(RE)CREATIONS: ZLATA CHOCHIEVA PIANO RECITAL / Review

(RE)CREATIONS

ZLATA CHOCHIEVA Piano Recital

Victoria Concert Hall

Saturday (6 November 2021)

 

Young Berlin-based Russian pianist Zlata Chochieva’s debut recital in Singapore, presented by Altenburg Arts, was titled (re)creations but it could have easily been The Art of Transcription. Recitals of piano transcriptions are curious affairs, and Chochieva’s selection of Ignaz Friedman, Franz Liszt and Sergei Rachmaninov transcriptions was especially astute by mixing the popular with the obscure.

 

Transcriptions of Polish pianist-composer Ignaz Friedman (1882-1948) are less well-known alongside those of Liszt, Busoni and Rachmaninov, but stand up very well by comparison. The recital opened with his transcription of the Adagio in G minor from a harpsichord sonata by Italian Giovanni Battista Grazioli (1746-1820). His dates suggest the classical period, but its lovely Mozartian melody was dressed up in such luscious textures as to look forward to the Romantic era.

 

Delicately but beautifully played, it made for great contrasts with Friedman’s take on the bustling first movement of J.S.Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.3. Originally for strings, this imposing transcription took on orchestral dimensions, and one imagines the colours of winds and brass amidst the busy counterpoint. Similarly, the Tempo di Minuetto second movement from Mahler’s Third Symphony was crisply delivered and alive in orchestral detail, especially fantastical scherzo-like effects of its trio section. These true rarities served a total delight.

Photo: Ung Ruey Loon

 

The recital’s centrepiece were the five movements from Ravel’s Miroirs (Mirrors), a masterclass of crafting exquisite sonorities. Exemplary pedalling and featherlight touches distinguished Oiseaux tristes (Sad Birds) and La vallée des cloches (The Valley of Bells), where echoes hung and lingered ever so tantalisingly, while shimmering textures defined Noctuelles (Night Moths) and Une barque sur l’ocean (A Boat on the Ocean). In the latter, the focus was not on the vessel but the inexorable play of lapping waves building up to each crest. The strumming guitars in Alborada del gracioso (Morning Song of the Jester) were vividly realised, a Spanish rhapsody that climaxed in a slew of sweeping glissandi. All this makes one yearn for Chochieva’s view of Gaspard de la nuit. The next time, perhaps?

 

The recital’s final third belonged to song and dance transcriptions, with mostly Liszt as protagonist. His transcriptions of Schubert’s lieder Wohin? (Whither) from Die Schöne Mullerin, Litanei and Auf dem Wasser zu singen (To Be Sung On The Water) are established classics. All through Chochieva’s playing, the warm glow of melodic lines were never blurred by accompanying figurations and filigree. Simplicity also reigned in Mendelssohn’s Auf Flügeln des Gesanges (On Wings of Song), where true cantabile soared unimpeded to nether reaches.

Photo: Ung Ruey Loon

 

Rachmaninov’s transcription of Mendelssohn’s Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream is justifiably considered one of the most fearsome piano pieces ever dreamt of. Yet Chochieva hardly raised a sweat in its prestidigitations, accomplished with a lightness of touch that is enviable. Lovers of legendary recordings of Benno Moiseiwitsch and Rachmaninov himself will find a pianist of their equal here, and to experience it live is a rare privilege. Finally, the gemütlichkeit of the Gärtner-Friedman Viennese Dance No.1 provided a delicious end to the recital proper.

 

Tumultuous applause led to three encores: Chopin’s “Black Key” Étude (Op.10 No.5) with teasingly placed rubatos, the wild romp of the Mussorgsky-Rachmaninov Hopak from Sorochintsy Fair and Pierre Sancan’s coruscating Toccata to crown an evening of pianistic magnificence.