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As the harmonic center of Freddy Kempf's piano recital Tuesday
evening descended - C minor to B minor to -B-flat minor -
the volume and interpretive intensity kept rising. By the
end of the program, which opened the third annual Miami Festival
of Discovery, it was easy to understand why there is considerable
buzz about this young artist.
Kempf, a Londoner just into his 20's experienced a kind
of publicity generating godsend when he failed to win the
1998 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (he placed third),
much to the displeasure of the public and press. As compensation,
the pianist became an instant star, with recitals and TV appearances
galore in Russia.
Intriguingly, Ivo Pogorelich, who gave a dismaying performance
in West Palm Beach earlier this month, went through something
similar when he was eliminated from the 1980 Chopin Competition
in Warsaw. But where Pogorelich went on to become possibly
the most self-indulgent, artistically bizarre pianist in history,
Kempf gives every indication of being a sensible, distinctive
musician.
Consider Chopin's B minor Sonata, which figured on both
pianists South Florida appearances. Where Pogorelich took
what seemed like three hours just to get though the slow movement,
Kempf approached the whole score with a keen appreciation
for the music's inner pulse. Tempos were thoughtfully judged,
phrases elegantly sculpted.
If the performance lacked an extra dash of poetic sensibility,
something to give it a more special character, it held many
rewards. Likewise, Beethoven's Op. 111, which opened this
performance at the Lincoln Theatre in Miami Beach, has a firm
outline (a few slips of articulation aside) and, in the second
movement, considerable beauty of tone and expression. But
something was missing; the music's deeper feeling went unexpressed.
Where the Beethoven had been played in an almost understated
way, and the Chopin, too, seemed restrained, Kempf cut loose
after intermission with Rachmaninoff's B - flat minor sonata.
Indeed, he seemed to be a completely different pianist.
His sound became huge, yet never bombastic. His technical
control proved as admirable as his way of varying his touch
so that even in the midst of some of Rachmaninoff's thickest
writing, subtle elements could be appreciated. This was first
rate, exhilarating pianism.
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