Pogorelich at the NCH

[mcq]

Did anybody go to see Ivo Pogorelich at the NCH last night? Personally speaking, I thought it was the most extraordinary concert I have ever attended.
On the programme was Chopin's Nocturne No. 2 and Piano Sonata No. 3, Liszt's Mephisto Waltz No.1, one of Brahms's Intermezzi, Sibelius's Valse Triste and
Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit.

Now, I know and love each one of these pieces but I have never heard them performed like this before. From the first few notes, you could tell that
something special was happening. Each of these pieces was broken down into their constituent parts and re-composed into something new and wholly
original. The first thing to strike you was the very slow tempi that Pogoreich used. This was dislocating initially but one soon adjusted. The next
thing was the sheer force of his playing which necessitated a visit by the piano tuner at the interval. Finally, the interpretations themselves were
revelatory and makes one realise just how many so-called "great" pianists utilise their virtuosity simply to coast through standard repertoire fare.
These were performances of great insight which demonstrated not only an innate knowledge of the works at hand but also a willingness to look deep beneath
the surface and probe the depths of this great music. By stripping down the music to its bare essentials, Pogorelich forced us to look at each work anew
and made us feel how the music must have felt for the very first time under the composer's fingertips. Too often we hear Chopin played sweetly, the
pianist's fingers barely penetrating the surface beauty, but this was something different. I believe Robert Schumann was the first to recognise the
dissonances inherent in Chopin's music and he referred in particular to the "cannon concealed amid blossoms". The dissonant cannon fire was on full
display last night throughout a performance of Chopin's 3rd Piano Sonata that was continually rippling with modernist undercurrents of unease yet
was undeniably thought-provoking.

This was followed by a performance of Liszt's 1st Mephisto Waltz (originally, all four were scheduled but only the first was played). It goes without
saying that the virtuoso difficulties of this nightmarish piece were traversed with the greatest of ease by Pogorelich but such was the tenor of the
performance that one was simply overwhelmed by the the sheer primal force of Pogorelich's playing. Not since Cziffra has anybody penetrated the depths of
this music so acutely.

Following the interval were simply beautiful performances of a Brahms Intermezzo (I don't know which one - it wasn't on the original concert programme)
and Sibelius's underplayed piano reduction of Valse Triste. Here, one could sense Pogorelich contemplating the emotional import of each note before striking (and
releasing) the keys, continually thinking through his interpretations.

Finally, there was Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit which was simply staggering and the single greatest performance I have ever witnessed as well as the finest
version I have ever heard of this masterpiece (surpassing Martha Argerich's benchmark version). Words really do fail me as I try to think back and
articulate what an overwhelming experience this was for me. Many people speak of the beauty of Ravel's music, but that beauty hides a multitude of
emotional and musical dissonances that many pianists choose to ignore. Not so tonight as Pogorelich grabbed us physically and dragged us through an
astonishing bravura display that was monumental in its cumulative emotional force but also its sheer bravery. I say, "bravery", because it really was a
nakedly emotional performance of a type that one rarely witnesses. Frightening in its primal force, but also daring in its continual interrogation of the
text and the challenging questions that performances like this ask of its audience. Do we want to be titillated by virtuoso displays (which, remember,
can suffice very easily as background music) of keyboard prowess or do we want to be burnt by a performance that brings us closer than ever to the
composer's state of mind at the moment of inception?

Please forgive the length of this mini-review but last night was a shattering experience for me and I just wanted to put these feelings into words.

[fergus]

The concert certainly seems to have made an impression on you....it is a lovely and too often rare occasion that such an impression is made on one. Great that you experienced and enjoyed such an event!

[DaveF]

nice post mcq. Glad you enjoyed it so much. I havent been to the NCH in a while actually.

[Seán]

Lovely review mcq, I enjoyed reading it, thank you.

[Diapason]

Crackin' review, mcq. I truly wish I'd been there to hear those performances!

[mcq]

Many thanks for the kind words, lads. I really feel strongly about last night's performance but I think it sharply divided the audience at the NCH. I could hear some people grumbling about the slow tempi and a perceived lack of structure in the performances and other people were raving about the playing. There was, to be sure, a certain "atmosphere" in the building last night. I just feel so privileged to have been in attendance.

[Ciaran]

It sounds like a love it or loathe it concert. There's a thread about it on boards.ie which suggests that most of them hated it! Given the challengingly slow tempi reported, I suspect that I would have hated it too. But that's not a good thing: good is when you enjoy the concert, when you can travel with the performer to appreciate the alternative perspective they are offering on the music, and I think mcq was lucky to be able to do this. Of course we might want to say that the perspective is so far removed from what is normally taken to be implied by the score as to be questionable as an interpretation, but I think to be able to travel to the performer's point of view, at least for the duration of the concert, is a wonderful thing.

BTW, what about all those free tickets they seem to have had on boards? A colleague of mine was going on a freebie too: why am I never offered a free ticket?

[mcq]

Many thanks for your thoughts, Ciaran. I've been following that forum thread as well and there have been some really quite violent responses to this performance. As you rightly say, it was very much a "love it or loathe it" concert, and Pogorelich's interpretations are, ultimately, just one more performer's thoughts on these pieces, but I think when you pay €45 for a concert ticket and the pianist plays his heart out for two and a half hours, he deserves a more measured response.

Yes, when you hear what the pianist is playing, it sounds very different from any interpretation you've heard before and this makes it difficult for the audience. Do you dismiss it out of hand or do you sit there, absorb the music and attempt to process what the musician is trying to achieve? Personally speaking, it was very dislocating intitially to hear what Pogorelich was playing (even from the first few notes into the Chopin Nocturne) but I just closed my eyes and tried to bridge the gap between what I was hearing and the piece I knew and loved from countless familiar interpretations. It did require effort - throughout the entire concert, I may add - but as long as you were willing to remain focused and attentive, I fully believe it was possible to reach some kind of rapprochement between the interpretation and the original piece of music. I think it's an important point to note that Pogorelich had the score in front of him at all times and he employed a page turner for the concert which emphasised the point that these were certainly more than formless improvisations.

It really was one of those performances which remind you what the purpose of music (and, indeed, any art form) really is: to offer us a creative enlargement of life. Great performances really do remind you that a composer's creative insights are hard-won (and, even with the greatest of composers, are never heaven-sent) and a really fine interpretation - like what Pogorelich offered us last Wednesday night - reflects this fact.

Hopefully Lyric FM taped this concert and will broadcast it in the not too distant future.

[Ciaran]

Here's what the Jerusalem Post said about Pogorelic’ playing the same programme in March.

And a more positive reaction in Hamburg a year ago.

Same programme at the Edinburgh Festival last August: a blogger is bemused by much of what he hears, but is impressed by Gaspard.

Another reaction to the Edinburgh performance. Again impressed by Gaspard, and prompted to ruminate on what exactly the transaction is between performer and audience in a piano recital. It seems that this was an inspiring experience for some, but that most were not able to travel far enough with Pogorelic’ to take in what he was doing. I suspect it could only work at a live performance and would be less satisfactory for repeated listening on a CD.

Review of the Edinburgh performance in The Scotsman: the reviewer is impressed, but stresses that it was "uncomfortable" to listen to.

GENIUS or wacko? The maverick Croatian pianist Ivo Pogorelich is both. From the Herald, Scotland.

Strasbourg, April 2009, same programme. Again the critic muses on what exactly Pogorelic’ is up to, but is impressed by Gaspard. (In German.) The critic had the impression of hearing hearing works which were at a stage of experimental preparation quite far removed from being ready for public performance. It seems that Pogorelic’ doesn't see it this way as he's performing the same programme a year on and provoking similar reactions! It is interesting that several critics find the performances thought-provoking rather than dismissing them out of hand even though they seem to contain extreme distortions of what one would usually expect.