| Few composers changed music history
as decisively as Frederic Chopin (1810-1849). Although he
wrote scores for cello, voice, and orchestra, Chopin regarded
the keyboard as supreme. George Sand noted that “Chopin
created a revolution in the language of music but with only
one instrument.” Beneath the delicacy of his melodic
writing - pianistic bel canto – Chopin was a bold innovator.
His explorations of harmonic chromaticism and expressive inner
voices reinvented keyboard music. The feverish Romanticism
and daunting technical challenges of Chopin’s music
pose a formidable challenge to the performing artist. The
amazing Italian pianist Pietro De Maria held a large audience
spellbound by his inspired Chopin interpretations on May 15
at the Lincoln Theater in Miami Beach – the high point
of the 7th Miami International Piano Festival Discovery Series.
De Maria, a student of the great pianist Maria Tipo, is
a dazzling virtuoso with the soul of a poet. His sense of
rhythmic freedom, elasticity of phrasing, romantic ardor,
and caressing tonal hues set a new standard for the 4 Chopin
“Ballades.” The fury and tortuous passions of
the famous “Ballade No.4 in F Minor,” Opus 52
were given commanding musical shape and singing cantabile
line in De Maria’s stellar performance. Chopin’s
two sets of Etudes, Opus 10 (1829-32) and Opus 25 (1834-36)
broke new pianistic ground – combining technical invention
with surging lyricism and fiery bravura. De Maria’s
stunning technique easily encompassed the music’s virtuoso
demands. He played with such freedom that it seemed he was
creating the music as he performed. (De Maria’s musical
approach is closer to the generation of pianists that had
direct contact with the 19th century Romantic tradition –
artists such as Ignaz Friedman and Moritz Rosenthal). The
beautiful lyrical line (bel canto indeed), sensitivity, and
poignant emotion that De Maria brought to the 3rd Etude of
Opus 10 made the piece all the more nostalgic in its Polish
nationalism. For once the “Revolutionary Etude”
was not an overt display piece but the summation of a deeply
emotional, passionate musical utterance. De Maria’s
lithe, golden sound, creative imagination, singing tone, and
wonderful sense of the music’s light and shade produced
a Chopin performance to remember! Following in the grand tradition
of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli and Mauricio Pollini, Pietro
De Maria is the new Italian Prince of the Piano!
Chopin of a more classically proportioned variety was on
display the preceding evening (May 14) when the Argentinean
pianist Nelson Goerner made his South Florida debut playing
the 24 Preludes, Opus 28. Inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach’s
“The Well Tempered Clavier,” Chopin created a
set of preludes in all 24 keys – major and minor. Chopin’s
unique sense of color and harmony abounds in these poetic
evocations. Goerner revealed a rock solid keyboard technique,
a sense of subtle restraint, and great musicality in these
shining miniatures. The “Raindrop” Prelude had
the requisite lightness of touch. Always Goerner was seeking
a greater musical statement – a broad, cascading line
flowed throughout the set. That Goerner can set the piano
ablaze in fireworks was confirmed by his brilliant realization
of one of the “Paganini Etudes” by Franz Liszt
as a post Chopin encore. Goerner’s finest music making
came in Franz Schubert’s autumnal “Sonata in D
Major,” D.850. Here was patrician Schubert playing that
had a soaring lyrical line and spacious nobility. The melting
lyricism of the second movement, robust vigor of the Scherzo,
and lilting, felicitous charm of the Rondo finale capped a
beautifully proportioned, warmly idiomatic performance. A
fascinating musician!
The festival’s opening concert (May 12) presented
a feast of great chamber music. From the first bars of Johannes
Brahms’s “Piano Trio in B Major”(in the
composer’s 1890 revision) the crystalline, pearly toned
lightness of pianist Ilya Itin’s playing produced the
most exquisite Romantic aura – the rich, deeply resonant
sound that is the essence of Brahms’s music. The splendidly
sonorous string playing of violinist Vesna Gruppman and cellist
Mark Kosower made the deeply lyrical Adagio an almost reverential
experience. Gruppman’s bracing attack and Kosower’s
warmly resonant tone enlivened the Allegro finale. A wonderful
interplay between the piano and string instruments made the
performance of Franz Schubert’s “Piano Trio in
B-flat Major,” D.898 (dating from 1820 - the final year
of the composer’s life) a total delight. With Itin’s
light touch the third movement Allegro dance seemed to dance
off the keyboard. The noble lyricism of the Andante un poco
mosso and the Viennese charm of the finale were given incisive
voice by violinist Ariana Kim (currently a pupil of Robert
Mann at New York’s Julliard School and concertmaster
of the Julliard Symphony) and Kosower. Kim’s soaring
tone and passionately felt music making brought a true Romantic
glow to the “Piano Trio in G Minor,” Opus 3 by
Ernest Chausson. This French composer’s chamber works
are his greatest creations and deserve a major revival. The
melodic inspiration in this score is worthy of Tchaikovsky!
The beautiful Assez lent movement recalls Wagner’s “Tristan
and Isolde” in its heated, passionate beauty. The score’s
piano writing is almost orchestral in scope. The dynamic Yugoslavian
virtuoso Misha Dacic played with glistening tone and exhilarating
brilliance and virtuosity. A wonderful rarity in a magnificent
performance!
The festival’s concluding program (May 16) brought
the American debut of the Israeli pianist Boris Giltburg,
winner of the 2002 Santander (Spain) International Piano Competition.
Giltburg possesses a terrific bravura technique. In the Busoni
transcription of J.S. Bach’s “Chaconne in D Minor”
he projected the dense contrapuntal lines with absolute clarity.
Giltburg brought invigorating joy and bracing power to this
masterful transcription. His version of Beethoven’s
famous “Sonata in C Major,” Opus 53 (“Waldstein”)
was young man’s Beethoven. He played the opening Allegro
con brio at a rapid clip, infusing it with edgy brilliance.
There was wonderful lyricism, rhythmic pulse, and textual
accuracy in his joyous performance of the concluding Rondo.
The sheer voluminous sonority of Giltburg’s playing
was thrilling! His imaginative, high voltage renditions of
3 of Rachmaninov’s “Etudes-Tableaux,” Opus
39 were deeply satisfying. In Mussorgsky’s ultimate
piano showpiece “Pictures At An Exhibition,” Giltburg
unleashed a plethora of tonal colors. He also brought admirable
restraint to the concluding “Great Gate At Kiev”
– avoiding the temptation to play with over the top
abandon. The sheer beauty of his pianissimos made the haunting
Con mortuis in lingua mortua a mesmerizing experience! Always
Giltburg brought a grand musical line to the score. Musical
depth, rather than superficial effects, seemed to embody this
gifted young artist’s approach to every score he played.
His elegant rendition of Rachmaninov’s version of Fritz
Kreisler’s “Liebesfreud” was a charming
encore.
Due to the illness of the British pianist Paul Lewis, Mihaela
Ursuleasa, a Romanian dynamo, presented a recital on May 13
in tribute to the memory of veteran Miami Herald music critic
James Roos (who had passed away earlier that day). Ursuleasa’s
liquid tone and sensitive phrasing made Robert Schumann’s
“Davidsbundlertanze,” Opus 6 a loving, heartfelt
tribute to 19th century Romanticism. Ursuleasa reminded the
listener that these were dances – vigorous, sentimental,
and robust. The delicacy of her playing and her insightful
interpretive mastery brought new life to this familiar score.
Her version of Liszt’s “Mephisto Waltz No.1”
may have been the fastest on record. It was also the most
imaginative. Every turn of phrase was wonderfully unpredictable
– devilish indeed! Her razzle dazzle take on 2 of Bartok’s
“Romanian Dances,” a bracing performance of Beethoven’s
“Eroica Variations,” and an intelligent rendering
of Prokofieff’s wartime 7th Sonata (with the most dreamy,
melting Andante Caloroso imaginable) again confirmed that
Ursuleasa is a formidable artist!
The festival’s “Prodigies and Masters of Tomorrow”
series presented the astounding 13 year old pianist Ji-Yong
in a virtuosic performance of Beethoven’s “Sonata
No. 17 in D Minor,” Opus 31, No.2. Both the mystery
and the fiery brilliance of this music found expression in
this young pianist’s riveting performance. That a 13
year old could play Beethoven with such accuracy and brilliance
astonished the senses! He also offered lovely Chopin and a
rousing display piece by England’s York Bowen. Ji-Yong
is an incredible talent! 14 year old violinist Eugene Ugorski
(a student of Vesna Gruppman) displayed a large, rich tone
and virtuoso fireworks in Paganini’s “Caprice
No.24” and Sarasate’s “Carmen Fantasy.”
He also was the master of the noble line in Bach’s “Chaconne
in D Minor.” Ugorski is a new violin star in the making!
17 year old jazz pianist Eldar Djangirov displayed breezy
imagination, tremendous virtuosity, and rousing improvisational
fluency in classic tunes by Duke Ellington, Art Blakely, Charlie
(“Bird”) Parker, and Wynton Marsalis (with a tremendous
rhythm section – Duffy Jackson on drums and Rick Doll
on bass). Djangirov may already be a genius! With brilliantly
talented musicians from around the globe and gifted stars
of tomorrow, the festival was a celebration of the piano and
the joy of music!
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