I was in London and this looked the most interesting concert. Others in the family had heard Igor Levit at the Proms recently and I got one of the last few tickets for the recital of three works including variations.
Heard of Georg Muffat? I hadn’t, and had assumed he was contemporary, but he turns out to be late 17th century! We heard his most famous piece, a Passacaglia in G minor. It’s a striking piece, though contrary to my usual preference for hearing such repertoire on the piano, I found myself missing the sound of the harpsichord.
Shostakovich’s second piano sonata was also unknown to me. Very much in the mode of some of the string quartets, and often sparely written, it explores a different world from the symphonies which are my customary stomping ground when it comes to Shostakovich. This performance brought out both the spareness and the dramatic gestures.
Much the same could be said of the Diabelli Variations which formed the second half. We had both stillness and extravagance, with carefully timed pauses between the variations (the art of the expressive silence seems to be a rare one these days, with many performers just crashing on). I heard no mistakes at all – no wonder it was rapturously received.
Reviews: