Iron Maiden Concert
Talk about icing on the cake! As if her punishingly technical recital programme on Sunday's last installment of this year's Singapore International Piano Festival wasn't enough of a challenge, Valentina Lisitsa deigned to give six, yes, SIX, encores at the end, no doubt rewarding the audience for their appreciative applause. While others, or most, would have acquiesced with one or two encores, and even then, little-known obscure works that would find question marks on the faces of the audience, Lisitsa generously tossed out familiar work after familiar work, all of which even I could name, which says something.
It was akin to a third segment of her recital, as she settled into the piano bench and crafted out the opening notes of Schubert's Standchen. The meditative plodding rhythm kept in the left hand while the right hand sung out the melody in sweet indulgent seduction. Liszt's La Campanella followed, in which her reading was as fast as it was fleet. She possibly played it faster than any live performance I've seen, her fingers a blurry haze above the keyboard as she tinkled the ivories. Chopin's Minute Waltz and Berceuse followed, the first sparkling in its brevity and the other, serene and evocative. To much applause, she settled down once again and delivered a duly martial Polonaise with pomp and circumstance before closing the evening with a feather-light Schumann's Traumerei, an apt send off to the nocturnal world beyond the concert hall.
Lisitsa's recital programme proper was full of promise, with Balakirev's Islamey, Liszt's Totentanz and Don Juan paraphrase on the cards, among other "fillers". See closed the first part of the evening with Islamey, a veritable warhorse of the pianist's repertoire, formidable in its technical hurdles aplenty and second only to that of Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit. Occasional catches of melody came to the ear, but at other times, it was just gratifying to see her do her thing, the emphasis here on "see" for it has to be seen to believe what you are hearing. In the Totentanz, Lisitsa premiered this work on local shores and it was a sight to behold as she tore into the depths of the work, her muscular and technical rendition a vision to behold. The notoriety of the work was not without reason as the fabric of the music progressively developed into swathes of voluminous material from which to work on and bring to life. Most impressive and heart-rending were repeated glissandos up and down the keyboard where Lisitsa's manicure must have taken a serious beating, but she was spot-on and note-perfect as she executed the runs with aplomb.
The highlight of the evening for me was Liszt's Reminiscences de Don Juan, a nod to Mozart's opera, Don Giovanni, from which he extracted key scenes and embellished the music with his personal stamp. An indelible acquaintance with the work is Lang Lang's recorded recital at Carnegie Hall where he similarly closed his recital with the same. As I had just days before Lisitsa's recital put on Lang Lang's for reference, the latter's reading was still teeming in my mind and I had preconceived notions of how the work would play out as it were. Lisitsa was more than up to the challenge, throwing the dissenter to the lions, she threw herself into the opening and soon when the familiar melodies come to play, one is caught up in the swashbuckling adventures of the legendary Casanova. Lisitsa's technique, as already proven from the evening, was flawless and she capably surmounted the music to present a white-knuckle ride through the work for all its wealth of possibilities. One grouse, though, was that as virtuosic she was, she lacked the human touch which would have made the music come to life the way Lang Lang let the work breathe and acquire an almost "bel canto" approach where you could close your eyes and the staged opera itself would appear before your very eyes.
Kudos and accolades to Lisitsa anyway, for her most ambitious recital programme and for her most generous encores. Time and again, she was called out from backstage to take her curtain calls and time and again, she smiled, mouthed her thank yous and even bobbed curtsies. I don't think I was alone in thinking that she bore an uncanny resemblance to Gwyneth Paltrow, with her statuesque figure in the dusky rose-mauve coloured strapless evening gown and her straight blonde locks. Double reason then, that the queue for autographs that evening, stretched all the way up the stairs. I joined the queue of course.
If you missed this, you can do a search for her on Youtube. Not quite the same experience, but beggars can't be choosers... Here's a sample...
It was akin to a third segment of her recital, as she settled into the piano bench and crafted out the opening notes of Schubert's Standchen. The meditative plodding rhythm kept in the left hand while the right hand sung out the melody in sweet indulgent seduction. Liszt's La Campanella followed, in which her reading was as fast as it was fleet. She possibly played it faster than any live performance I've seen, her fingers a blurry haze above the keyboard as she tinkled the ivories. Chopin's Minute Waltz and Berceuse followed, the first sparkling in its brevity and the other, serene and evocative. To much applause, she settled down once again and delivered a duly martial Polonaise with pomp and circumstance before closing the evening with a feather-light Schumann's Traumerei, an apt send off to the nocturnal world beyond the concert hall.
Lisitsa's recital programme proper was full of promise, with Balakirev's Islamey, Liszt's Totentanz and Don Juan paraphrase on the cards, among other "fillers". See closed the first part of the evening with Islamey, a veritable warhorse of the pianist's repertoire, formidable in its technical hurdles aplenty and second only to that of Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit. Occasional catches of melody came to the ear, but at other times, it was just gratifying to see her do her thing, the emphasis here on "see" for it has to be seen to believe what you are hearing. In the Totentanz, Lisitsa premiered this work on local shores and it was a sight to behold as she tore into the depths of the work, her muscular and technical rendition a vision to behold. The notoriety of the work was not without reason as the fabric of the music progressively developed into swathes of voluminous material from which to work on and bring to life. Most impressive and heart-rending were repeated glissandos up and down the keyboard where Lisitsa's manicure must have taken a serious beating, but she was spot-on and note-perfect as she executed the runs with aplomb.
The highlight of the evening for me was Liszt's Reminiscences de Don Juan, a nod to Mozart's opera, Don Giovanni, from which he extracted key scenes and embellished the music with his personal stamp. An indelible acquaintance with the work is Lang Lang's recorded recital at Carnegie Hall where he similarly closed his recital with the same. As I had just days before Lisitsa's recital put on Lang Lang's for reference, the latter's reading was still teeming in my mind and I had preconceived notions of how the work would play out as it were. Lisitsa was more than up to the challenge, throwing the dissenter to the lions, she threw herself into the opening and soon when the familiar melodies come to play, one is caught up in the swashbuckling adventures of the legendary Casanova. Lisitsa's technique, as already proven from the evening, was flawless and she capably surmounted the music to present a white-knuckle ride through the work for all its wealth of possibilities. One grouse, though, was that as virtuosic she was, she lacked the human touch which would have made the music come to life the way Lang Lang let the work breathe and acquire an almost "bel canto" approach where you could close your eyes and the staged opera itself would appear before your very eyes.
Kudos and accolades to Lisitsa anyway, for her most ambitious recital programme and for her most generous encores. Time and again, she was called out from backstage to take her curtain calls and time and again, she smiled, mouthed her thank yous and even bobbed curtsies. I don't think I was alone in thinking that she bore an uncanny resemblance to Gwyneth Paltrow, with her statuesque figure in the dusky rose-mauve coloured strapless evening gown and her straight blonde locks. Double reason then, that the queue for autographs that evening, stretched all the way up the stairs. I joined the queue of course.
If you missed this, you can do a search for her on Youtube. Not quite the same experience, but beggars can't be choosers... Here's a sample...
Click to view