Wednesday 12 January, Pamoja Hall

A zealous Liszt fan, I had been looking forward to this concert for months and was not disappointed. With 2011 the 200th anniversary of Ferenc Liszt’s birth, Kazakevich covered a range of Liszt’s corpus while also demonstrating the pivotal role he played in the transition from Romantic to Impressionist and ultimately jazz.

The evening began with a breathtaking interpretation of the ‘Valses Oubliées’ and ‘Funérailles’. In these pieces alone we were shown the complete gamut of Lisztian idiosyncrasies. ‘Valses Oubliées’ showed us the often overlooked subtleties of Liszt and his incredible ear for harmony; the first theme twisting itself around the sharpened eleventh in a remarkably organic manner. Kazakevich was brilliantly suited to this subdued style as he brought out the melody with effective pedalling and exquisite touch. The powerful E major coda sufficed to demonstrate the bombast for which Liszt is remembered. While this form of virtuoso can be exhausting for player and listener, the transcendent filigree of ‘Funérailles’ stunned the audience.  

The first half of the recital also showed us some of Liszt’s prolific output as an arranger. Wagner’s ‘Liebestod’ has both been transcribed by Liszt and arranged by Radiohead. For me, this piece represents unending tension, as the simple riff is manipulated through ever-more complex harmonies, yearning for resolution. Becoming almost exasperating to listen to, it continues for five minutes before reaching any kind of concord in an intense B major coda. I believe this piece marks the transition between tonal and modern music – and this great responsibility was held with remarkable character by Kazakevich. The first half ended with another Liszt transcription, this time of Schumann’s ‘Liebeslied’, with Kazakevich somehow finding distinct colours for each of the many interwoven voices.

The second half was an auditory treat; a smorgasbord of intelligent programming. We forgave Kazakevich the 14 days since the 200th anniversary of Chopin’s birth when we heard his interpretations of many of the composer’s works. The Polonaise in C minor showed us the full dynamic range of a concert pianist (and concert piano) and the Nocturne in B major the ethereal quality that can be obtained from what is essentially a sophisticated typewriter. For me, the interpretation of the Mazurkas was built too much around melodic beauty, and lacked some of the gusto and rhythm that would aid this dance music.

The Ballade in A flat major was a masterclass in how to texture multiple voices, with the sometimes unheard inner melodies of the second theme bringing an air of originality to this frequently played work. Kazakevich seemed to have achieved absolute independence of his fingers, treating every voice as if it were a line of Bach with internal phrasing as well as holistic judgment. In the C sharp minor climax, we excused the missed bass notes as the right hand danced over the keys with a fluidity so often compromised by finger-independence.

The last part of the concert featured works by Debussy and Satie. Kazakevich’s approach to Debussy was refreshing. Maintaining his form, he did not allow any sub-melody to pass unnoticed. Given the rich textures of Debussy, this required some genuinely creative pedal work, using his right foot to heel-toe the sostenuto and sustain while the left foot kept the volume under control.  Kazakevich allowed his body to engulf the music without impeaching the sound quality; this often led to groans and foot-taps which brought Glenn Gould and Keith Jarrett to mind. He then approached Golliwog’s Cakewalk with a vibrant humour that was impressive given the grave programmatic context of this piece. In a nod towards jazz music, he progressed from Debussy to Satie with a performance which did justice to the composer.

Finally, Kazakevich was cheered back onto the stage to leave us with an encore to remember; a breathtakingly sensitive and original interpretation of another piece by Chopin. This beautifully rounded up the exposition of Romantic piano music, emphasising the tempo at which music developed in the years after Liszt’s death.

The recital was a resounding success, with not a single critical word heard in the foyer. Kazakevich achieved the seemingly impossible tasks of technically secure performances of Liszt and bringing something new to Chopin. Despite the concert being dedicated to the 200th anniversary of Liszt’s birth, the stand-out pieces were the Schumann transcription and Chopin Ballade.  

Jacob Rainbow