A curious comeback: Ivo Pogorelić at Royal Festival Hall

Ivo Pogorelić’s return to Warsaw thirty-five years after his triumphant failure in the 1980 International Chopin Piano Competition should have been an occasion for great expectations. Sadly it was more like Hard Times.

Ivo Pogorelich returns to Istanbul with an utterly arduous programme. Mr Pogorelić may have his adversaries and his admirers, but this was a triumphant evening for piano music.

Throughout history, artists and composers have been known to cause controversy with groundbreaking new works that shocked and challenged audiences. Yet some, like Tchaikovsky (whose Piano Concerto was rejected by his mentor Rubinstein), managed to maintain the strength of their musical convictions in the face of public rejection.

Loin de proposer un panorama de l'écriture beethovénienne, le récital du pianiste a déçu par ses tempos systématiquement stagnants, son manque de cohérence et de caractère.

Le pianiste croate a proposé un récital singulier, riche en trouvailles sonores – quitte à rendre certaines œuvres méconnaissables – et avec une technique fabuleuse – bien que sur le déclin.

El pianista serbio ofreció un recital variable que alcanzó sus mejores momentos con las obras de Schumann y Schubert.