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Patrons of Exceptional Artists, which joined Community Concerts
in staging this week's celebration of five pianists, dubbed
the "Miami Festival of Discovery," really lived up to its
name. Each of the four artists I was able to hear was exceptional.
But Kemal Gekic on Thursday and Konstantin Lifschitz
on Friday night, both at the Lincoln Theatre, proved truly
extraordinary.
Friday's review of Gekic is too recent to warrant
recapping. But Lifschitz, even on the heels of what powerhouse,
played an all-but -magical concert, generously adding encores
amounting to a mini-recital. His appearance here last season
was also special, but not as exciting or revealing as this
one, even though it earned him engagement next season with
the Florida Philharmonic and the Temple Beth Am Concerts series.
He has also been signed but the Chicago Symphony
as a soloist with Mstislav Rostropovich next season, and hearing
him now I wouldn't hesitate to say this young Ukrainian may
become one of the most important pianists of the next 20 years.
It's no accident he attended the same Moscow school for gifted
children that produced Yevgeny Kissin. Lifschitz, too, has
been making recordings since he was a teenager and is only
23.
The question is, if he's playing like this at
23, what will he be going at 43? It's scarcely imaginable,
considering the maturity and mastery he has already achieved.
His program cut a wide swath, beginning with the most crystalline,
delicately inflected Mozart, Sonata K. 282, and it took a
charming turn with the rare Six Variations on a theme from
the Clarinet Quintet in A major. Then came two unhackneyed
Beethoven Rondos, Op. 51, and the Moonlight Sonata.
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