Maurizio Pollini in Concert
Wednesday 15th April 2009
Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong
Chopin Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 45
Chopin Ballade No. 2
Chopin Piano Sonata No. 2
Chopin Scherzo No. 1
Chopin Four Mazurkas, Op. 33
Chopin Berceuse
Chopin Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53
I thought I wasn't going to any concert in the first half of 2009, but oh no no no, Pollini has finally made it to Hong Kong. He is on an Asian tour to promote his new Chopin album, and in order to reach out to a new audience in person, he comes with this friendly programme.
I saw Pollini two years ago at Barbican with a similar programme (with slightly more variation in the composer category). The piano was not amazing then, and I was a bit far from the stage. Today, I was in the second row and could just hear his breath and his humming, and the piano was much better.
One would expect a very sensible performance from Pollini and it was exactly the case tonight. It was not so much on the dramatic and overly sentimental side (a path a lot of young Chopin interpreters tend to take - not naming names), but everything was played with much thought, refinement, and, rather pointless to say, experience. There is no question about his technical abilities too - afterall he is the one who championed Boulez's notorious Piano Sonata No. 2. If anything, Pollini's playing style has changed somewhat in recent years, particularly in his latest recordings where the sound from the piano is always blurry and it is clearly not a recording issue.
Like last time, he started off with the lovely C-sharp minor Prelude, a nice short piece to warm up, and was followed by Ballade No. 2. I love the phrasing of the extraordinarily long passages in the opening but there was not so much dynamic and mood contrasts between the opening and the Presto con fuoco section, which was played with much flair and brilliance at a slight expense of fine details.
The magic began at the Second Piano Sonata. It was played almost without a break. This is the piece where Pollini started to exploit a vast range of dynamics and where the explosions came in. There are moments in the first movement where I thought the lower register notes were unclear (a rather off-putting issue two years ago) but he sailed through it effortlessly otherwise. Then it was a mix of continuous firework and highly expressive moments in the Scherzo second movement which were at times outright jaw-dropping. The famous funeral march followed and I think it was one of the most passionate performances (of anything) I have heard from Pollini. It might seem incoherent with the other movements, but on its own it was quite extraordinary. The first half was concluded by an amazing performance of the last movement played with his expected put-you-at-the-edge-of-seat techniques.
The second half was more fragmented. It started off with Scherzo No. 1, which was played with great contrasts amongst sections. The self-contained Four Mazurkas, Op. 33 provided a slight change of mood - in fact, a constant change of moods - with a set of four short pieces. Some of these are more introvert and the others are more lively but all were played with great coherence. The Berceuse was my favourite of the night, and it was easily the most graceful of them all, played with much fluidity and elegance. The peace was interrupted by the fanfare of the famous "Heroic" Polonaise in A-flat major, which was received with great enthusiasm and admiration.
He returned with four encores, first with the "Revolutionary" Etude - again, a show piece which never fails to excite - then another Etude (one of the Op. 10 ones) to great applause, followed by Ballade No. 1, to explosive applause. After being called out three times, he settled down with a Nocturne which was met with a standing ovation. To my massive disappointment, there was no Schoenberg encore, and I wondered why.
Comparing two concerts two years apart is unquestionably pointless, but this one is clearly bars above the one at Barbican (at the risk of offending certain people, I blame the Liszt pieces). He seemed to have enjoyed his performance in Hong Kong and the audience definitely enjoyed it too. I have a feeling he will return, perhaps with some Webern. Let's hope he will.
This entry is adopted from an earlier blog of mine, which no longer exists.
