BORIS BEREZOVSKY: TITAN OF THE PIANO / Review

BORIS BEREZOVSKY

TITAN OF THE PIANO

Esplanade Concert Hall

Wednesday (21 February 2018)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 24 February 2018 with the title "Super-virtuoso pianist makes a splash".

In the second recital of the Aureus Great Artists Series, celebrated Russian pianist Boris Berezovsky, 1^st prize winner of the 1990 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition, took to the stage. There was an eleventh-hour programme change, with the more standard selection of Beethoven, Chopin, Bartok, Scarlatti and Stravinsky replaced by an all-Russian smorgasbord.

Here are the Russians (L-R):
Balakirev, Liadov, Rachmaninov, Scriabin & Stravinsky.

The music of Mily Balakirev rarely features in recitals, so it was a pleasant surprise to hear a suite comprising two Mazurkas, a Nocturne and a Scherzo from the leader of “The Mighty Handful” clique of Russian nationalist composers, who was also enamoured of Chopin.

Within minutes, Berezovsky, a hulking bear of a performer, showed why he is regarded a super-virtuoso among pianists. That he could deliver huge splashy chords and the finest filigree within mere moments was much to savour, his enormous dynamic range achieved with seemingly the greatest of ease, minimum fuss and absolutely no histrionics.

Even the notorious oriental fantasy Islamey was tossed off with searing pace, lightness and clarity that defied physics. One of very few who can play it under 8 minutes, a canny excision towards its coruscating end lopped off further seconds, thus comfortably hitting the sub-seven mark.

Speed records do not apply to Anatol Liadov's exquisite miniatures, which Berezovsky treated like sparkling gems. There was a gently rocking Barcarolle and lilting Mazurka, reliving Chopin and early Scriabin, and a bouquet of Preludes. This was distinguished by the Borodinesque melody of Op.11 No.1, the melancholy of which could not have been more Russian.

Without neither a break nor fanfare, he seamlessly eased into five Préludes by Rachmaninov, closing with the popular E flat major and G minor numbers (Op.23 Nos.6 & 5). As the alert listener would have noticed by now, Berezovsky had chopped and changed the programme, omitting certain listed pieces and adding new ones as he progressed. It was anybody's guess what came next, but this serendipity was more enthralling than disorientating.

With no further surprises, the second half began with six Études by Alexander Scriabin. Working from Op.42 to Op.65, and mirroring the composer's ascent from neurotic excitability into outright hysteria, the music became more frenzied in Berezovsky's hands. The climax came in the volcanic spewings of Sonata No.5, the so-called “Poem of Ecstasy”.

Despite getting lost somewhere in its psychedelic ruminations, Berezovsky obeyed the cardinal law of concert pianists by not stopping, instead recovering and finishing in the most exulted of highs. As if that were not enough, Stravinsky's fearsome Three Movements from Petrushka followed, further revealing Berezovsky's metier as a true keyboard colourist.  

While not pin-point accurate, it was the rough-and-tumble of the Shrovetide Fair dances that truly mattered, with swathes of orchestral colour emanating from the keyboard like never before. Its raucous conclusion raised a spontaneous standing ovation, and three of Grieg's Lyric Pieces (Berceuse, March of the Trolls and Wedding Day at Troldhaugen) - conjuring a different sound world altogether – as encores, had exactly the same effect. 

A CONCERT NOT TO BE MISSED: BORIS BEREZOVSKY - TITAN OF THE PIANO

Here is a concert not to be missed, an all-Russian piano recital by the great Russian pianist Boris Berezovsky entitled "Titan of the Piano". 

Berezovsky was the 1st Prizewinner in the 1990 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition. He last performed a solo recital in Singapore in 2005 (Chopin-Godowsky Etudes and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition), and has appeared on multiple occasions with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

His piano recital programme (please note the changes) is as follows:

BALAKIREV Mazurkas Nos.4 & 5
Scherzos Nos.2 & 3 
Nocturne No.1 
Islamey

LIADOV Barcarolle Op.44 
Mazurka Op.57 No.3
Preludes (Selection)

RACHMANINOV Preludes Op.32 (Selection)

SCRIABIN Études Op.42 Nos.3, 4 & 5
Etudes Op.65 Nos.1-3
Sonata No.5

STRAVINSKY 

Three Movements from Petrushka

When: Wednesday 21 February 2018

Where: Esplanade Concert Hall

What time: 7.30 pm

Tickets are available at SISTIC by clicking here:

https://www.sistic.com.sg/events/cboris0218

This concert is presented by Aureus Productions as part of the Aureus Great Artists Series. 

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, May 2009)

ROSLAVETS Violin Concertos
ALINA IBRAGIMOVA, Violin
BBC Scottish Symphony / Martyn Brabbins
Hyperion 67637

Rating ****1/2

Nikolai Roslavets (1881-1944) was a prime representative of the Soviet avant-garde during the 1920s, when a spirit of experimentation flourished before Stalin’s oppressive artistic restrictions came into force. Also known as the Russian Schoenberg, Roslavets’ music flirted with atonalism but never actually crossed the line. His two violin concertos take a stab at a genre that had its hey-day in the 19th century. The ambitious 38-minute-long Violin Concerto No.1 (1925) is one post-Wagnerian rhapsody, full of Tristanesque leitmotifs and twists, but without the voices. Violin Concerto No.2 (1936) is half its length and has a more impressionistic feel, with the picturesque scores of Delius and Bax coming to mind.

Young Russian violinist Alina Ibragimova is both expressive and brilliant in this rarefied repertoire, definitely a name to watch out for. More approachable than Alban Berg, less ascerbic than Bartok; by today’s trends, Roslavets would have been a top-rate film composer.

MEDTNER Contes & Poemes
BORIS BEREZOVSKY, Piano et al
Mirare 059

Rating *****

The music of Russian composer Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951) reveals its secrets less readily than those of his contemporaries Rachmaninov and Scriabin. Hence the relative obscurity, but those willing to venture beyond heart-on-sleeve emotions and Romantic gestures will find ample reward. Medtner’s songs or Romances, sung by soprano Yana Ivanova and bass Vassily Savenko, go deep into the Russian soul of Pushkin and Lermontov. The main draw is a fine selection of Skazki or Contes (Fairy Tales) for piano, which yield melody, drama and counterpoint in abundance. The March of the Paladin (Op.14 No.2) is imperious in both intent and pianistic detail. Campanella (Op.20 No.2) is no Paganinian tinkle but bears the full fearsome might of alarm bells, portents of tragedy and disaster. Russian pianist Boris Berezovsky, without doubt one of Medtner’s finest advocates, deserves to be heard.

MOZART Chamber Piano Concertos
JEAN-PHILLIPPE COLLARD, Piano
Quatuor Muir
EMI Classics 3977012

Rating ****

It may be said that Mozart’s piano concertos are the ultimate in chamber music. Thus it is unsurprising to find that several of the earlier concertos exist in a quattro versions, scored for piano and string quartet. The transparent and intimate nature of his writing allow for this “reduction”, which sound anything but incomplete. Here are six prime examples, Concertos Nos.6, 8, 11 through 14. It is the latter four that come across most convincingly, as these represent Mozart in his development as the genre’s foremost exponent. Only in the C major No.13, where brass and timpani contribute to its march-like quality, does this arrangement come somewhat short. French pianist Jean-Philippe Collard is sensitive and unfailingly musical, and together with his string partners make this album a totally enjoyable experience.

SSO CONCERT: SIGNATURE TUNES (Season Finale) / Review

SIGNATURE TUNES
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Lan Shui, Conductor
Esplanade Concert Hall
Friday (15 May 2009)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 18 May 2009.

The final concert of SSO’s 2008-09 concert season had all the ingredients of a Gala Concert, with gallery seats behind the orchestra filled to the brim, a celebrity soloist who drew standing ovations, and a bemused orchestra playing overtime.

Beginning with Debussy’s Images, played complete, the orchestra took some time to settle. The very quiet first page of Gigues could have arisen more subtly as several solos opened their accounts without the requisite mystery and stealth. It was left for Pan Yun’s lovely oboe solo to soothe edgy nerves.

A decision was made to play the third tone poem Rondes de Printemps (Dances of Spring) next, so that the piece would end with the fireworks of Iberia, the trilogy’s best-known part. This strategem worked well, because much attention was lavished on its details, especially the colours and dynamics of the sensuous Fragrances of the Night, which lingered long in the memory A deliberate and almost fussy procession in Morning of a Festival made for a curious close to the first half.

Then came the crowd-pleaser: Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto. The Russian pianist Boris Berezovsky (left) is blest with a natural facility that it can easily be taken for granted. Multitudes of notes were tossed away with such nonchalant ease that one wondered if he ever broke into a sweat. Operating within a narrow emotional range for much of the first movement, large tracts of music seemed guided by autopilot.

Only in the large chordal cadenza and the second movement did he emerge from his shell, and the instinct was to play faster and louder, with the orchestra struggling to keep up. One began to sense a lack of engagement; has over-familiarity dulled his responses to this intoxicatingly exciting music? Nevertheless, the final effect - illusion or otherwise - was one of breathtaking virtuosity and for some, spellbinding brilliance. The audience roared its heartiest approval and voted with its feet.

Three Rachmaninov encores beckoned, including two Préludes from Op.23, the first in D major (No.4) played so fast to have missed a sniff of its bouquet, and a second in G minor (No.5) which seemed about right. Lan Shui and the orchestra abetted with a repeat of the concerto’s final febrile pages, a cue for further frenzied applause. Berezovsky and Co. certainly knew the first rule of public relations: the customer is always right.