Reviews 2008

Passionate storming of the heart

Rafal Blechacz – Poland hasn't produced such a great pianist’s talent as the young man probably since the times of Artur Rubinstein. 

Young pianism master: Rafal Blechacz

On Thursday evening the 23-year-old played in Dortmund Konzerhaus one of the most remarkable concerts in the “Master pianists” series.
Mozart performed by Blechacz is original, its perception of Debussy most individual and interpretations of his favourite composer - Chopin – are spectacular.
 
Brilliant technique

The Pole interpreted Chopin’s B minor sonata reaching its depth. The easily confident and brilliant technique of Blechacz wasn’t even for a while mere sudden key hitting as  willingly practiced in the final by Japanese peer piano stars, but rather passionate storming of the heart.

In truth Blechacz is rather an elegiac interpreter, gentle virtuoso who can easily and exhaustively make complex structures such as the ones in Chopin’s C-sharp minor mazurka sound beautifully out. – He is an interpreter who is deeply lost in music not giving at the same time any impression of melancholy, singing cantilenes and his verve spreads distinctly out from under his fingers. Just like everything in his performance seems to be flowing.

Copperplate engraving and watercolour painting

The young Pole is a careful pianist in love with details. In fast phrases of Mozart’s KV 311 Sonata he delicately produced tones and at the piano he was nothing more than a live wire – though, very much precise.

Blechacz embellished "Estampes"(“Woodcuts”) by Debussy using the right pedal. More than “Copperplates it ("Estampes") resembled watercolour painting in which the atmosphere of “gardens in the rain” was passed on also to Japanese “pagodas” and Andalusian rhythms of "Soiree". With Chopin locked in his heart Blechacz played “Variations” of his compatriot Szymanowski more passionately, a youthful work, in which an atmosphere of change is heard. He met with thunderous applause.

Rafal Blechacz: Starry Young Lisztian

(...)First on Mr. Blechacz's agenda was, appropriately, Bach — the Italian Concerto. This work is sometimes viewed as hackneyed, but not in fresh, capable hands — which Mr. Blechacz's are.

(…) Mr. Blechacz continued his program with three pieces of Liszt: "Waldesrauschen," "La  leggierezza," and "Gnomenreigen." And he demonstrated what you ought to demonstrate in these pieces: a big technique and a Romantic imagination. In other words, Mr. Blechacz is a Lisztian. Throughout these pieces, when the pianist performed some technical feat, the man in front of me looked at his wife as if to say, "How 'bout that?" His amazement and pleasure was justified.
I am pleased to report that Mr. Blechacz's passagework was, by and large, smooth. And was "La leggierezza" sufficiently light (for its very name means lightness)? Yes.

(…) But the young man did himself proud in the B-minor sonata, that wonderful piece. The sonata is well suited to what seems to be his bold, masculine, devil-may-care style. Most of the sonata sounded smart and fresh. And Mr. Blechacz showed a fine sense of the architecture of the work.
(…) The people went mad for this tousle-haired youngster, screaming and stamping their feet. In due course, he sent them home with Chopin's famous, beguiling Waltz in C-sharp minor, which was very stylish and idiomatic.

New York Philharmonic, Marin Alsop, conductor; Rafael Blechacz, pianist October 7 • Avery Fisher Hall; New York Bartok: The Wooden Prince suite; Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2; Dvorak's Symphony No. 9

(…) Blechacz delivered a performance that was a winning mixture of athleticism and poetry. He clearly has the technical chops (any competition winner would) and he sailed through the runs, trills and octaves of the final movement with seemingly effortless ease. More importantly, he had his own individual take on this work, one that will surely broaden with age but interesting in its own right at this point in time. This is definitely a young pianist to keep an eye and ear on.
Blechacz got plenty of assistance from Alsop, whose robust vision of the accompaniment matched the view of the soloist.

Pianist Rafal Blechacz displays grace, versatility in thrilling Gilmore recital

Because many in the audience at each Gilmore International Keyboard Festival have played the piano, few Festival programs give as much pleasure as solo piano recitals performed by exceptionally gifted players. Sunday afternoon's Gilmore concert by 22-year old Rafal Blechacz, born and raised in Poland, provided precisely such an occasion. In a program of works demanding radically differing musical styles, Blechacz dazzled a large audience at Western Michigan University's Dalton Center Recital Hall with consummate artistry.
Every note struck radiated musical understanding, expressed through flawless keyboard technique. Starting with Mozart's engaging Sonata in D Major, K. 311 (1777), Blechacz used swift tempos, but also displayed articulate crispness and, as a bonus, playfulness. Quick runs were unbelievably even, and trills and ornaments crystalline. Repeats sounded fresh, never stale. Notes pranced gracefully under Blechacz's touch.
Debussy's "Estampes" (Stamps) had Blechacz shifting gears entirely. In "Pagodes" (Pagodas) blunted, plush sounds conveyed Debussy's aura of "orientalism," as did oriental scales and harmonies. The pianist's lithe hands let the notes flow easily in a far cry from the classical designs of Mozart's score.
In "Soiree dans Granade" (Evening in Granada) Blechacz's keen replication of Hispanic rhythms captured the composer's intentions well. Brisk staccatos in upward scurrying phrases mimicked the third impression, "Jardins sous la pluie" (Gardens in the rain).
Still another approach was called for in Karol Szymanowski's magical Variations in B-Flat Minor, Op. 3 (1901-1903). For those not familiar with Szymanowski's work, Blechacz's decision to program this piece was a boon, because Szymanowski offers extraordinary romantic writing containing dashes of Rachmaninoff (Variations 3 and 11 especially), the Russian Romantics generally (in Variation 8) and Chopin, of course (in the terrific last, exciting variation, No. 12).
But a Polish pianist is expected most to have natural affinity with Chopin's music. This proved true with Blechacz performing all 24 of Chopin's Preludes, Op. 28 (1836-1839) -- a "tour de force." The artist elicited totally unique, individual "personality" from each short piece. No. 4 in E Minor was the epitome of sadness, for example, as Blechacz wrung every ounce of wistfulness from the score.
Everyone in the audience had his favorites, and mine included the utterly charming No. 9 in E Major, featuring the pianist's stunning left hand trills, a glorious No. 15 in D-Flat Major and a highly dramatic, affecting last prelude in D Minor, with blistering left-hand playing and dramatic chromatic runs in the right hand.
A genuine surge of approval came afterwards from the audience, leading to a brilliant rendition of a Moszkowski showcase jewel. Clearly, Blechacz had won the hearts of his discerning Gilmore audience.