Evgeny Kissin delighted the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam audience with a surprisingly varied programme of piano music featuring works by Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms and Prokofiev.
Hot on the heels of six performances across the United States, Kissin’s current programme traverses a rich and varied selection of mostly romantic piano repertoire, before heading to the quirky, angular world of Prokofiev. With meticulous, considered and intellectually challenging interpretations, it almost felt as if time itself stood still. I didn’t want the music to end. I wanted to continue on this musical odyssey with an artist who has so much musically to say.
Chopin’s Fantasie in F minor Op. 49 to finish the first half, proved pivotal. While essentially an improvisatory work with no strict form, Chopin’s use of the minor key, coupled with the immense emotional range traversed in such a short time, gives the work a profound gravitas.
As florid passagework ebbed and flowed, moments of intense sincerity allowed time for reflection. Turmoil, tumult, pain and anguish shared the stage before a triumphant chorale bestowed a glimmer of hope.
Kissin creates magic in the Concertgebouw
But the best was yet to come. Clever use of the middle pedal to sustain the low octave E flats in the final Adagio (see below) while the right hand meandered above, created the most magical moment of the evening. Kissin teased the famously clear and resonant acoustics of the Concertgebouw auditorium to the full. His 1994 recording confirms that his interpretation of this passage is nothing new, and indeed Kissin is not alone in interpreting the passage in this way. However, on Tuesday night in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, time stood still. I was totally transfixed by the beauty and simplicity of Chopin’s writing as I sat waiting for the falling dissonances to resolve, eager for more.
Brahms’ Four Ballades Op. 10 were followed swiftly by a most attractive and quirky reading of Prokofiev’s 2nd Sonata Op. 14, a welcome diversion from the romantic intensity of the evening. The last movement especially, with its clipped and jaunty rhythms, allowed Kissin to convey a playful cheekiness.
What perhaps is of greater importance and transcends the vagaries of musical criticism is Kissin’s obvious ability to communicate with people of all ages, and all without words. In an interview with BBC Classical Music Magazine (see below) a couple of years ago, Kissin talked about issues close to his heart in a way many musicians and those in public life often shy away from for fear of retribution. But it is this honesty in Kissin’s music making, as he sits alone at the piano on the vast Concertgebouw stage and in a venue literally packed to the rafters, which eclipses worldly woes and unifies people from all over the world in their love of music. His ability to speak and emote when words are simply not enough is an inspiration.
The encores
SIX curtain calls and THREE encores were quite a gift! Lucerne is next on the tour and then the Wigmore Hall, London for a charity fundraising concert in aid of the Jeremy Singer Charitable Trust, dedicated to promoting educational opportunities for underprivileged young people at university level. They are all in for a treat!
The three encores were: Chopin’s Mazurka Op. 47 no. 4, Prokofiev’s March from the opera, Love of the Three Oranges and Brahms’ Waltz in A-flat Major
The programme
Further reading:
Read a most illuminating interview by Michael Church in the BBC Music Magazine by Michael Church where Kissin talks at length (and with a degree of passion) about his torturous relationship with his Russian homeland, and the current plight of both Ukraine and the Jewish nation.
‘I remember kids of my own age – and even younger – harassing me. I remember some of them finding a big stick and saying that they would use it to make me into a Jew kebab. I remember a man in the house where I was living, an old grandfather, telling me, “You bloody Jew, just take yourself off from here.” My elder sister had the same experience. All the Russian Jews I know have had that experience. And this was not state anti-Semitism. It came from the ordinary people.’
Evgeny Kissin, BBC Music Magazine September 2022
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