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Khatia Buniatishvili enchants Carnegie, 2016

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Khatia Buniatishvili Carnegie 2016-12-10

Khatia Buniatishvili Carnegie 2016-12-10

On Saturday December 10th, 2016, my wife Patti and I went into New York early to stop in at Europa Cafe (205 W 57th St., recommended) before Khatia Buniatishvili’s recital at Carnegie Zankel.

The program

The repertoire for this recital was distinguished by its grandeur and virtuosity, consisting only of Mussorgsky and Liszt. It was a program of sheer audience indulgence, performed by the strikingly beautiful pianist from the Republic of Georgia.

Khatia Buniatishvili

Khatia Buniatishvili is one of the finest younger pianists that I have discovered through YouTube. Her Vernier rendition of Chopin’s E minor Prelude (Op.28 No. 4), a slow cataclysm wrapped in angel cake, is a standout performance that made her a must-see when it came time to choose a Carnegie subscription for 2016.

For Carnegie, Khatia wore a charcoal evening gown and matte black heels. She walked with grace and had a warm, embracing smile. Her stately carriage continued when she sat. I don’t think I have seen a performer with a straighter back at the piano than Ms. Buniatishvili. It felt to me like we were in the presence of musical royalty.

Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition

This piece is best known in Ravel’s orchestration, and some find the original piano score to be ponderous. But under Ms. Buniatishvili’s hands this evening, the Russkaya Dusha of Mussorgsky came through in a way that Ravel’s orchestration does not capture.

From the opening, the pianist used just the right amount of rubato to keep alive phrases that can easily become leaden. Her extensive use of una corda and rapid half-pedal on the sustain (wonderful what you can learn when you are up close) made the more reflective segments glow like the black Steinway did under the Zankel stage lighting.

On the stronger sections the pianist did everything well, but the Carnegie Steinway seemed brassy at the lower end. This had me wondering if we would have been better off with the rounder bass of a Yamaha. But perhaps it was just the acoustics.

Liszt: La Campanella, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2

There were four Liszt items on the program, and with each one Ms. Buniatishvili got closer to perfection. I will discuss only the last two: La Campanella and the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.

Khatia’s La Campanella was a treat. That said, the top notes seemed too loud compared with the rest of the right hand, which is not the case in her recordings. But I was just 12 feet from the right side of the keyboard, which may have contributed to this.

Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 was, for both my wife and myself, the peak of the evening. It is an exciting virtuoso piece, and was carried off with such vigor and natural feel that it was a perfect conclusion to the program. Here is a link to Khatia’s 2015 Verbier performance, but I thought that her 2016 Carnegie Zankel performance was even better.

Oh, Khatia!

If Ms. Buniatishvili’s entrance to Zankel Hall was stately, her departure was also gracious. She preferred a simple pianist bow, sometimes with left hand on the piano, and she made a point of looking to all the audience, including upstairs and to each side. She also made direct eye contact with me in the front row, which just about blew me out of my chair.

No review of Ms. Buniatishvili would be complete without mentioning her hair. Whenever Khatia plays you will see those ragged curls fall over her eyes. Since her eyes are more often than not closed, this has no effect on her performance. We see that the performer is lost in her art, and we love her all the more for that.

What was that encore?

Khatia’s encore was delightful and familiar but other than recognizing it as Bach, I could not name it. Waiting in line after the concert to meet the artist, I conferred with my neighbors but none of us were sure. I later learned that we know it as “Sheep may safely graze”, from Bach’s Cantata BWV 208. Listen to it in the following video from an earlier Paris performance, where she appears to be wearing the same dress that she wore for Carnegie.

 

My piano is your piano

Khatia Buniatishvili and Ken Turner

Khatia Buniatishvili and the Author at Carnegie

Whenever I go to Carnegie I hope to meet the performer, but this is the first time I succeeded. Newly purchased CD’s in hand to be autographed, I had no coherent way to express what I was feeling! But I am sure that Ms. Buniatishvili is used to goofy grins from people who find themselves in the presence of unique talent and are just happy to be there.

My piano is your piano, Khatia.

Nina Scheidmantel Carnegie Hall Debut

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Nina Scheidmantel at Carnegie

Nina Scheidmantel at Carnegie

On Saturday October 29, 2016, I went to Carnegie Weill to see pianist Nina Scheidmantel’s Carnegie debut recital. I had decided to attend based on her web site and some videos on YouTube. While the videos were quirky (in more than one her dress magically changed while she was on stage) I could see that she was capable.

Presented by the Artist

Nina’s recital was billed as “Presented by the Artist”, meaning that it was privately funded. I wondered if I might get to meet her manager and gain insight into how to set up such an event myself.

German-Chinese Pianist

Two hours before Ms. Scheidmantel’s concert I stopped by at Carnegie to photograph her poster. An elfin gentleman in some kind of dress clothing appeared by my side, asking if he could interest me in the recital. When I showed him my ticket, we became instant friends.

It turned out that this affable gentleman was managing Ms. Scheidmantel’s recital. He told me that as a German-Chinese pianist, Ms. Scheidmantel had given recitals in China and earned interest from both Chinese and German authorities, some of whom were expected to attend this performance. It promised to be a great evening.

Balcony at Carnegie Weill

I had not been upstairs at Carnegie Weill before, and was delighted to find that my front and center keyboard-side seat was just perfect. Weill is small (around 260 seats) so even in the balcony I was closer to the performer than most of the audience are in the 2800-seat Stern Auditorium. I had brought my concert binoculars, but I did not need them.

Program and Artist

Nina’s program included Ravel, Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms and Prokofiev. After a brief announcement by the gentleman I had met earlier, Ms. Scheidmantel came on stage in an elegant floor-length black gown, with her hair up in a sparkling silver tiara. I was struck by how tall she was, and how much more Chinese she looked compared with her Carnegie Hall poster. Two of my favorite pianists (Lang Lang and Yuja Wang) are Chinese, so my expectations grew accordingly.

Of Pianists and Dragons

Ms. Scheidmantel attacked her Ravel vigorously. Although Valses Nobles et Sentimentales opens percussively, I have never thought of it as bombastic, but that was how Ms. Scheidmantel came across. Indeed, that was how she also played Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms. At the end of each piece, she clenched her arms in a victorious flourish, as if she had just slain a dragon.

Release the Pedal, Nina!

Nina had a signature move where she would sustain a single note at the end of a section, long enough to transform it into something magical. Unfortunately she came off the pedal so slowly that sometimes she fell foul of damper mechanics. The resonating string would buzz for a long second, making it sound frayed. Was this a flaw in the regulation of the house Steinway, or should Nina have lifted her foot more decisively?

More Nuanced

I struggled to repress my discomfort at the endless Sturm und Drang of Nina’s performance. While I was struck by how physically powerful she was at the keyboard, I wish that she had included something more nuanced in her program. If I were her manager I would advise her to switch out Schumann in favor of something leaner. Chopin’s C minor Nocturne Op. 48 No 1 would have suited her style well and made for a rounder program.

Expectations

After the Brahms I felt that Nina had shown us everything that she could do, so I left. I felt good about supporting a relatively unknown artist, but bad that I had expected more of her than was reasonable. I was also disappointed at the choice of repertoire, which may have contributed to my perception of the pianist as a little heavy-handed.

The gentleman managing the recital had told me that this was not a publicity event so much as a family celebration and Nina’s personal dream. As a pianist myself I can relate to this dream, but when you sell tickets to the public you put yourself in the public eye, and the public has expectations.

Nina Scheidmantel – a Spirited Performance

Nina Scheidmantel carried off her Carnegie debut well for someone so early in her career. She appeared totally at ease and gave a spirited performance that speaks well for her future. I hope that as she matures artistically and her repertoire grows, we will see her again in New York.

Kristian Bezuidenhout, Carnegie 2016

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Kristian Bezuidenhout at Carrnegie Zankel 2016Bezuidenhout at Carnegie, October 2016

On Monday October 24th, 2016, my wife and I went to see pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout at Carnegie Hall, New York.  Actually I did not know this pianist, but the Carnegie Series that I subscribed to included his Beethoven-heavy program and it looked promising.

Mr. Bezuidenhout’s name sounds Dutch. In fact he is from South Africa, a former Dutch and British colony. He lives in London, from where his trendy cosmopolitan clothing, stylishly tight with rumples, may have come. His patent leather shoes had beech-colored soles that matched the matte wood of Carnegie Zankel.

Carnegie Zankel Hall

This was the first time I had been to Carnegie’s Zankel Hall. In photographs, Zankel looks modern and sharp. In person and up close from the Parterre, however, the luster was tired. The Hall smelled musty, and the stage front needed cosmetic work. Also, the Hall is a couple of levels below the ground, so from time to time I could hear the muffled bass of the New York Subway somewhere to stage right.

The Instrument

The piano was angular in design, with frond-like cinnamon artwork on the casing. Naïvely I assumed that this was a modernistic design in keeping with Zankel’s styling, but many readers will know better.

Fortepiano at Carnegie Zankel October 2016

Beethoven Rondo in C Major, Rondo in G Major

Bezuidenhout opened with two Beethoven Rondos. I was struck by the fineness of his touch and his ability to separate voices, especially at the lower end. It was as if each voice were suspended in its own acoustic space. In part this was because the piano lacked the power of the traditional concert grand, so there was less “bleed” from one register to another. In the acoustic intimacy of the 600-seat Zankel Hall, this made the instrument sound as beautiful as it looked.

Expression and Gesture

As a young man I attended several seasons of the Leeds International Piano Competition. There I saw many fine pianists, including Radu Lupu and Victoria Postnikova, but I don’t remember those performers as individuals. Now that I am older, I savor the uniqueness of each pianist’s personal nuances of expression and gesture. For this reason we splurged on front-row seats, which gave us an unparalleled view of Bezuidenhout on stage.

There was no cultivated drama in Bezuidenhout’s keyboard presence: his performance was all about the music. I noticed that Bezuidenhout’s eyebrows were always on the move. His use of sheet music had a less-desirable impact, however. Leaning low over the instrument, he had a particular rightward glance that might in other circumstances be seen as “giving the evil eye”. Try reading sheet music from a few inches above the left keys and you’ll get the idea.

Beethoven Sonata No. 7 in D Major

When Mr. Bezuidenhout moved to Beethoven’s Sonata No. 7 in D major, he drew the Largo out so exquisitely that I barely heard the rest of the piece or the subsequent Haydn.  Only the best pianists can capture my attention like this, so I will be scouring the web for more Bezuidenhout and for other renditions of this Sonata.

The Fortepiano

During the Intermission I browsed the program and discovered that the recital instrument was a not a piano, but a fortepiano. When Bezuidenhout returned, he gave an impromptu monologue about this instrument. He commented on the light action, the four pedals, how the strings were not cross-strung, and how the design gave the instrument its unique sonic character. In this modern replica, he explained, we were hearing the Viennese fortepiano as Beethoven would have known it.

Beethoven Sonata No. 8 (“Pathétique”)

The last scheduled piece was Beethoven’s Sonata no. 8 (“Pathétique”), a personal favorite that I never tire of. Mr. Bezuidenhout’s Carnegie performance was stellar. While the fortepiano lacked the low end power of a modern concert grand, Bezuidenhout’s interpretation retained all of the Sonata’s drama.

Excellent and Informative

As an encore, Bezuidenhout played a Beethoven-like piece that I could not identify. It was a fitting close to the evening’s 18th-century repertoire, performed on an 18th-century instrument replica. I enjoyed this recital much more than I had expected, and thanks to Mr. Bezuidenhout’s short lecture I learned more about the fortepiano. Now I just have to find a fortepiano that someone will let me play!