June 22, 2010, CCCH 香港文化中心
Krystian Zimerman Recital 齊墨曼
All Chopin
I am going to be brief here. Going to a Krystian Zimerman concert is like going to a Pollini concert. You know exactly what you are going to get and you have accepted the terms long before the first note. That said, Zimerman's return visit after 4 years left me a little cold. A feeling of deja-vu led me to dig out my notes on his 2006 concert and not surprisingly I found my feelings duplicated.
The piano sound itself, one of the best reasons to hear this pianist, seemed to me not quite as chiseled as in the 2006 concert. I remember his pristine tone on that occasion quite well. The change may possibly be related to: (1) the pianist; (2) my seat, a little different from last time, but still a good one; (3) the humidity; and (4) Zimerman's positioning of his piano, unusually deep into the stage. The program mentions Zimerman's interest in "...hall acoustics, the latest sound technology and instrument construction..." I am sure he tinkers with the position of his piano on stage.
This being the Chopin year, Zimerman naturally played nothing else. For those who had attended the 2006 concert (my notes below) this unfortunately involved duplication of the Sonata in B minor, the largo of which felt just the same. The same can be said of the funeral march of the Sonata in B flat minor, of grave beauty. As before, I liked his slow playing better. As a whole, for my taste, the most coherent piece was the Scherzo No. 2. The opening Nocturne in F sharp Op 15/2 was rather mild to me. The concluding Barcarolle just a shade detached, despite its myriad beauties and rare evocation of water. I was not bothered by the absence of encores.
Friend and fellow concertgoer cfh mentioned the same program were played on his world tour. Here are some reviews of his London "Birthday Concert" and more:
The Guardian
MusicalCriticism.com
Daily Telegraph 1
Daily Telegraph 2
A Blog
Hamburg Concert
Would I go hear Zimerman again? Yes, I would (I have stopped going to Pollini concerts).
Mozart K330; Ravel Valses nobles et sentimentales; Gershwin 3 Preludes; Chopin Mazurkas, Op. 24, Sonata in B Minor
lcsd 2006 press release (I am sure "early July" for the concert is wrong)
He is a known entity, a man who had very carefully built up a relatively narrow repertoire, who knows exactly what he wants at every moment. This is a musician who demands we hear him on his terms, a musician not for the literal-minded (none of those generic “the notes speak for themselves” remark). I think I’ve listened to most of his DG recordings and have liked most of them. But they also tell of an almost dangerous fastidiousness. The Chopin concerti were touted for their scholarship, and much was made of his endless study and preparation for them. Yet something was missing in them for me. That, however, did not prepare me for the stunningly affected Brahms with Rattle.
Given his fastidious weighing of notes, many slow and soft, I personally think the location of the seat is very important. I was lucky with my last minute seat, facing him directly on the balcony. The sound of his own piano outstanding though a bit soft and truncated in the bass. Overall I found him more captivating in slow music than fast.
The Mozart was affected. The outer movements did not quite move along and neither did I find his playing as clean as I imagined his should be. I did like the slow movement. I almost always like him in slow movements. He has this neither truly classical, nor romantic, certainly not sentimental quality. Gymnopedie- or Gnossienne-like?
The Ravel was nice but my more critical friend said it was missing some “haze”!
I did not quite take to the Chopin in general, as I did to Pogorelich’s many years ago. But I did find breathtaking the largo of the sonata, played with the qualities noted in the Mozart. To me it was almost like piety and felt like a prayer.
No comments:
Post a Comment