{TABLE} Scherzo No 1 ............................ Chopin Sonata No 3 in B minor .................. Chopin Preludes Op 23 .......................... Rachmaninov 4 Preludes from Op 32 ................... Rachmaninov {/TABLE} BORIS Berezovsky has been claimed as and justifiably acclaimed one of the most interesting pianists to emerge in Russian in recent years. He's no stranger to Ireland, having appeared as soloist in Rachmaninov's Third Concerto with the Ulster Orchestra, and he was introduced to Dublin music lovers last year, courtesy of the Limerick Music Association.
He's involved in two concerts in Kilkenny Arts Week, one a solo recital, the other a violin and piano programme with his compatriot, Vadim Repin.
The solo recital at St Canice's Cathedral last night was to have had a first half of Ravel (including the composer's notorious solo transcription of La valse) and a second of Rachmaninov Preludes. A last minute change saw the Ravel replaced by Chopin, and only four of the advertised preludes from Rachmaninov's Op. 32 were actually performed.
Bravura, as you might expect of someone who has been hailed as an inheritor of the tradition of grand Russian pianist, seems to pose few problems for Berezovsky. But the abiding impression given by this ruminative, introspective player is that quieter music provides an even greater stimulus to his musical imagination. This impression may have been heightened by a sort of deadness of tone (with very little glitter let alone brilliance in the upper treble) of the Kawai piano being used.
In the Chopin of the first half, it was the calm of the ever so delicately moulded slow movement from the Sonata in B minor which impressed most. In the Rachmaninov, it was less the barnstorming of Op. 23 No. 2 or even the unusually scaled attack of Op. 23 No. 5 than the unpressured cantabile of Op. 23 No. 4, or the gentle rocking of Op. 32 No. 10, in which, to be sure, the climax thundered memorably, too.
