Season after season, there’s few things I look forward to more than a solo piano recital from Evgeny Kissin. The present offering traversed repertoire from the Baroque to the 20th century, drawing a substantial and enthusiastic crowd to Severance Hall on a Wednesday evening.
Bach’s Partita no. 2 in C minor opened. Bold and coloristic, the introductory Sinfonia made for the most dramatic of beginnings. Kissin took matters at a measured pace, drawing particular emphasis to the sharp rhythmic inflections. Though originally conceived for harpsichord, Kissin took full advantage of a modern Steinway in purveying a broad dynamic range and detailed use of the damper pedal. I was especially struck by his keen phrasing and clarity of voicing. The work landed on a kinetic Capriccio, with swirls of notes in continuous motion.
Chopin is nearly a prerequisite for a Kissin recital, and the first half was rounded off with a trio of works from the Polish composer. The Nocturne in C sharp minor boasted a rapturous melody, with a delicate cantilena that floated above a widely-spaced bass line, countered by a ferocious middle section. An A flat major nocturne was as warm and genial as it gets, Kissin presenting its deceptively simple textures in deft balance.
Though a Scherzo is by definition a light-hearted work, Chopin’s four examples are quite tragic and intense. In sunny E major, the Fourth perhaps comes closest to the genre’s origin. Playful material was interspersed with the more dramatic and Kissin’s fleet fingers executed the rapid passages with aplomb. A languid melody more akin to what one finds in the nocturnes was a lyrical highlight and the work’s final flourish dazzlingly spanned the length of the keyboard.
The latter half of the recital was devoted to Shostakovich, a timely recognition of the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death. The Piano Sonata no. 2 in B minor dates from the darkest days of World War 2 and bears dedication to the memory of his piano teacher, Leonid Nikolayev. An introspective work, the sonata opened wistful and world-weary. A melody, often in octaves, was carved out over rippling streams of sixteenths.
The central slow movement was of a mournful stasis, with a pulsating, funereal bass underpinning unsettled melodic fragments. A barren gesture for right hand alone opened the closing Moderato, steadily growing in contrapuntal complexity in this wide-ranging finale, as long as the first two movements in aggregate. Somewhat of a challenging work to digest, Kissin served as a probing interpreter in this deeply affecting performance.
Shostakovich’s massive set of 24 Preludes and Fugues was a contemporary homage to Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier – a fitting way to bookend a recital that began with the Baroque composer. Two poignant examples were selected from the cycle, beginning with no. 15 in D flat major. Its humor made for a sharp contrast to the sonata that preceded, with angular material given to spiky effect, a texture exploited even more in the brief fugue. The prelude to no. 24 in D minor began pensively, and one could perhaps sense the weight the composer felt in making a final statement in his magnum opus for keyboard. The extensive and masterful fugue was paced as a slow burn, gradually growing to enormous intensity.
Not unexpectedly, Kissin was met with a fervent ovation, to which the pianist responded with a generous helping of encores. Bach’s Siciliano was touching and contemplative before a return to Chopin. The Scherzo no. 2 in B flat minor was as passionate and dramatic as one could hope for, and a waltz artfully balanced the stately and the melancholy.
