Webcast: Alessandro Deljavan
Oh, man. Granted, I haven’t heard all of the preliminary round recitals yet, but this is the first that got me viscerally excited. Alessandro Deljavan has a huge personality, and he’s unafraid to unleash it on stage. He’s apparently only 22, which I find a little hard to believe; the facial hair adds a few years, sure, but it’s mostly the force of character that makes him seem not so young.
He opened with a Haydn Sonata (E-flat major, Hob. XVI:5) full of heart and humor. Bright, incisive and playful, his crisp phrasing accentuated the spaces of silence in between, which he then exploited with clear contrasts and masterful timing. I laughed out loud–LOL, as the kids say these days–more than once during the first movement. The second showed his keen sense of cantabile melody, and the third had the same spontaneity as the first.
Deljavan followed with a gutsy Liszt B minor Sonata (hmm, where have I heard that piece before?). Huge, but it held together. Commenter Peter wrote on the blog, “I love the Liszt sonata, but it seems to bring out the hammer-down tendencies in these contestants. Banging on a Steinway produces an ugly sound that doesn’t fit this music!” Fair enough, but I am reminded of a moment in the film The War Symphonies: Shostakovich Against Stalin when Valery Gergiev asks the musicians he’s conducting to play a passage unmusically; a Steinway can make ugly sounds, but they’re part of the palette. Deljavan contrasted his brutal touches with great sensitivity, lightness and lyricism in a coherent structure. The entire recital was meaty, thoughtful and often thrilling. Stylistically, he was worlds away from Zhou, at the beginning of the afternoon, but I quite liked them both.
James McQuillen
May 24th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
I’m posting about Vondracek here as there’s nothing up about him yet. For all those who raved about Lifits’s tone, I think he was topped by Vondracek.
What beautiful artistry, lovely and tasteful phrasing, and rarely ever a harsh note (only a few low octaves on the Skocna gave me pause).
I play the Czech Dances and was excited to hear them performed in this venue as so few people in this country know them. I found some parts of the Furiant and Skocna a little mannered at times in terms of tempo flexibility, but his sound was inspired, I gained a lot of new ideas for these dances, and Hulan, in particular, was just beautiful.
I hope to hear a lot more of him in this competition - especially if he gets to play “In the Mists” and the Tchaik-Pletnev.
May 24th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
I can’t agree about Deljavan, unfortunately. He was the opposite of Varvaresos yesterday: didn’t create nearly the power I wanted to hear, and the slow section seemed undervoiced.
Now, Vondrá?ek - there’s someone I can drink to. (If I drank, that is.) Nothing flashy, nothing showy on the programme - just what was there was beautifully done. And that was all I wanted.
May 24th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Yes, Vondracek is the one to talk about. I don’t know who his influences or teachers are, but that kid has the voicing and legato of a master. He’s only 22 and has a significant career underway already (many of the contestants do, but Vondracek’s credentials add up impressively). I missed the Italian Concerto; will have to circle back for that.
Definitely want to hear his second-round program.
May 24th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Brad: They mentioned on the KTCU contest that Vondracek’s teacher was Ashkenazy.
May 24th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
er…KTCU *broadcast*
May 24th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Mike Hawley will be blogging tonight’s recitals, so you can expect to hear from him soon about Vondracek. I missed the first half of his Bach, but from the rest, I agree that he’s already a standout. I’ll definitely give his recital a second listen soon.
May 24th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
I don’t know whether Vondracek was “taught” by Ashkenazy (if he teaches in a formal way, that is). Ashkenazy could very well be his mentor. I know that Ashkenazy conducted him in Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto in Perth, Western Australia. My technician friend Walter Haass who worked on the piano had nothing but praise for him. A big name for the future, he said. I think he’s right!
May 24th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Vondrácek was MAGNIFICENT. Technically superb and emotionally expansive, from the C18 to C20. Bach, so perfectly pointed, everything brought out, nothing overlaid, so that we were immersed in this musical world. Chopin was deeply luxurious and so finely turned that I swooned. Smetana was no easy recourse to folk rhythms but a demanding set of soul-searchings. In every work there was the musical intelligence that balances emotional expressiveness and humane understanding, colour and precision, interpretative variation in tempi and overarching control. I think it’s the first time in this contest that I have heard that essential intelligence. Fascinating to learn afterwards that this is his first competition since he was 12, ten years ago!
May 24th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Couldn’t agree more with everyone’s opinions of Vondrácek. Absolutely outstanding.
May 24th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
To the folks running the feed at Bass: Feng Zhang is NOT performing the Liszt, as your pop-up message says every few minutes. He’s moved onto the Rachmaninoff. (Um, couldn’t you tell?
May 24th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Vondracek is a real find. (Don’t know where to post this. I sense a technical snafu.) He played a pristine Bach with a sense of color, balance and rhythmic incisiveness. The variety in detached-note palette was admirable. (Why is the piano so out of tune?) The two Chopin nocturnes were splendid contrasts with one another, particularly the c minor. He gets a glowing tone from the instrument and has a wonderful sense of balance and a rubato without exaggeration.
Initially I wanted to hear an extended piece, but this is an effective program. “Harmonies du soir” was majestic without klang. The Smetana dances were great programming. I’d not heard since Firkusny opened my ears to them in the early ’70s. These pieces have surprising difficulties in them. He deserved the bravos and we’ll certainly hear more of him—hopefully here.
May 24th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
Anyone else left a little bored by Zhang’s performance?
Not sure if it was entirely the performance or if it was a combination of the performance and the program selection.
May 24th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
I’m with you, Erin. The programming was an issue before the Rachmaninoff started. There was too much “wind up” and the sonata had too many out-of-control moments.
May 24th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
It is true that Vondrácek is quite something special; however I can’t help but feel that the sound he is producing at the piano is rather one dimensional and all very similar due to his very rigid and stiff fingers/wrists. If he was able to loosen up, it would warm his sound and open up his tone at the instrument and there would be nothing stopping him! (also, it might prevent future injury, as I think he unfortunately is a good candidate if he continues that way). I’m amazed that he hasn’t done so already. In any event, quite phenomenal what he’s able to do the way he plays.
May 24th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
@Erin B. — yes, I multitasked during Zhang. He definitely didn’t make me lean in.
I don’t envy Steve Cumming, or the poor contestants who barely speak English, during the exit interviews. The excruciating conversation with Zhang veered dangerously close to being a MadTV sketch.
May 24th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
(Don’t know where to post this. I sense a technical snafu.)
Mike may write up all three of tonight’s recitals in a single post, as he did yesterday afternoon’s, but feel free to keep the discussion going in this thread until he posts. It seems to be working out that the most recent thread will be the active one for current performances until there’s a new one.
May 24th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
Robert Lee - glad you brought that up. I was wondering myself how he was able to do what he does when he looks really, really tight. And John Mc - not sure what happened to the tuning on the piano. It went out very quickly, and that really bad Eb was driving me crazy, especially since the two nocturnes were in Eb and c minor. Was he using the Hamburg?
May 24th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Brad: the thing I found oddest about Zhang was that it semeed like a perfectly good performance that just didn’t keep my attention. I always have a slightly guilty feeling when that happens, although it mollifies me slightly to know that I wasn’t the only one whose attention wandered.
May 24th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
RE: hand tension. I find Kissin’s gnarly hand positions unwatchable. But he seems to do all right.
Valentina Lisitsa has got to be one of the most relaxed players around. She flops her hands onto the keyboard as if she’s not even trying to hit the right notes. Check out her DVD of Chopin etudes. It looks like she’s doodling, but everything is there.
Anyway, to me, Vondracek looked as if he was holding a lot of energy in his shoulders, and pouring it through his arms and hands. Didn’t look particularly comfortable, but the sound of his voicings is all I care about.
May 24th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
I have to say I feel almost exactly the opposite of Shirley Kirsten.
During Vacatello’s Transcendental Etude the primary thought in my mind was how she was meeting the technical challenges of the piece, along with perhaps an occasional thought about how thick this was all sounding. In Vondracek’s Etude I was able to forgot that it was an Etude and just focus on the beautiful tones singing out even through the thickest textures.
May 24th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Vacatello’s Haydn was great fun and she has a wonderful, unlabored sound. The Busoni was splendid. It’s clearly a fiendishly difficult piece, far more inventive than the Rachmaninoff set, that she brought off.
My feed is getting interrupted, but her Liszt seems well in hand and powerful.
May 24th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Brava Vacatello indeed! The Busoni was amazing; good decision to move it ahead of the Liszt. Her Stravinsky is terrific. I can’t wait to hear her Scriabin and Shostakovich. Best performance of the day!
I thought that Zhang’s Rachmaninoff was more than just out of control; I found it hard to listen to, and with all due respect, I don’t think we’ll see him in the next round.
May 24th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
I’m enjoying Vocatello, and she is one heck of a pianist. I thought her Liszt etude was primarily a show-off, which would be fine if it were solidly in the pocket — it wasn’t. Still, some lovely moments.
The Stravinsky is steaming along. She has fantastic fingers. During her profile video they showed a very brief clip of her Prokofiev 3rd concerto, and it was instantly apparent that speed and evenness in line passages are important assets of her equipment. She’s choosing music to emphasize that.
Trying to put my finger on what’s missing for me. I don’t sense an architect at work. And I have no idea about her cantabile. Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich — all programmed and that’s the music in her wheelhouse. We’re not going to get a Schubert sonata or Chopin nocturne.
I’d enjoy hearing her again, but don’t *need* to, yet.
May 24th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Watch all of this in full screen— amazing difference!!
May 24th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
@Shirley Kristen: I’m puzzled by your pedagogical concerns. I’m sure I don’t need to list the many pianists who have gotten astounding results via bizarre techniques. You seem to evaluating Vocatello’s musicianship partly on the basis of her wrist and elbow positioning. Many people are listening to the competition via the KTCU audio stream, without video. I’d be interested to know whether they heard tonal or musical constraint in Vondracek’s playing, compared to Vocatello’s.
May 24th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Overall I agree with Brad on this one. I enjoyed her Haydn and her Stravinsky (as did my husband). I’d like to hear more of her (especially the opportunity to hear all of that Prok. 3) but she didn’t speak to me as clearly as Vondracek. She does have some more lyricism planned in later rounds - I’d like to hear her Scriabin nocturne, the slow movt. of the Italian Concerto, and Beethoven 4.
With regard to the appearance of “tightness” - Roberto Plano had the same issue in the 2005 competition - I literally had to stop watching his “Canzona,” but his “Venezia e Napoli” was on the whole exquisite. (perhaps his tightness took a toll and that was why his subsequent performances didn’t move me as much…) - let’s hope history does not repeat itself here.
May 24th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
@Brad Hill: Yes, the performance is about the sound, not the sight, as we know, especially in this competition, from both sides of the piano. But I think it’s reasonable for us to take that into consideration when we say whether we enjoyed it. If a pianist seems to be in pain, or we (in our ancient wisdom) can predict back problems when they reach 30, it’s fair to point that out. There are many extra-musical aspects to a performance — and a competition. Did someone sit too close to the keyboard for your comfort? Did the closeups of another pianist’s hairy knuckles bring a sudden laugh? This is part of the process, too.
May 24th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Vocatello is da bomb, both technically and artistically. Was totally absorbed in her performance of everything. All that Shirley Kirsten said about her and more was clearly evident to me. I want to hear this woman again and again. Just wonderful!! And what a fantastic way to end this day with the Stravinski. Very fiery and imaginative playing going on there.
May 24th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
Erin and Brad, listening to Vacatello’s Stravinsky I found myself thinking that this was a lyric performance for a piece that rarely gets one. If she advances, we’ll also hear the Liszt (again). It displays cantabile as much as it does octaves.
I was also more taken by Vondracek, in great part because his musicianship made me forget that he was executing. But at this point, I’d like to hear more from both Vs.
May 24th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
I’ve heard Vondracek perform live, a concerto with orchestra, and he doesn’t have a big sound which is most likely due to his mechnical approach. He, like many pianists, is better to listen to than watch. The music is there if one avoids observing his mannerisms and his hunched-over, seemingly stiff posture and approach to the keyboard. I was quite taken with his interpretations and his apparent lack of concern about proving his mettle with bombastic war horses. Vacatello in my opinion, is quite an artist who possesses an enviable technique. Unlike Vondracek, it’s not uncomfortable to watch her play. However, I would quibble slightly with her interpretations of the Haydn and Liszt. Her Haydn, like that of previous competitors, bordered on middle period Beethoven. What happened to gracious and humorous Haydn with reasonable tempos? And I thought she missed much of the beauty and grandeur of the Liszt because of huge tempo shifts and little attention to the left hand. I’d like to hear both play again, but if I could choose only one, it would be Vondracek.
May 24th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
everyone talks so eloquently I feel more nervous writing here than performing on stage.
I missed the afternoon performances due to the disappointment from yesterday, but feeling much better after practicing six hours, so now I will be right to the point and go to bed right away.
Vondrácek: somehow…I couldn’t stand his stage presence. His uptight and meticulous image made me itchy and start to re-arrange all my folders while listening to the performance. Yes very clean, cautious and carefully organized program…but if you rewind (technology kills musicians in a heartbeat
and listen to it again, especially second movement of Bach, I can’t hear any bel canto nor direction of phrases…there’s only one voice and it’s not very convincingly blahblahblah through the movement. Maybe he was still warming up. Overall he gave me an impression of a professional piano player, but not natural pianist. It’s just my feeling.
Feng Zhang: ZZZzzz…Mendelssohn was so careless I almost thought he was going to have a memory slip in any second. Rachmaninov…not so hot.
Mariangela Vacatello: finally there is a woman who can play! well…at least so far. I liked her Haydn and Busoni (what an odd piece but she played it splendidly). Stravinsky, hm…solid technique but a little more VOLUME please, especially the first movement and the never-ending passages; it reminded me the Chicken dance in Moussorgsky. I prefer strong flavor.
okay, sweet bed here I come. Thanks everyone for beautiful playing tonight.
May 25th, 2009 at 12:11 am
So, back to Deljavan … he took my heart. His playing was that of a great artist painting a gorgeous canvass with an endless rainbow of colors, shapes and figures. Of all he artists I’ve heard today (live + archive), he is at the top of my list. This young man’s playing seems to capture the finest aspects of the Italian and Russian traditions. Gorgeous, artful playing in every sense.
On a couple of side notes, I’m pleasantly surprised how many Haydn sonatas are being offered in this competition. What’s more, the pianists are playing those sonatas with so much elegance and beauty that I have a renewed appreciation for those pieces.
I’ll also dare to add that it seems to me that the level of musicianship is much higher this year than last time. Of course, with the death of Lev Naumov, we lose that contingent from Russia that was tied to the grand Russian tradition (Naumov was a student of Neuhaus and the teacher of Gavrilov and Kobrin).