SHAI
WOSNER Piano Recital
23rd
Singapore
Friday
(24 June 2016 )
Victoria
Concert Hall
This review was published in The Straits Times on 27 June 2016 with the title "Impromptu pieces impress with depth and drama".
An “impromptu” is described as an action
performed at the spur of the moment, without prior thought or anticipation. In
classical music, the art of the impromptu or improvisation is hardly exhibited
these days, except in rare cases of artists performing original cadenzas in a
concerto. Even that is hardly spontaneous, as the said “impromptus” are usually
much rehearsed and often scored.
The first half of Israeli pianist Shai
Wosner's recital was devoted to the genre of impromptus. Beginning with
Dvorak's Impromptu in D minor, its
folk-like and salon charm benefited from his tonal warmth and velvety touch.
Its central section had surprisingly piquant harmonies, paving the way for
Gershwin's insouciant Impromptu In Two
Keys, the American composer's playful experiment with bitonality.
Then came the two composers who defined
the impromptu as a genre piece. Chopin's First
Impromptu was set in perpetual motion with impeccable articulation,
contrasted with the freer approach of the Second
Impromptu, which began like a nocturne, then morphed into an imperious
march before engaging in flourishes of right hand filigree. Here the feeling of
“impromptu” became more palpable.
Schubert's set of Four Impromptus (D.935) are masterpieces, for which Wosner lavished
a labour of love and fine detail. Never far from the composer's world of Lieder, the music radiated lyricism yet
delved in the darker vistas of his tragically short life. This was no better
illustrated in the opening F minor Impromptu,
coloured with high drama and moments of innocence.
The popular A flat major Impromptu's chorale-like opening was
beautifully voiced, and the Theme &
Variations of the B flat major Impromptu
displayed the full gamut of his musicality. A mastery of scales, fast
rhythms and staccato playing also shone through in the Hungarian-styled final Impromptu in F minor.
The second half opened with Chopin's Tarantella (Op.43) in a workmanlike
reading which seemed an incongruously random choice at the time. This was soon
forgotten as soon as Schubert's Sonata
in C minor (D.958), the evening's main work, got underway.
Its declamatory chords spoke volumes of
angst and tribulation, one voiced with unflinching intensity. The contrasts
between light and shade, soft and loud became amplified under his highly
personal and intense glare. The playing was emphatic, phrasing often
intentionally abrupt, but it never descended to banging or shouting.
The aural oasis offered by the slow
movement in A flat major, the sonata's spiritual heart, offered the recital's
finest moments. Beginning like the Impromptu
in the same key, its traversed a course of emotional pinnacles and depths that
was breathtaking. A nervous and agitated Minuet movement soon gave way to the
vertiginous finale in tarantella rhythm, which concluded on an exciting high.
As if to highlight a joyful symmetry of
programming, Wosner's encores included Schubert's lilting Hungarian Melody in B minor and an original improvisation. In the
manner of Schubert's German Dances,
here was a true impromptu to complete the evening's fine fare.
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| Shai Wosner with SIPF Director Lionel Choi and piano technician Walter Haass. |
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