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A Striking Contrast
Tuesday, 18 October 2005
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Mazurkas, a polonaise and a sonata. These include almost everything needed to provide a full picture of the skills of candidates for the Chopin Grand Prix 2005. How should one play a stylish mazurka? This is one of the challenges for everyone who wants to face the Chopin repertoire.
When trying to discover the secrets of this mazurka style, the famous Aleksander Michałowski in the 19th century requested the elderly Duchess Marcelina Czartoryska, one of the most talented students of Chopin, to play a few mazurkas. After some balking and excusing her no longer complete piano skills, the duchess played Mazurka in D major op. 33 no. 3. Michałowski was greatly surprised to hear that the main theme was from the very beginning played heartily, without any shading. Only at the very end the last fragment sounded delicately and exquisitely, with a “caring” touch of the keyboard. When asked why she played the main theme this way, Duchess Czartoryska replied, “This is how Chopin taught me. He told me that in this mazurka, he wanted to render the contrast between ‘an inn and a salon’.”
The times when the young Chopin listened to the sound of a village band at an inn are long gone. The salons are also a thing of the past, since mazurkas, and in turn Chopin’s music, have entered big concert halls. How should one play Chopin’s mazurkas?
Over the first two days of the second stage, 18 pianists performed. The recital of Hisako KAWAMURA turned out promising in terms of mazurkas. She played Mazurka in G Minor op. 24 no. 1 in a broad and singing phrase.
Yusuke KIKUCHI played his program in a clearly less personal style. His mazurkas, with the one in D Major (op. 33) did not go beyond academic framework in their correctness. We saw more emotion and spontaneity in Mazurkas op. 59 as interpreted by Ben KIM. He was able not only to create a mood, but also maintain it—and its different shades—both in Andante Spianato and Funebre March.
Szczepan KOŃCZAL, the first from the group of seven Polish pianists, presented his program very well, confirming his piano skills. His chamber style allows for a longer focus on the details of Chopin’s notes that are most often blurred when bravado pianists play it.
The nobility of the young talent of Jacek KORTUS is like a refreshing spring breeze. In Mazurkas op. 17, particularly in A Flat Major and A Minor, he captured the mood of the moment. This “something” that can be achieved only once and never again—at least in an identical way—and you can never come back to it. With his performance of Polonaise in A Flat Major op. 53 he demonstrated that his talent and obvious skills allow him to successfully play works of such scale as op. 53.
The 18-year-old Naomi KUDO attracted attention with her performance of Sonata in B Minor op. 58. Her excellent piano preparation and talent were appreciated by the audience and awarded with an ovation. Kudo played the Mazurkas op. 33 with temperament directed at stressing the rhythm of the Mazovian dance.
The style of Olga KOZLOVA, as much intriguing as controversial, will certainly add color to the list of personalities of the 15th Competition. To evaluate her as a Chopinesque performer is both very easy and very difficult.
Of the first day of performances in the second round, it is worth noting the recital of Ka Ling Collen LEE, whose Polonaise-Fantasia demonstrated her ability to execute a form featuring such a variable scale of moods.
The second day of the second round was a Japanese day, since as many as five pianists from the Land of the Rising Sun performed. Regardless of how we evaluate the details of their recitals, we have to mark with appreciation that each visit of Japanese artists to the Competition provides increasingly beautiful experiences. This is the result of systematic and tedious work toward creating an own Chopin tradition. Everything is going in the right direction.
The Japanese are still open to all kinds of knowledge that allows them to learn the secrets of Chopin music. This can be heard, even when they faithfully repeat what they are learning from professors and pianists from Poland among others. Diligence and persistence in their work produce results, like in the case of Rieko Nezu. If I were to distinguish anyone, I would first mention Miku Omine. Thanks to several years of studying Chopin at the Music Academy in Warsaw, she has extensive skills in, for example, interpretation of mazurkas. We could hear that when she was playing the aforementioned Mazurka in D major op. 33 no. 3.
Yuma Osaki proved her piano skills in Sonata op. 58. She is an artist accustomed to large stages, she has already won awards at many prestigious competitions. The form of such a complex composition as the Sonata in B Minor op. 58 did not cause any problems to her. In Largo, its third part, she maintains the tension and reaches the finale where she demonstrates her virtuososity. I would prefer Mazurkas op. 59 slightly simpler, not overburdened with the multitude of otherwise interesting texture concepts.
After a competent recital of Takashi Sato, in terms of what we can call an elaborated Japanese style, we could hear Shohei Sekimoto. After the first stage his stage temperament seemed to me that of a conqueror—someone who can fight for audience’s applause and critic’s praise. He plays in a large scale of dynamics and at rather fast tempos. It is important that all these remain at the service of musical expression. His interpretation of the Sonata in B Flat Minor can be called colossal and, in terms of emotions—demonic. The Polonaise in A Flat Major op. 53, although far from majestic, was impressively powerful.
On that day, the numerous Japanese were competing with the Koreans. While performing three Mazurkas op. 59, Dong Hyek Lim, educated at the Moscow Conservatory, reminded us of the lyrical side of this form of music (Mazurka in A Minor). Like in the first stage, he demonstrated an excellent leggiero technique (Polonaise op. 22). Ester Park from the United States plays decisively and dynamically, risking the purity of text in bravado parts. Well, everything comes at a price.
19-year-old Eol-Eum Son, who has given concerts with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Lorin Maazel, is a pure talent. With her sensitivity and tremendous piano skills, her Chopin—sketchy for the time being—will certainly acquire more and more beautiful color. What spiritual concentration in the slow part of Sonata op. 58.
If I were to choose a pianist from the Friday session whose sound is particularly rich, I would mention Marko Mustonen from Finland. Already after the first stage I paid attention to his sound technique, to this color of sound created at different depths of the keyboard, with the most interesting sound coming from very deep. That is why everything resounds here. That is why in his interpretation of the mazurkas he was able to provide so many shades of them (Mazurkas op. 33).
Did we hear the mazurkas we have awaited for so long? It would be unfair to say anything at a moment when not everyone has played.
Jan Popis
This article appears courtesy of The Warsaw Voice.
You will find more articles in connection with the 15th International F. Chopin Piano Competition in a competition Gazette at www.konkurs.chopin.pl and www.chopin.warsawvoice.pl
More abouth the 15th F. Chopin Piano Competition
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