Volume 126 >> Issue 26 : Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Concert Review: Extraordinary Pollini

An Afternoon of Classical Splendor Made The Sun Shine More Brightly

By Nivair H. Gabriel
ARTS EDITOR

Maurizio Pollini

Bank of America Celebrity Series

Symphony Hall

Sunday, April 30, 2006, 3 p.m.

Listening to a recording over and over can be a setback for me once I get a chance to hear the piece played live. I expect the programmed perfection of my .mp3 file, when what I really hear is a musical interpretation that lives and breathes. Chopin virtuoso Maurizio Pollini, however, led me right past this difficulty during his April 30 performance at Symphony Hall; his performance of pieces I loved both satisfied and surprised me. His five encores suggest that the rest of the audience agreed.

With a humble gait and bright glint in his eyes, Pollini stepped to the Steinway and wasted no time at all in beginning his all-Chopin first act. The opening two nocturnes — Op. 55 No. 1 in F Minor and Op. 55 No. 2 in E-flat Major — were languorous lullabies, and Pollini played them with a slow and delicate grace. They were so soft and soothing, in fact, that they failed to stimulate.

At the start of Chopin’s Ballade in G Minor (Op. 23), however, everyone straightened in their seats. In Pollini’s recordings of Chopin’s Ballades, he lacks the fluidity of contemporary Murray Perahia; he’s technically sound, but wanting in soulfulness. On April 30, however, Pollini’s First Ballade woke up. His emotion was clear — he rose a little in his seat — and at the end, when the Ballade scaled almost fast enough to be a glissando, the music sparkled.

He went on to play two nocturnes hummingbird-fast (Op. 48, No. 1 in C Minor; Op. 48, No. 2 in F-sharp Minor), keeping the tempo up after the ballade was over. Chopin’s Polonaise in F-sharp Minor was another good choice to round out the first act; Pollini’s light but firm touch gave it a lovely rhythm.

Back from intermission, Pollini picked up even more speed for an all-Liszt second act. He choose the smooth and haunting Nuages Gris, and played it to perfection, resting only moments before heading into Unstern — in fact a very stern and rigid piece as Pollini played it. Liszt did not publish Unstern in his lifetime, and its unusual nature did not win it many favors when it was first written; at this performance, too, it seemed out of place. For this reviewer, however, the more dark and sobering the piano music, the better.

The scene got even darker when Pollini moved into La Lugubre Gondola I. Written for a funeral gondola Liszt saw outside of Wagner’s window, La lugubre gondola was Liszt’s lament at Wagner’s then-rapidly deteriorating health. When Wagner passed away soon afterwards, Liszt wrote an elegy, Richard Wagner—Venezia, and it was only fitting for Pollini to play them together, overshadowing the audience’s mood on this sunny afternoon.

But Pollini didn’t leave us in the dark. He finished with Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor, one of the composer’s most exciting contributions to piano literature. Liszt’s pieces are known for their technical difficulty, as he was a virtuoso, and this sonata is no exception. Pollini teased out the animated and energetic chords, but was also able to portray the relaxing, beautiful parts of the piece. He left the audience pleased — too pleased.

What followed were several incredible encores, as each time Pollini left the stage we roared for his return. He didn’t disappoint, and the hearty glint had not left his eyes; he continued to enter, sit, and play the audience something special. For this reviewer, the highlight was hearing Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude (Op. 10 No. 12 in C minor) while watching Pollini on a concert grand, instead of through earbud headphones on the walk to class.

The Bank of America Celebrity Series is a consistent source of joy in any difficult semester. Frequent presenter Maurizio Pollini nearly filled Symphony Hall, and that was no accident. This virtuoso played to his strengths, and when the audience spilled back out onto sunny Mass. Ave., everybody was just a little more impressed with the world.