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Li, Lipkina, Zimmerman: a Concert of Contrasts

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Three talented performers and host Robin at Central Park West

Zimmerman, Lipkina, Li, Shoemaker, NYC 2017-04-29

The three musicians at Robin Shoemaker’s Central Park West salon on April 29th were very different, except in one aspect: excellence. Each would have held our attention in solo recital, but thanks to our gracious host we got to experience them all.

Ning-Yuen Li

Ning-Yuen Li delivered a solid Haydn Sonata in C Major No. 58 Hob. XVI. His powered articulation gave Haydn a warm glow. But Ning’s special contribution to the evening was his gorgeous performance of Chopin’s Ballade No. 2 in F Major Op. 38. During this alternately serene and disturbed work Ning would lean far into the Steinway, as if to polish the keyboard with his distinctive forelock. Some pianists employ such theatrics for drama, but here it arose from Ning’s deep connection with the instrument and a very obvious love of Chopin (check out his F Minor Ballade).

Natasha Lipkina

Natasha Lipkina is one of the most accomplished musicians that I have had the pleasure of meeting. She and Ning delivered an enjoyable off-program partnership of violin and piano. This included a Telemann Fantasia and Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No.4 Op. 23. If their collaboration was unscheduled, that was not evident. They played as one from the sheet music, professionals to the core.

Margrit Zimmerman

When  Margrit Zimmerman joined us, Ms. Lipkina came into her own. Where Ning and Natasha together were at times a dueling duet, Margrit was restrained, slipping from foreground to background as called for. This sacrifice of self to the partnership is what we ask of the collaborative pianist, and it allowed Ms. Lipkina’s viola to shine.

Schubertiana

And shine it did! In Schubert’s all too short Litany for All Souls Day (arr. William Primrose), Natasha’s rendition was poignant but clean enough to avoid sentimentality. In his Arpeggione Sonata in A Minor D. 821, she showed her mastery of Viennese drawing-room lyricism. At the same time, she had a Haendel-like precision that made Schubert’s outbursts of dance crisply humorous and delightful. This was a musician at the peak of her art.

Contrasts

When I experience a performance such as that of Ms. Lipkina, I am profoundly stirred. But it would be unfair to single her out because each of these musicians brought their own unique flavor to the evening, such that the whole was greater than the sum of the contrasting parts.

Khatia Buniatishvili enchants Carnegie, 2016

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Khatia Buniatishvili Carnegie 2016-12-10

Khatia Buniatishvili Carnegie 2016-12-10

On Saturday December 10th, 2016, my wife Patti and I went into New York early to stop in at Europa Cafe (205 W 57th St., recommended) before Khatia Buniatishvili’s recital at Carnegie Zankel.

The program

The repertoire for this recital was distinguished by its grandeur and virtuosity, consisting only of Mussorgsky and Liszt. It was a program of sheer audience indulgence, performed by the strikingly beautiful pianist from the Republic of Georgia.

Khatia Buniatishvili

Khatia Buniatishvili is one of the finest younger pianists that I have discovered through YouTube. Her Vernier rendition of Chopin’s E minor Prelude (Op.28 No. 4), a slow cataclysm wrapped in angel cake, is a standout performance that made her a must-see when it came time to choose a Carnegie subscription for 2016.

For Carnegie, Khatia wore a charcoal evening gown and matte black heels. She walked with grace and had a warm, embracing smile. Her stately carriage continued when she sat. I don’t think I have seen a performer with a straighter back at the piano than Ms. Buniatishvili. It felt to me like we were in the presence of musical royalty.

Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition

This piece is best known in Ravel’s orchestration, and some find the original piano score to be ponderous. But under Ms. Buniatishvili’s hands this evening, the Russkaya Dusha of Mussorgsky came through in a way that Ravel’s orchestration does not capture.

From the opening, the pianist used just the right amount of rubato to keep alive phrases that can easily become leaden. Her extensive use of una corda and rapid half-pedal on the sustain (wonderful what you can learn when you are up close) made the more reflective segments glow like the black Steinway did under the Zankel stage lighting.

On the stronger sections the pianist did everything well, but the Carnegie Steinway seemed brassy at the lower end. This had me wondering if we would have been better off with the rounder bass of a Yamaha. But perhaps it was just the acoustics.

Liszt: La Campanella, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2

There were four Liszt items on the program, and with each one Ms. Buniatishvili got closer to perfection. I will discuss only the last two: La Campanella and the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.

Khatia’s La Campanella was a treat. That said, the top notes seemed too loud compared with the rest of the right hand, which is not the case in her recordings. But I was just 12 feet from the right side of the keyboard, which may have contributed to this.

Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 was, for both my wife and myself, the peak of the evening. It is an exciting virtuoso piece, and was carried off with such vigor and natural feel that it was a perfect conclusion to the program. Here is a link to Khatia’s 2015 Verbier performance, but I thought that her 2016 Carnegie Zankel performance was even better.

Oh, Khatia!

If Ms. Buniatishvili’s entrance to Zankel Hall was stately, her departure was also gracious. She preferred a simple pianist bow, sometimes with left hand on the piano, and she made a point of looking to all the audience, including upstairs and to each side. She also made direct eye contact with me in the front row, which just about blew me out of my chair.

No review of Ms. Buniatishvili would be complete without mentioning her hair. Whenever Khatia plays you will see those ragged curls fall over her eyes. Since her eyes are more often than not closed, this has no effect on her performance. We see that the performer is lost in her art, and we love her all the more for that.

What was that encore?

Khatia’s encore was delightful and familiar but other than recognizing it as Bach, I could not name it. Waiting in line after the concert to meet the artist, I conferred with my neighbors but none of us were sure. I later learned that we know it as “Sheep may safely graze”, from Bach’s Cantata BWV 208. Listen to it in the following video from an earlier Paris performance, where she appears to be wearing the same dress that she wore for Carnegie.

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My piano is your piano

Khatia Buniatishvili and Ken Turner

Khatia Buniatishvili and the Author at Carnegie

Whenever I go to Carnegie I hope to meet the performer, but this is the first time I succeeded. Newly purchased CD’s in hand to be autographed, I had no coherent way to express what I was feeling! But I am sure that Ms. Buniatishvili is used to goofy grins from people who find themselves in the presence of unique talent and are just happy to be there.

My piano is your piano, Khatia.

Pianist Soo Yeon Cho at Central Park West

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Soo Yeon Cho with Robin Shoemaker

Soo Yeon Cho with Robin Shoemaker

On Saturday 19th November, 2016, my daughter and I were privileged to see pianist Soo Yeon Cho at a private salon recital hosted by Robin Shoemaker in his home on Central Park West, New York.

Salon Concert

I had never been to a salon concert, so I was unsure what to expect. But our host welcomed us at his door and quickly put us at ease. With a glass of wine in hand, we enjoyed having time to connect with other guests.

The guests ranged from musicians to scientists, New Yorkers to Hungarians, and from as far away as Australia. It was inspiring to be among such a diverse audience, brought together by love of the piano. I am only sorry that there was not enough time to get to know everyone.

The Salon Concert was a different kind of experience from public recitals. I have had some great seats at Carnegie, but there is always a gulf, physical and emotional, between audience and performer. In Mr. Shoemaker’s salon we breathed the same air as the pianist, and there were no spotlights to differentiate her space from our space.

Robin Shoemaker's salon with Steinway

The salon entrance

The Salon

The recital was held in a room containing a Steinway and improvised seating for about 20. The walls were adorned with black-framed art that created a serene ambience.

During the intermission I was surprised to discover that more people had been seated in the corridor looking into the salon, and I was touched to see that our host had left the best salon seating for his guests.

Soo Yeon Cho

Ms. Cho is my piano tutor, so I was already aware of her skill and her prodigious resume. She has two degrees from Julliard, and many performance and competition successes. But being tutored by an accomplished pianist is very different from attending a professional recital by that pianist, and on this evening I finally got to understand just how good Ms. Cho was.

The Program

Our host provided a printed program for the event. The selection was well-architected, from the opening baroque thru romantics Chopin and Schubert, with a spike to Ginastera, and thence to the father of modern piano, Franz Liszt. Here is the detail, with links to other performances for readers unfamiliar with any items listed. The first link is to a prior performance by Ms. Cho herself.

The Performance

I have always thought of Domenic Scarlatti as one of “those” baroque composers that one has to whet one’s pianistic skills on out of duty more than preference. But Ms. Cho showed a special affinity for this composer and her performance brought him to life for me. Her G Major sonatas were vibrant, from the ringing K427 to the mania of K455. Her D Minor K213 sonata was haunted and moving, impressive for a composition that was born on the harpsichord.

I had been looking forward to Chopin’s C sharp Minor Nocturne (op. post.) as the highlight of the recital. It is one of my personal favorites, and as expected, Ms. Cho played it with consummate artistry.

Soo Yeon Cho at Central Park West, Nov. 2016

Ms. Cho after the recital

The Ginastera was an abrupt contrast to preceding selections. Ms. Cho tackled its challenging syncopation and rousing percussiveness with vigor. Then Schubert’s serene G Major Sonata returned us to the opening key of the evening, and to more traditional harmonies.

The recital ended with Liszt’s showpiece arrangement of Gounod’s Faust waltz (see this Vienna Philharmonic performance for the original). Here Ms. Cho showed impressive power at the keyboard, delivering an encore-like finale that brought closure to a great  evening.

A Memorable Evening

I don’t know how Mr. Shoemaker came to invite Soo Yeon Cho for his salon concert, but he chose well. As for Ms. Cho, I can’t imagine how much work she must have put into preparing for this recital. But it all worked so well that although we found ourselves in a hailstorm as we left the Shoemaker residence, we were so warm inside that it just didn’t matter.