Gerstein emphasizes the importance of flexible minds, not only fingers

By Edward Sava-Segal, 22 February 2020

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“Gerstein played Adés’ tiny tone-poem with muted, Debussy-evoking melancholy”

Reviewed at Carnegie Hall: Zankel, New York City on 20 February 2020

Haydn, Fantasia (Capriccio) in C major, Hob XVII:4

Brahms, Variations on a Hungarian Song in D major, Op.21 no.2

Kurtág, Játékok (Games): excerpts

Schubert, Fantasia in C major "Wanderer Fantasy", D.760

Liszt, Ungarischer Geschwindmarsch, S233

Liszt, Mephisto Polka, S 217

Liszt, Csárdás obstiné, S 225 no.2

Adès, The Exterminating Angel: Berceuse

Liszt, Piano Sonata in B minor, S 178

Busoni, Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein (Bach BWV734)

Chopin, Waltz no. 5 in A flat major, Op.42

Kirill Gerstein, Piano

High-caliber Schumann and Mahler at Dvořák’s Prague

Frank Kuznik, 14th September

Daniele Gatti and Kirill Gerstein offer fresh, invigorating takes on two warhorses with the Staatskapelle Dresden.

*****

Gerstein's electricity impresses at the Hollywood Bowl

Néstor Castiglione, 8th July

Thomas Søndergård, great and not so great, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in their first Hollywood Bowl concert of the summer.

***11

Ancient Greece and reimagined Tchaikovsky at the Pittsburgh Symphony

Sam Jacobson, 11th April

Daniele Rustioni leads the Pittsburgh Symphony in music inspired by Ancient Greece, flanking Kirill Gerstein’s take on Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto that restores the composer’s original intentions.

****1

Music of the Spheres: stars align for Thomas Adès’ TSO debut

Michelle Assay, 26th February

Thomas Adès serves up an astronomical programme, pairing his Piano Concerto and Paradiso with Holst’s crowd favourite, The Planets.

****1

A dynamic debut in Prague by Alan Gilbert

Frank Kuznik, 19th December

With an assist from soloist Kirill Gerstein, Alan Gilbert holds the audience rapt in his inaugural appearance with the Czech Philharmonic.

****1

Early 20th-century Russian landmarks at Tanglewood

Edward Sava-Segal, 9th August

Blurring boundaries: Romanticism and Modernism in Kirill Gerstein and Alan Gilbert’s Boston Symphony performances at Tanglewood.

***11

More reviews...

Edward Sava-Segal

Edward has been living in New York for the last 25 years, one of the reasons being the extraordinarily rich cultural life in this city. He has studied piano and classical music in his early years. He switched later on to computer science and data architecture but he kept an unwavering interest in following the classical music phenomenon here in New York and in his travels. Edward occasionally reviews fine arts events for the most prestigious literary magazine in Romania, his home country.

At Zankel Hall, Kirill Gerstein emphasizes the importance of flexible minds, not only fingers