For the third time in a month, pianist extraordinaire Evgeny Kissin graced the stage at Symphony Center with his powerful and dramatic technique on Sunday. The first two times he appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Sunday’s performance was solo. Like the first appearances, he played off-the-beaten-path works by mainstream composers, such as Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, Robert Schumann, and Franz Liszt.
Few pianists have more aura from the bench than Kissin. His fingering is so rapid and smooth, he’s a marvel to watch every time. While the program could have been better and the piano was slightly out of tune in the first half, it was still a great performance.
First up was Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 7 in D-major, Op. 10 No. 3. Of the three sonatas that comprise this opus, this one has always been my least favorite. In a sign of an excellent performance, Kissin offered an interpretation that opened new avenues for appreciation and enjoyment.
This particular early work possesses many hints of the revolutionary directions Beethoven would take music within a few years. In the first movement Presto, he stretches sonata form and goes in unexpected directions, such as a secondary theme starting in a minor key before resolving into major one. This opening movement also has an expanded ending or coda, which Kissin started with delicate tenderness before allowing the drama to come through at the end.
The movement that really caught my attention was the slow second movement, Largo e mesto. Kissin played it in a way that reminded me of something Beethoven would write 10 years later, the slow movement of the Ghost Trio. It provided Kissin with a vehicle to show off powerful chords and quiet melodies, in a very engrossing way. Moving with the music, he bent forward so far, his face nearly touched his hands.
Up next were five Mazurkas by Chopin, who wrote many of these pieces throughout his career. Being in triple time, many Mazurkas are like waltzes, but not all. Chopin expansively used the form to express some very deep and introspective emotions, and the five pieces Kissin performed illustrated their diverse moods. Played together in the order he chose, these five had the feeling of a piano suite. It was a very imaginative selection.
The first one, Op. 41 no.2 in E-minor was emotionally dark, but the second one, in A-flat major, Op, 41 No. 4, was bright and dance like. These two short pieces were followed by a longer one, in C-minor, Op. 56 no. 3, which felt more like an extended ballade than a shorter mazurka. After another dance-like piece in B-Major, Op. 63 No. 1, the set concluded with last music Chopin ever wrote: the somber Mazurka in F-minor, Op. 68 No. 4. Aside from a minor slip or two, there were many things to like about Kissin’s performance of the Mazurkas.
Unfortunately, the piano was a bit out of tune. It wasn't noticeable during the Beethoven, but one key played repeatedly during the Chopin was not quite right. After a visit by a piano tuner during intermission, Kissin returned to the piano bench, and, without any pause, raced into the start of Schumann’s Kreisleriana, Op. 16. He whirled right through the first movement, which translated from German, was labeled, “Extremely agitated.” The fingers in his right hand just exploded across the keyboard, while the left hand backed up graciously.
The contrast with the slower second movement, labeled “Very fervent and not too lively,” was large. This performance was good to hear, but I have never found this music to be very interesting. As Schumann’s melodies go, this is nowhere near his best, and Kreisleriana can seem long and repetitive. While great, this performance did not change my opinion.
Fortunately, the final piece on the program, and an amazing encore, restored the excitement. Few composers of piano music wow an audience more than Liszt, and his Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12 in C-sharp minor shows all sides of this composer. It starts very serious and somber, but soon breaks out into energetic fun. It is tailor-made for a pianist as dexterous as Evgeny Kissin.
After several well-earned ovations, Kissin added some Spanish flare to the festivities with Larregla y Urbieta’s ¡Viva Navarra!. Being every bit as fun as the Liszt, it ended the concert marvelously.
This weekend, James Gaffigan leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and CSO Assistant Concertmaster Yuan-Qing through a program that includes Grieg’s Holberg Suite, Kreisler’s Violin Concerto in C-Major (In the Style of Vivaldi). Clyne’s Sound and Fury, and Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 101 in D-Major, the "Clock". Thursday, May 21, 7:30 pm, Friday, May 22, 1:30 pm, and Saturday, May 23, 7:30 pm. For more information, click here.
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