyond caffeinated” !! Too funny.
In all seriousness, speed is this artist’s greatest enemy. He cannot control it.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
based on performance thus far, if he does not win this competition, I will be disappointed…..
June 5th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
wow…i wonder how he could let that slip (or his teacher)… it sounded SO out of place I almost had a heart attack. Maybe he’s using a different edition? (Perhaps edited by Bozhanov…haha jk.) …or maybe its just a new piece.
Some of his timing is really breathtaking, and quite captivating though, all accidentals aside. What great music.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
I am thrilled about one thing: that this often overlooked masterpiece has been played so often i this competition. For that, they ALL get my gratitude.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Now…..Liszt playing Liszt
June 5th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
It is fitting that he chose the Gounod-Liszt Faust Waltz transcription as a closer. It is the kind of crowd-pleaser that has packed the concert halls for the last century or so. Liszt actually made something more of Gounod’s material than its original source warranted. In addition, it is the caliber of music that best suits Bozhanov’s virtuosity. Nothing wrong with that, of course, I love the Liszt opera transcriptions as much as the next guy. B’s performance will undoubtedly bring the audience to its collective feet. But it is, after all, just high octane salon music in a venue that might (or should) have slightly higher sights. It is nevertheless terrific fun, in the Horowitz tradition, let’s say, for whatever than means to this group of music lovers.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Why the fifths in the bass ?!?!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
He’s definitely in his element in the Liszt so far.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Oh boy, fasten your seat belts!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Liszt — Hehe. He’s in his element. Like the Rondo a la Mazur in the first round this will be special.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Some strange notes and messiness.
I too find this more interesting than the previous two performances we’ve heard. There’s something larger than life in what he does, even if it’s “ugly”.
While it may be too much for Schumann, one could look at it as the ravings of a passionate young man, which Schumann was when he wrote it, not the dainty, precious treatment of it, which we often get.
(I was accused of doing too much–”being fussy” and not projecting “big enough”, so I understand.) He’s certainly got the “big”, details of score aside.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Haha this is great :-p full of pomp, making me smile. One thing he definitely does better than anyone else at this competition is humor! His 31.3 was really delightful.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
@ Zuber and Nel–I enjoy your posts! We’re lucky to have pianists of your stature (and others) to be able to have comments from–most educational for ALL of us.
Was it me or did B. sound less prepared on Schumann from his earlier performances?
Also–what do you guys think of Vocatello? I know that’s a loaded question.
Thanks!!!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
I bet you there’s going to be a fight in the jury just like when Sultanov competed. Bozhanov is that kind of polarizing figure. It’s so refreshing to have someone finally stir things up in the humdrum world of piano competition playing. Bravo to him for the risks. I think Schumann would have loved this. It’s wild, just like Horowitz’s Schumann, not for little people
June 5th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
@Eric.
YES — though I must tell you that I thought the Schubert Sonata was great too, so he IS capable of that. But the Schumann, and the Chopin Concerto? Not sure. But tastes differ, so there you have it…
(This Liszt is FABULOUS!)
June 5th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Long after this competition is over, whatever the final rankings, this will be the pianist everyone remembers and talks about!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
How do you compare this Faust Waltz with Di Wu’s version in the 1st round ?
June 5th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Eric Z.—I’ve been meaning to ask, what did B. play in the ill-fated second round of that Irish competition?
June 5th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
That was just terrific. The big dynamic contours, the sharp contrasts, the quiet little liquid legatos from time to time in the left hand. Full of personality and nicely paced drama, just on the outer edge of sanity. And now this Faust is cracking me up.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
What would a conservatory teacher say? What would Clara say?
You’ve got to be kidding me, folks … are these parochial questions enlivening the Cliburn experience? This guy opens up a world of color and possibilities that modern audiences can relate to. This really isn’t about museum curation. It’s not about correctness. I have all the training, good ears, and lots of context. Bozhanov is correct enough for me. (Although I wish he had dialed back enough to avoid the many uninvited guests. But still.)
June 5th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
This is such a first class piece of trash — I LOVE IT!
Nobu has the Liszt 2nd Rhapsody coming up. Let’s hope for the Rachmaninov Cadenza!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
I will say this, he is a terrific showman. He only needs makeup by Emmett Kelly and a squirting lapel flower to complete the effect.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
What WONDERFUL Liszt playing!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
MS, There’s not question in my mind about this. Absolutely. Managers are going to go after him like hungry wolves, regardless of the prize winner… Because he speaks, and we are all yearning for that (I speak as a professional pianist)
June 5th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
He is in his element with Liszt..
June 5th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
You have to turn down the volume because he plays too loudly. His playing is uncontrolled and mannered. BANG, BANG, BANG!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
A lot of us are professional pianists, teachers, et al. but all opinions are valid.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Now this is a prize winning peformance.. Wish he had captured the spirit of Schumann
June 5th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
He is amazing.
I don’t need anymore pianists who plays without mistakes and no personality.
I didin’t like his Chopin but his solo is just amazing.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
5th in the bass? And why the hell not? Its a transcription lol Do want you want!!!!
He is AMAZIIIIIIIING!!!!!!!!!!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
@Brad…. It’s not a parochial question when you consider that the one pianist Clara couldn’t stand was Liszt.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
@A — he made it past the second round, he played just D960 in the semis, and thats where he didn’t make it through. But again, many many people thought he should have/would have. I think he’s an incredibly interesting and talented pianist like him or not!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Wouldn’t it be fun to see little word balloons appear over the pianists as they play? I can see it now, one that says “What the hell!!!!” poised over the Bulgarian!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
he captured his spirit of Schumann……………………….
June 5th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Perhaps the degree of musical purity is inverse proportion to the overload of repertoire and the growing pressure to rise above the competition. Perhaps certain less-free-spirited pianists or those in possession of a less colorful palette are luckier at this stage…
June 5th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
That was a HOOT! I really enjoyed it so much. Horowitzian, almost…
June 5th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Very talented performer.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
oh no the last note!!!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
@John: Sorry for late reply, but I had to step away. (damn). Anyway, Thanks for the BDay wishes. I had veal piccata, but I like your idea of the tournedos Rossini, too.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
The Takemitsu was gorgeous, as was the Liszt. I am seriously unconvinced by the Schumann.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
That last chord sounded odd…was it correct?
June 5th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
After getting off the Evgeni Bozhanov “ride” in the Lizst- Hey dad, can we go on that ride again??
June 5th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
NO!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
A, what a genious insight. You speak like an open book
June 5th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Me too, Anton- Fully enjoyed it, and I’m sure he did too.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Didn’t someone once say about Cortot that his wrong notes are more interesting than most pianists right notes? I feel this to be true of Bozhanov. In a time of so much bland one-dimensional pianism he certainly is a breath of fresh air…..
June 5th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Hats off, gentlemen, an original. At the Cliburn,no less ! You wanted another Ioudenitch ? Wish he missed a few less notes in the Liszt, but we are all spoiled by recordings. What would d’Albert or Rosenthal have done ?
June 5th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
i’m speechless and deeply moved by his performance. he is such an artist!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
@John Mc: Why on earth should I care in the slightest what Clara Schumann liked or disliked, or whether she would like Bozhanov’s playing??
C’mon man — you talk as if you’re living in a museum. This music is alive, and never more so than when reinvented by this guy. You’re worried about what the long-dead composer’s wife would think?
(Respectfully as always — I enjoy our sparring.)
June 5th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
He is the new Cortot! Alas! Finally!!
Bravo, King Evgeni
June 5th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Cortot? Yes, of course. But Borzhanov? Well…
June 5th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
I haven’t heard playing like this since I last heard Horowitz 30 years ago. This IS our generation’s Horowitz-and so many people are making the same criticisms of B as was done to Horowitz(and to Liszt in his time).
We already have thousands of faceless pianists and the piano recital is dying. This guy can bring it to life.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
I thought the Schumann was great. Much like I’d imagine Horowitz playing it. Most of the time, that piece (which I love) is just endless. I bought the Perahia recording many years ago and fell asleep. The Liszt got a little wild, but isn’t it supposed to?
June 5th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Takemitsu made me listen to it with my mouth open, Schumann made me cry, Liszt made me wanna throw something at him
while he was playing, (lol you know what I am talking about)
If he doesn’t win - big mistake, big, huge!!!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
@Brad Hill
“This guy opens up a world of color and possibilities that modern audiences can relate to. This really isn’t about museum curation. It’s not about correctness. I have all the training, good ears, and lots of context. Bozhanov is correct enough for me. (Although I wish he had dialed back enough to avoid the many uninvited guests. But still.)”
Passion. Colour. Brio. Personality. But, on the other hand: those uninvited guests (notes, accents, tempi, volumes…! ): “Wham, bam: thank you, ma’am” ?
AGB
June 5th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
@George F. - Amen!!!!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
http://www.dfw.com/210/story/137853.html
Very interesting “interview” with Bozhanov, raises some questions to ponder of the attention he would get if he won.
His recital was interesting to say the least, some very beautiful moments and phrasing but all when he slows down. Deviating from the score always raises debate as well, both sides with valid points.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
I think we are all realizing what we are witnessing. Time will tell. If this artist doesn’t have a career, I won’t believe in Classical music anymore. What a genius performer. Bravo, Bozhanov. Thanks for filling our hearts with your artistry. I believe in music again, and now in life too (from a hospital bed)
June 5th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
I don’t think that was a Cliburn-winning recital. Too eccentric, too many missed notes. He tried too hard.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Good luck to the ones playing after him, whether tonight or tomorrow, or ever
June 5th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Yup, Bozhanov might truly be and BECOME the Sultanov of the 13th Van Cliburn.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Those who compare Borzhanov to Horowitz are damning him with faint praise. Although he is no Horowitz, he does belong in that tradition.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
well, if that wasn’t a cliburn winning recital, to the hell with the Cliburn. He’ll be playing for packed audiences at Carnegie Hall next year. Much better than Bass Hall, houstonite
June 5th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Houstonite - did his passion awoke something in you and you are feeling a little uncomfortable???
Thats ok, thats what a performance like this should do!!!
That piano in Schumann…. ach…can’t stop thinking about it…
June 5th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
I’m neither a purist not an eccentric. . .I can enjoy hearing many different interpretations. I believe that is what keeps the music ALIVE!!!!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
I love you Anastasia! Couldn’t agree more
June 5th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
His phrasing is often erratic. I have not heard a single interesting musical idea by this pianist so far. His fingers are fast.
The worse of all is his grimaces, as if he is discovering some deep secrets of the music he is performing. Excellent digital technique, but not much musicality.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
My heart is still racing. God, what a pianist. I feel very fortunate to hear such a thing in my lifetime. Congratulations Evgeni
June 5th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
While I was intrigued by Bozhanov and it was my first listen to the competition at all, I still was underwhelmed by the choice of the Takemitsu opening work (what’s the purpose, such bad busic). Ok, low blow. But this was the finals of one of the world’s great piano music competitions and Takemitsu is hardly qualified to be included.
Enough Takemitsu, he certainly seems like a very put together musician. I don’t thing any young pianist has the potential to overwhelm with the Faust transcription or else I don’t think they would be in this competition. Outside of an extreme few performances captured in the past century of the work, more often than not performers have a tough time holding the piece together and in the end, all we really want to hear is the excitement at the end. But I must give our pianist credit for really trying to be imaginative and playful in the middle section. But unfortuately, again a case where the odds are overwhelmingly against any pianist, no matter the talent.
Which leaves the Davidsbundler…., and of course this is all about the musician in the pianist. Ok, my bad as I am visiting my brother in NC and Casino Royale is on and I could not help but get distracted. Nothing against our pianist, but then again Schumann was long winded in this work.
I look forward to hearing more of this pianist, but the outer works unfortunately only told me he is good - but at the Cliburn, I am forever hoping (and rarely finding) there will be greatness. But, there are so few greats coming out of competitions lately - especially American ones.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROGER. I am sorry I missed Mr. B except the ending of the Liszt. My schedule is quite busy and it is difficult to hear everything live. Ready for concerti
June 5th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
One question: How many great performers ever became great performers by doing things like everyone else? Let’s hope we can recognize a true one-of-a-kind. We can be sure the PUBLIC will–not to speak of the managers who have halls to fill!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
@Piano Teacher: Thank you! I, too, had to step away and missed most up to near the end of the Liszt. What I heard was pretty good, but don’t go by me tonight!
Looking forward to the concerti, as are you.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
I am wondering whether some “enhancements” in the Liszt-Gounod Faust waltz were Evgeni’s or alternatives by Liszt (such as extra notes in the bass octaves and more exotic harmonic progressions etc). I know this piece very well and have played it in recital in the Peter’s Edition version. Liszt wrote several versions of many of his pieces and maybe this piece as well. I will have to ask Leslie Howard about this as he knows all the versions inside out. I found the variations or “ossias” very interesting. It’s quite a dangerous piece with many opportunities to land on wrong notes. I think he played it very well.
I’m wondering why several people have described Evgeni’s performance of the Chopin piano concerto as if it were a Liszt piece? I don’t necessarily agree that if something is played fast and sparking, it is more in the style of Liszt. It is true that when Liszt was a young man he was a showman and some of his works reflect his virtuosity and technique, but he also wrote some of the most poetic and intimate pieces in the piano repertoire. Consider the Benediction to God in Solitude for example which is one of the most melodic, atmospheric and moving pieces ever written.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
New Yorker, thank you
whats your email?
June 5th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Brilliant! I bet the piano itself did not know it could produce this spectrum of sound.
I enjoyed this recital thoroughly. David’s dances never captivated me as much. This is not an easy piece for the audience but he really brought each component to life. I would not let academic concerns dissuade me from appreciating Bozhanov’s music. Surely, his approach would not, and should not, pass muster with a teacher, but he is on the stage now and this is his persona amalgamated in the music. I really do not get the impression that he disrespects the composer’s intent. Music is a performance art after all and this pianist has been consistent in presenting his art and his spirit. I, for one, greatly appreciate it.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
@Anne S. You said my thoughts much more eloquently than I was able. Thank you!!!
And Roger, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
New Yorker, have you been to Bass Hall? I’ve been to both. Many times. And many other concert halls around the world. So there’s no need to be snobby. New Yorkers are not always superior. I listened to the music (because I can’t watch the face). I saw him in person last weekend. I feel that the music was erratic and choppy, and not as artistic and dynamic as Son. It’s my personal opinion. I certainly don’t think he’s the next Horowitz. If he wins the competition it will be as much for his showmanship (I’m not saying this is a bad thing) as for his playing.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
So many Beckmesser’s writing here , guardians of the old rules and traditions.
Why can’t we be like Hans Sachs and be open to new,individual , ways of doing things?
B may need to learn a bit of discipline,as Sachs had to teach David- but he has a unique gift in him that few today do.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
He captured the spirit of Schumann, Scarlatti Lover, since Schumann was QUITE distressing to people in his life. There are words today for his emotional predicament.
He didn’t act quite ‘right.’ He was a person of extreme moods. Certainly that.
No pretty, pretty-only on the keyboard or in his head. No super smoothness except in the songs, which were so personal in effect. Like Schumann’s emotional violence, the ecstatic quiet poetry was strong.
The Sounds and variety of shadings and tone this man can get are awesome, as is the way he SLIDES into beautiful harmonic changes that others throw away.
Utter beauty in that writing, too often put aside for a proper way of playing.
His arcs in the slow movements were beautifully controlled. Unless one were typing on this forum, those listening might hear something they haven’t made a private template for, which a player must fit.
I love pianists who go to the boundaries and a little over and take us with them. Others will be saying “Get me off, get me off, this is not the way it *should* be.
Worlds are upset. If the inner world of expectations is a constrained one, that can be good.
In the meantime, I will share a wish for fewer unexpected guests, as Brad says, but I’m not quibbling. That (Schumann) was riveting.
It’s the way that the Sound of the quiet moments took over that hall, floating in it - the audience as quiet as I’ve ever heard it - that I’ll remember.
Thank you, Cliburn folks.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Yes, Houstonite. I quite agree.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
And about Liszt - why so many people want to brush his hair and put it in a tight comfortable underwear (pardon my english)? Its supposed to be wild, and if I was to play this piece on that stage, I would tell myself before I started - “And to hell with it! Lets do it!” ‘
Coparing him to Sultanov - yes and no… Sultanov was something like Messiah, Bozhanov will come to it eventually, and step out of the music for it to happen by itself..in a few years. But I will pay money to go hear him, and only him… Good luck Zhenya again!!!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
To Roger: concerning our discussion last night about your thumb. Another thing that helped me a lot was getting a thumb brace and wearing it as much as possible. You can pick one up from any drug store, although the Ace ones are a little more inhibiting than I liked. My physical therapist fit me with one that was much smaller and I could wear a lot more than the regular “off the shelf” one. Good luck with it!!!!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
I am perplexed by the opinion that not a single interesting musical idea has been heard from Bozhanov yet. I thought that was just the point of this VERY polarizing pianist- He has so many usual and interesting IDEAS to share, even if many here hate them.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Clela: Thank you!
Did I mention that I looked up that thumb procedure you told me about and it’s very scary. There’s a hospital in New York City called the Hospital for Special Surgery that specializes in joint and hand surgeries. They do work on all the professional sports athletes and are very good. Maybe you should look into that.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
I liked Bozhanov’s humor in parts of the Lizst…reminded me of a Chico Marx performance. I just took a spin on YouTube to find one, but fell out of my chair laughing when I saw this clip of Harpo Marx playing Rachmaninov…if you want a quick laugh before the next performance, check it out…also reminds me of that last chord tonight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoTyDD0C93U&feature=related
June 5th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Clela: I just saw your other post about the thumb brace. Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll definitely look into it.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Roger, Believe me, I’m not going to rush into anything. I’m going to try and see if rest, rest, and more rest for this angry digit will do the trick.
I’d rather be able to play some, than not at all!
Here we go!!!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
@Brad, I think we should care because there are limits to an acceptable performance. What other performers at the time thought of contemporaries gives us an idea of what those limits are.
So no matter how much B made your blood rush, in the Schumann he was regularly outside the lines, notated and otherwise. If a museum means having limits, then that’s part of what this art’s all about.
I also care becasue Clara was one hell of a pianist. How good? She gave the premiere of the Henselt F minor piano concerto, which Anton Rubinstein later wouldn’t play because it was too difficult. (Someone should play THAT piece instead of one of the Chopin concerti.)
June 5th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Bozhanov definitely has something of Chico in his demeanor. Not necessarily a bad thing on today’s concert stage.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Clark,
You said
“Let’s see if he can stay even approximately inside the lines.”
Bozhanov was giving us his conception of the heart of a composer who did not and could not stay inside the lines.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Andrys: I full recognize and respect your credentials as a TRUE BELIEVER.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
@John Mc: One cannot speak of “limits to an acceptable performance” as if they were laws of physics, or even as if there were agreement about those limits. My limits are different from yours, and you’re not going to get away with telling me I’m wrong.
We just disagree.
We also shouldn’t disregard the effect the recording era has had on shaping and narrowing those limits. If you’ve listened to vintage pianists (the piano roll crowd up through Horowitz) you know that acceptable limits used to be quite different. What I’m hearing a lot on this board is outrage that a serious competitor violated the calcified modern conception of what the standards should sound like. I hope you feel a glimmer of sadness about that. Because if the caretakers of this art continue protecting it with museum glass, it will become ever more marginalized.
Imagination, color, startling beauty, and modern personality. That’s what Bozhanov brings to the table. IMO he is ready to take on the world. He will bring audiences to their feet, and it’s not because he is cheap or disrespectful; it is because he enlivens.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Bozhanov’s (and many, many others’) lazy and self-serving interpretations mock those of us who strive to come up with something imaginative, compelling, AND faithful to the composer’s style and notation. Believe it or not, it’s possible to make the music come alive without riddling the score with one’s own conceptions and revisions. (I thought Vacatello’s Gaspard was a fine example of this.) We’re not limited to one or the other.
This isn’t being pedantic, it’s a point at the very core of what it is we do and why we do it.
June 5th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Clark,
And I the same to your wish for him to fit a mold that’s correct. Schumann couldn’t. I prefer pianists and composers who will often push against the current lines. And that tends to be the way great music develops, not usually by staying within the lines.
By the way I was beat about the head right here for complaining about how nerves ruined Bozhanov’s
control in the Chopin and how it was all wooden and very sad.
But if you prefer to believe that my opinions are only of a true-believer, I guess it’s something that helps you ‘understand’ how others might prize what he does.
We all live in different inner worlds, and when we understand that we won’t be feeling or understanding life in the same way, we can have something that is involved in art, which has to do with individual perceptions of life and of course how that is expressed in an external way. It’s always going to stir controversy.
- A
June 5th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Can’t upload the webcast - watching from Europe - have been trying all evening, all night - closed and rebooted xxx times, still nothing - I see similar reports from elsewhere - missed it all
June 5th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Thank you, Brad. Beautifully said.
June 5th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
@Andrys: “We all live in different inner worlds, and when we understand that we won’t be feeling or understanding life in the same way, we can have something that is involved in art [...]”
This is pretty darn wise. What are you drinking tonight?
June 5th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
So many pianists play the Chopin Piano Concertos well, and this sounds through my laptop as another one. Ms. Son has to be one of the modern players who has to act on stage - maybe because Lang Lang has proven that it can take you places (though he did not take his “act” to the competition circuit).
So, what I got from tonight is she plays nicely and her performance is not unique to be unique. So, now that she has Prokofiev 2 tomorrow, we’ll now just what kind of technique, projection, and excitement she can truly bring to the piano. Still, I might have chosen a different concerto than the Chopin unless the goal was to have something sage - and then let the Prokofiev bring the house down.
June 5th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
I would go to hear Brendel because of what he’s playing. I’d go to hear Bozhanov regardless of what he’s playing. We need both types of pianists; recently we’ve been in short supply of the latter.
June 5th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Listen Brad, over the last four decades, at least, there has been no shortage of pianists who have stretched the limits of what you are calling “calcified modern tradition.” Rubinstein himself redefined the performance of Chopin from the peculiar traditions of the nineteenth century. That doesn’t mean that his view is cut in stone and cannot be built upon or revised. The greatest and most provacative recorded performances over the last 60 years are not clones of some traditional paradigm. They are wonderfully different, but they are all informed by genuine musical intelligence and maturity. It takes a lot more than flamboyant stage presence and adolescent hubris to survive. I do think Bozhanov has very interesting prospects, not the least of which is that he is, for the moment, a crowd-pleaser, but he is going to have to mature pretty quickly to leave a lasting impression. I can cite chapter and verse of exciting Bad Boys of the keyboard who have come and gone. Some survive, because they grow up; some disappear. Some are even profoundly influential, although today I cringe every time I listen to their recordings, to wit, Glenn Gould, just to name one.
June 5th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Oh. Sorry Andrys. I was being too flippant. I did not mean to be too personal in my comments.
June 5th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
I agree with Steve H. As someone who thrives on live performances I would gladly travel on my meager student income to see Bozhanov play live, and am hoping to have the opportunity to soon!
June 5th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Clark,
Thanks.
Not to worry. It’s the way of forums. The thing is we’re loving the way some of these people play! Definitely not the same for all of us! But we get to hear them. Music forums are notoriously scrappy
Brad H.,
Sobe Lean [Mean?] Green Tea with ginseng !
Steve,
Ditto !
June 5th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
Aaron: maybe a stiff and non-musical reading/interpretation is “the very core of what it is [YOU] do and why [YOU] do it,” but that’s definitely NOT what art is about (for the artists, et al).
Similarly, John Mc:
“If a museum means having limits, then that’s part of what this art’s all about.” I don’t think I could disagree more.
And, if Clara had it, she wouldn’t be known as the wife of a composer. Her ideas, playing, etc are completely irrelevant.
June 5th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Bozhanov is magnificent. He has the most amazing sense of touch and flow of music. He becomes the music. Perhaps channeling what the composers wished could have played! He stands far beyond all other competitors this year.
June 5th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Andrys and Brad Hill have said most of what I wanted to say — good on both of them for helping keep minds open about how broadly “acceptable” artistic interpretation should be defined.
I do want to respond to earlier suggestions that Bozhanov will prove to be the Sultanov of this year’s competition. I was at the Cliburn in 1989 when Sultanov won, and I think there’s almost no room for comparison between these two. Sultanov was an unbelievable talented young man who bounded across the stage and attacked the piano like a hyperactive kid. I remember when he broke a string during the Mephisto Waltz, he pointed down into the piano case with a fiendish grin, as if to say “Look what I did!” For all his mechanical prowess, I thought he was a banger, and I would have placed all 5 of the other finalists ahead of him. (In the next year, I heard him play the Appassionata at the Kennedy Center. The fortes were shrill and harsh, and even the 2nd movement was too fast — worst Beethoven I’ve ever heard on a concert stage.) Who knows what he might have grown into if he had lived a full life, but he was very much a work in progress when I heard him.
We can all have legitimately different views of what Bozhanov has done this year. As someone who never heard a complete performance of “Davidsbundlertanze” before tonight, I came to his performance with fewer fixed notions of how it should sound, and I loved what I heard. Sure it was thunderous and helter-skelter along the way. But this music wasn’t written by Papa Joe Haydn. Schumann carried a little universe of imaginary friends around in his head, seems to have been in one state of mental illness or another for most of his adult life, and threw himself into a river to end it all. That’s the kind of life that produces music of sweetness and thunder, and that’s what I heard from Bozhanov tonight. Despite the facial mugging and prissy hand gestures, he strikes me as the pianist in this crowd who has come the farthest down the path to establishing an authentic artistic vision and communicating it to his audience. I like Nobu and the other finalists too, but this is the guy who speaks to me.
June 5th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
I find it hard to believe that B’s mannerisms are in any way “put on” or “practiced”, it seems that they are mostly involuntary gestures and that in fact, he would get rid of them if he could (or cared to). I find his playing to be from the heart, well thought-out, and true to his musical intention.
June 5th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
I think you missed my point — what I’m trying to say is that you and others are setting up a false dichotomy. Hess, Rubinstein, Pollini, Uchida and many others before and since are proof enough for me that the poetry is there in the score, if the performer has the insight to bring it out. Fidelity to the composer’s ideas is not necessarily the same as a stuffy, unimaginative performance. Why play Chopin or Schumann at all if we don’t care what they actually wrote down?
I won’t deny that Bozhanov has made some compelling points, but I think he’s also made a lot of facile interpretive choices at the (unnecessary) cost of respecting the score.
June 5th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
@Clark: I enjoyed your comment until you brought Glenn Gould into it. I don’t know which other “bad boys” you’re lumping him in with, but Gould cannot be lumped.
Bozhanov is not unintelligent musically; that is a borderline ridiculous implication. And when you talk about maturity, it sounds like you mean growing into the status quo to some extent or another.
The polarization we’re seeing around Bozhanov argues my point that there are no absolute standards, except in the minds of those who resist reinvention. We are talking about antique music. It must be reinvented and brought to new life each time. Classical music is widely considered irrelevant exactly because of its staleness and rigidity.
Bozhanov has spent his life learning the standard repertoire. He is not an capricious caretaker of our art. He is merely contemporary and unafraid. If Son, with her safe, studied, conservatory correct playing, wins this thing, an opportunity for cultural progression will be lost.
June 5th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Alright Aaron, I hear what you’re saying. I still favor Bozhanov - he just strikes me as such an amazing musician - depth and range beyond compare! : )
June 5th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Brad: A lost opportunity? Well that sounds more serious than I had imagined.
I gather you are a Gould fan. Let me refer you to his Beethoven, Mozart, and Brahms. His Bach is a discussion for another day.
June 5th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
what Phil said !!!
June 5th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
and Brad !
June 5th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Clark: Yes, Gould/Bach is an entire discussion.
I generally do not care for Gould in Beethoven or Mozart. I love his Brahms. And please try his Chopin (3rd sonata) and Scriabin if you haven’t already. Tremendous architecture and the highest respect for the inner workings.
June 5th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Hey — some of you will be glad to know that I’m disappearing now.
Heading out of state for a wedding over the weekend. I’ll miss the remaining concerts live, and the awards ceremony, but will catch up with the archives Sunday night.
Have thoroughly enjoyed talking with everyone on the blog. This is the most fantastically diverse group of great listeners in the world. The whole experience is a feast of music and great company.
If anyone wants to keep talking after this event is over, I set up a Cliburn2009 message board in Google Groups here–
http://groups.google.com/group/cliburn2009
The blog comments weren’t working well on the first day and I created the board as an alternative; then the blog got fixed and the Group hasn’t been used much.
June 5th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Has anyone realized the amount of posts in all the Bozhanov threads compared to the ones dealing with the other contestants? There must be a reason… Any thoughts?
June 5th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Brad: Yes, I know just about all of it, particularly the unwritten notes in the opening of the Chopin sonata. He’s on safer ground with Scriabin and Schoenberg. I will admit only to you that I worshipped at the alter of Glenn Gould when I was first discovering music (about 17 years old). At the time, I didn’t know any better, but I have very fond memories of him nevertheless. His Brahms is seductive, although eccentric. Very few know this side of him.
The problem is this: Gould is interesting, sometimes instructive, frequently outrageous and ludicrous, all of which is amusing to those who already know the music and have some context to work from. However, I would never, under any circumstances, recommend a Gould recording of any music, including Bach, to someone who did not already know the music well from other sources.
June 5th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Ana: Yes, he is polarizing. He is polarizing because he is flamboyant in the grand old Liszt tradition. He’s outrageous and entertaining. This is probably why he will win a medal. The argument on this blog is created because some disagree that he is as great a musician as he is an entertainer. Both have a place on the concert stage, think of Horowitz and Rubinstein, for example. Both were tremendously influential, but there are still debates about which was the better musician. Some of it is showbiz and some of it is great music making, with a fair amoung of overlap in between.
June 5th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
I can only support what Brad and Phil said. I wll add this - it’s so normal to see fear, rejection and even more powerful negative feelings thrown at Evgeni.
He is different, he has original ideas, often contradicting the status quo in piano playing, he displays a very natural musicality that does not fit any moulds. Some say - his Chopin is more like Liszt, his Chipin is not Chopin at all, it’s Bozhanov..and I will stop here. I doubt there’s even one perosn that can guarantee what’s in the score was in Chopin’s mind. The score is more like a guideline, the rest is just interpretation. Same with the other composers. Even the living ones often do not have a definite and rigid idea how their works should sound. So, the interpreter has a lot of guess work to do. Some do not have the mental capacity to bring in new view points and therefore rely on known old practices and theories. Others follow their insticts and often fall into the trap of having to reinvent music itsself. In my humble opinion, Evgeni’s found the point of equilibrium between those polar ends.
A word about his facial expressions. I am sure this is something Evgeni is trying to control, but cannot. Someone has made a comment that B does not make faces when practicing a hard passage, hence he’s faking it on stage. I would say - practicing technique is NOT making music. On stage B makes music, and like it or not, this goes along with it. I hope he finds a way to get rid of the extra bit.
June 5th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Brad Said:
“The polarization we’re seeing around Bozhanov argues my point that there are no absolute standards, except in the minds of those who resist reinvention. We are talking about antique music. It must be reinvented and brought to new life each time. Classical music is widely considered irrelevant exactly because of its staleness and rigidity.”
Bravo Brad! This needs to be said over and over again, and hoping that young aspiring pianists listening to Bozh’s interpretations will get the message, whether their teachers do or not.
He is without any doubt a THINKING, highly intelligent person who combines a shrewd musical intellect with a deep, emotionally responsive one.
The skill of his type of playing, the THOUGHT that obviously permeates every note he plays, are rare.
” If Son, with her safe, studied, conservatory correct playing, wins this thing, an opportunity for cultural progression will be lost.”
This is where you got lost in your otherwise excellent observations. I am one of those “conservatory people” and I never heard the type of artistically pinpointed details and comprehensive structural awareness that she has displayed in everything she has played in this competition at ‘my’ conservatory! Or any other, for that matter. Because she doesn’t “moon” over phrases as ’some’ do, or extend the boundary of the bar line, we get to see the wonderful Turner-esque landscape of the *composer* in exquisite detail as he conceived it, and not her own amateur paint-by-number dabblings.
June 5th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
he was just not there tonight.
disapointed. watta mess…
June 6th, 2009 at 10:06 am
I remember Anastasia Markina from UNT!
June 6th, 2009 at 10:35 am
.I don’t buy this stuff about the ridiculous facial expressions being something Bozhanov “cannot control” like some inner beast. Anyone who watched the rehearsals can see that he can easily control them. What I personally dislike more is the waving of the hands during the worst moments as if he is some magician….can’t be controlled either? Bozhanov knows what gets people talking, and so he draws attention to himself by being “different”, and if you be different, you’ll eventually get people who think different == good and praise you as the next Glenn Gould.
June 6th, 2009 at 10:50 am
this was great. possibly the best playing at the competition so far. where was THIS Bozhanov in the previous rounds? no matter, he’s here now
June 6th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Sehr geehrter Eric Zuber,
der von Ihnen bemängelte Triller steht sicherlich so,
wie ihn Evgeni Bozhanov gespielt hat,
auch in den von Ihnen benutzten Editionen:
er ist eine Folge der enharmonischen Progression,
der Verwandlung von h in ces, die aus dem Triller
h/c einen Triller ces/des macht -
Schumann hat nicht geschrieben ces/deses.
Der Effekt mag für manche überraschend sein,
man möchte ihn, wenn man es einmal verstanden
hat, nicht mehr missen.
Herr Bozhanov scheint mir den Notentext doch
genauer zu lesen und besser zu kennen als seine Kritiker.
June 6th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Lets see - what artists do you like if you like Bozhanov and what artists do you like if you like Son? I bet I would see Dali in the first list for sure and Malevich (hahaha sorry) in the other…
June 6th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Didn’t have a chance to hear the Bozhanov recital until today when it was available in the archives. After reading these posts, my expectations were kind of reduced. Also, at the risk of being struck by lightning, I have never enjoyed Davidsbundlertanze that much, compared to many other works by Schumann, especially considering how long it is.
But nonetheless, I enjoyed Bozhanov’s recital tremendously.
Some of the people posting here who consider Bozhanov’s playing not to be “tasteful” seem to have more conservative views of what is a good performance than I do, and the same people are raving about the performers whose style of playing is more uniform and boring to me.
I agree with Brad Hill who wrote “What I’m hearing a lot on this board is outrage that a serious competitor violated the calcified modern conception of what the standards should sound like.”