Musica Viva presents Katia Skanavi - 16 May 2009

Featuring:
- Schubert Piano Sonata No. 14 in A minor, D. 784
- Vine Piano Sonata no. 3
- Chopin Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante
- Chopin Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58

After a few days of hesitating between tonight's concert with the earlier concert which basically features the same program except that in the earlier concert (on last Tuesday) Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 'Funeral March' will be featured instead of tonight's Third sonata. I was too busy on Tuesday and finally chose this concert. I went to the box office 2 hours before the performance and after a small chat with the attendant, I discovered that there is a student rush ticket for the performance. I sat there waiting for 1 hour and hoped that the concert won't be sold out until then. Luck was on my side, I can still get a seat, but alas, I can only get seats on the right side of the hall - which means I can't see the pianist hands!

The recital began by Katia, wearing a black dress, walked to the piano, bowed to the audience, sat down and start launching herself at the Schubert's sonata. The dark opening march caught me off guard, especially the intensity of how she built the first fortissimo. The second lyrical theme was played delicately showing well controlled pianissimo passages. The rest of the movement was brilliant, as well as the second movement with its 'sarcastic' melody interrupting the flow of the main melody. I am less impressed with the third movement, probably more because the main theme is not as interesting as the other two. Nevertheless, the overall playing of Schubert sonata was gorgeous.

Carl Vine's piano sonata is better than I expected, and it is quite interesting. The scattered main motifs in the beginning of the piece are developed in various disguise. Katia's playing in the central rhythmic section was wonderful, but I detected a slight slower tempo than the indicated Presto during the last virtuosic part of the sonata.

After the interval, the flowing arpeggio accompaniment of Chopin Spianato's was played and the beautiful cantabile main theme soon followed. Here, Katia immersed herself and showed a lot of body gestures not present in the performance of previous two sonatas. In the polonaise followed, I have a minor complaint on how she held back the tempo during some passages. And surprise surprise, I actually kind of miss the beautiful horn (?) passages at the end of the piece if the performance is accompanied by the orchestra. It's not that the passage is totally non-existent in the solo piano version, it's just the timbre difference.

I am not entirely familiar with Chopin's 3rd sonata. I thought the opening of the first movement is too turbulent, but the triumphant ending made me very happy. The second movement is a lively piece with plenty of quaver notes running up and down, and is written in simple ternary form. Katia's magical playing arrived in the 3rd movement. Here the time stands still. An effective use of silence and beautifully controlled cantabile playing made this movement my favourite of the night. Such serenity and sonority that she brought out, I don't even want it to end. The finale impressed me less, but you can't resist the coda in the end. Huge applause followed.

Katia gave two delightful encores. The first encore has a dance-characteristic played in the left hand, I don't know this piece. The second encore is the C-sharp minor Nocturne (Op. posth). Splendid, if you love Chopin's Nocturnes. And that wraps up the night.

A wonderful concert. Katia's wonderful playing and gracefulness will stay in my mind for a long time to come.