Америка

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Dallasstar"

 

Русский Алексей Султанов с ликованием принимает золотую медаль конкурса Вэна Клайберна.

19-тилетний ташкентец не пытался проявить сдержанность, когда услышал, что имен­но он победитель - он вскочил со своего места, ликующе вскинул кулаки над головой- стиль-рок! - и вылетел на сцену по-юношески лихо.

У него был повод чувствовать себя счастливым. Приз - один из самых завидных для классических музыкантов, он фактически гарантирует ему успешную карьеру.

Критики говорят, что звание обладателя золота на конкурсе Клайберна. может носить лишь гениальная -личность, и 14 членов жюри вручили золото мр. Султанову.

Юный русский - самый младший из 38 участников конкурса, его игра, подобно взрывной волне, воспламеняла публику на протяжении всех 16-ти дней конкурса.

Его смелость сродни его фортепианному стилю. После церемонии вручения призов он таким образом пояснял свою стратегию на конкурсе:" Я хотел получить первый приз на кон­курсе - или ничего!"

Члены жюри признаются, что на протяжении конкурса мр .Султанов ни разу не нахо­дился в опасности не достигнуть своей цели. Дирижер Максим Шостакович и концертмей­стер Ральф Вотапек сказали, что они были уверены в его победе, когда познакомились с его видеозаписями в феврале. "Он великолепный музыкант ,великолепный артист, подлинный уникальный талант" - сказал мр. Шостакович, сын композитора Дмитрия Шостаковича.-"Достаточно было услышать три такта, чтобы быть уверенным, что он победит".

Мр. Вотапек, победитель конкурса Клайберна в 1962 году, сказал, что манера мр. Сул­танова безапеляционна, но ее принимают, потому что она никогда не "оскорбляет" уха. Иногда он выделывает диковинные штучки, но это вполне приемлемый путь. Его поиски - не осечка на этом пути.

И его победа на конкурсе несомненно доказывает это. Первая премия включает 15 тысяч долларов наличными, но, что более важно, контракты на концерты на последующие два го­да - это дает примерно 200 тыс. долларов.

Вместе с концертной деятельностью мр .Султанов хочет продолжать свою учебу в Мо­сковской консерватории, в дополнение к своим конкурсным обязательствам. "Я знаю, это трудно будет выполнить сказал он корреспонденту. -"И есть только один способ осущест­вить это - занятия, занятия, занятия."

Ранее, однако, директор ассоциации Клайберна Рихард Родзинский сказал: "все орга­низуемые концерты нуждаются только в уточнении даты. Мы обеспечиваем сам факт воз­можности проведения таких концертов, а их число и продолжительность гастрольных туров определяются позднее. Если кто-то способен только на 30-40 концертов в год мы предос­тавляем им такую возможность.

Наша задача - помочь молодым музыкантам. "Не отдать их на съедение волкам" - та­кова задача нашей ассоциации". Конкурс гарантирует контракты, но они не обязательны ди: обладателя золотой награды.

Мр. Султанов, подобно бразильской пианистке Кристине Ортц, нынешнему члену жю­ри, - самый молодой победитель конкурса Клайберна. Он учится у Л.Н. Наумова, которые также готовил обладателя золотой награды 1973 года Владимира Виардо. Виардо был на сцене, поздравляя мр. Султанова..

Провозглашение победителей было кульминацией торжественной церемонии, ее вел актер Дадли Мор ( кстати, он сам вполне образованный пианист).

После небольшого перерыва, шесть финалистов исполнили несколько небольших про­изведений.

Мр. Султанов предложил блистательную интерпретацию знаменитого шопеновского Большого вальса. На "бис" был будоражащий "Революционный этюд". Этот "бис" снова за­ставил вскочить публику.

За кулисами, однако умение владеть собой отступило перед мальчишеством. Он не скрывал своего обожания мр. Клайберна и сказал о нем так: виртуоз из Форт-Уорта - обладатель русской души. Он изучает корейские виды спорта, поклонник Брюс Ли и джазовой музыки.

В Форт-Уорте о подружился с поклонниками джаза и играл по слуху "Тэйк зе Эй Трэйн' Дюка Эллингтона. В эти же дни он получит свои первые уроки вождения - семья, которая его принимала, дала ему возможность попрактиковаться. Заглянул он и в магазин, чтобы купить для своей девушки американские бикини.

Благодаря победе на конкурсе его жизнь в будущем должна круто измениться. И он заявил репортерам, что настроен относительно своей карьеры весьма амбициозно ."Дня меня этот конкурс - всё. Я хочу играть для публики. Я хочу играть для людей".

 

1989

 

 

 

 

        

 

 

Sultanovs project fire and passion

 

 

Review Music

Chamber Music

Society of Fort

Worth

but night: Kimbell Art Museum

 

 

FORT WORTH — Add the Sul­tanov name to the list of distin­guished musical marriages.

Uzbekhi pianist Alexei Sultanov, gold medalist of the 1989 Clibum Competition, joined his wife, Latvian

cellist Dace Abele Sultanov, last night at the Kimbell Art Museum in an all-Beethoven concert benefiting the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth. He, as Fort Worth concertgoers well know, projects thunder and passion tempered with perfect technical control and instinctive  musical intelligence. She, as music-lovers at the Kimbell discovered last night,  coaxes a gorgeous, singing tone from thecello and obviously agrees with her spouse's impassioned approach, even in Beethoven. While she does not quite match his charismatic presence on stage — there is, after all, only one Alexei Sultanov — sh is obviously a musician worthy to perform as soloist or chamber music collaborator on any stage in the world. The concert opened not with the Sultanov duo, however, but with Alexei Sultanov in partnership with violinist Robert Davidovici, the so­ciety's founding music director. A pianist of Alexei Sultanov's unique gifts should undoubtedly continue to build his career as a soloist; but to hear him venture into the more refined realm of chamber music is a heady, delicious treat. He and Davidovici shared an imetuous, excited view of Beethoven's Sonata in С minor  for Violin and Piano, as did Sultanov and  Sultanov  on the next item on the program, Beethoven's Sonata in A for Cello and Piano. The opening solo cello phrase, alive with vibrant tone but characterized by absolute control, proved an impressive introduction

 for Dace Abele Sultanov to local audiences. After a brief intermission, all three artists returned for Beethoven's Trio in С minor. Distinguished as his collaborators were, Alexei Sultanov constantly threatened  to steal the show, ripping through scales in the opening Allegro, tearing through the madcap Menuetto and adopting a thoroughly  Lisztian passion in the Finale.

 

 

By Wayne Lee Gay 

Section A, Page 20 / Fort Worth Star-Telegram / Saturday, May 16,1992

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pianist extraordinaire Alexei  Sultanov 

 

Serves up another triumph for Festival.

 

 

 

0n Friday evening, a rapt audience  enjoyed   a   stunning   recital given   by   Russian   pianist   Alexei Sultanov at the City Hall Theatre.  Still only 23 years old, Mr. Sultanov i took the musical world by storm in 1989 when he won the Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Despite his youth, he is a consummate   artist   who   combines  technical brilliance with an almost  uncanny mastery of style.  The selected programme was well contrasted and began with some familiar and well loved pieces by Frederick Chopin.

 In 1830, Chopin left Warsaw for Vienna never to return to his be­loved Poland. Due to the general political turmoil in Europe and the subsequent invasion of Poland by Russia, he was to settle in Paris and he remained there for the rest of his relatively short life. He died when only 39 years old.

 The early nineteenth century had seen the rise of the piano as a focal point of major recital work. In 1847 Monsieur Blanchard, reviewer for the "Gazette Musical'" would

 announce: "Cultivating the pian  has become something, that is  as  essential

 to social harmony as the cultivation of the potato is to the existence of the people." When Chopin arrived in Paris, it  was the day of the great piano vir tuoei, Thalberg, Kalkbrenner and, of  course,  Liszt.  Surrounded  by  Parisien society and wealthy and cultivated emigres, Chopin soon enjoyed  celebrity as a pianist and as a composer. He was a new voice however. He was not interested in mere tech­nique like many of the musical show men of the day. Instead he was to take the piano to inspirational heights of poetic brilliance. It is for­tunate for us that Alexei Sultanov brought to Bermuda playing that was the quintessence of Chopin's great genius.

The Ballade in G minor with which Mr. Sultanov began the recital

 is extremely popular and quite a tour de force. Seldom have we heard the formidable Coda played with such impetuosity. It was a thrilling start to the evening.

The two waltzes which followed, Grande Valse Brilliant in E flat major and the well known "Minute Waltz"' in D flat major were marked by delicacy, poise and simple el­egance.

Chopin wrote nineteen Nocturnes of which one of the most epic is certainly No 13 Opus 48 in the trag­ic key of С minor. Here as in the following   Andante  Snianato   and Grand Polonaise, Mr. Sultanov un­leashed the full power of a superb technique. His playing was marked at all times by fine phrasing, sensi­tive rubato and a wonderful dy­namic control, the letter despite some technical problems with the piano due to humidity. The Grand Polonaise brought the first part of the programme to a brilliant conclu­sion.

After the intermission, Mr. Sultanov the poet was replaced by Mr. Sultanov the young lion. Here the great sweeping lyricism of the Romantic Era was replaced by the pulsating rhythmic urgency of the Twentieth Century in works by the Russian composers Scriabin and Prokofiev.

Scriabin who died in 1915 and was therefore pre-revolutionary suffered none of the constraints of the late Russian matters. His music, though rooted in the late nineteenth cen­tury traditions of Imperial Russia, was certainly moving rapidly to the dissonance of the twentieth century. This was not a development

encouraged by subsequent Communist

 governments. Their credo "Simple music for simple people", a daunting restriction for an intelligent being, and for a genius an impossibility, caused much heartache for com­posers such as Shostakovich, Kha-chaturian and Prokofiev. That the Russians have been left after seventy

years of Communist rule without basic

 necessities is sad but hardly surprising.

That artistic integrity survived, given the lunacy of the political regime, is nothing Short of a miracle.

Mr. Sultanov, relaxed and always economical in movement, played the Sonata No. 5 by Scriabin and the Sonata No. 7 by Prokofiev with a combination of elan and primitive force. The Prokofiev Sonata in three movement was particularly interesting

in stylistic variety, with toccata figures in the first movement yielding

 to an almost banal chromaticism in the middle Lento after which we found ourselves hurting to a climax of incredible ferocity in the finale aptly named "Precipitate".

The recital ended only after the enthusiastic audience was treated to two  encores,   Prelude   in  A  Flat Minor by Scriabin and the

Revolutionary Study by Chopin.

Thanks are due to The Festival Committee for organising the debut in Bermuda of such an outstanding world-class performer.

 

Marjorie Pettit

 

1992

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pianist puts on dazzling display

 

Staging Scene. George Armstrong

 

An awesome display of tal­ent was unleashed by Alexei Sultanov, a diminu­tive pianist with adroit hands that both slashed and caressed the key­board in a recital for the Com­munity Music Association.

The final concert of its 58th season Wednesday night was an­other triumph in scheduling for Community Music. The artist, at 22, is undoubtedly one of the fin­est pianists to perform in the Municipal Auditorium, and it has known some great ones, including Van Cliburn, Sultanov's emergence as an in­ternational musician can be traced to his win at the Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition at Fort Worth, Texas, in 1989.

The Russian youth, the youngest of 38 finalists, proved himself worthy of the tradition established by the American Van Cliburn in capturing the gold at a young age in the international Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow. One can but merely comment on his style and technique and wonder to what heights is career will soar as he matures. He is a young man in a hurry, and has not developed a taste for histrionics. Whatever preparation needed to address his instrument was done backstage. There was not even the byplay of adjusting the bench. He sat down and played.

Sultanov exhibited not the slightest animosity for the piano, which was so obviously not at its best that it required emergency aid from a tuner during intermis­sion, something rarely done.

His Mozart sonata, No. 10 in С Major, sparkled with his hands moving over the keyboard as though disembodied with a mech­anized will of their own, except for the final chords when the art­ist's soul was allowed to intrude.

The same tendency to aloofness was true in the rest of the first half of the program, comprised of two Chopin scherzos, No. 1, Opus 20 and No. 2, Opus 31, both in

B-flat minor and the very familiar Polonaise No. 6 in A-flat major, Opus 53.

Only the hands and forearms were involved with the pianist's body posture even during the liq­uid passages of the first scherzo and the constant thunder of the left hand in exquisite treble trills of the Polonaise, all played brisk­ in  the second half, Sultanov grew in stature with Rachmani­noff s Etude-tableau in E-flat mi­nor, which evoked evidence of the pianist's inner emotions. His affinity for another Russian

evident in his playing of Sonata No. 7 in B-flat major. Here, one genius gave home to another by bowing his head unashamedly, al­lowing his emotions to show.

With supreme technique and sensual appreciation for the fiery Mephisto Waltz No. 1 of Franz Liszt, Sultanov drew a standing ovation from a delighted audi­ence.

The ovation continued for the young man who has adopted Fort Worth, Texas, the city of Van Cli­burn, as his home. He responded graciously with a brilliantly played etude by Chopin.

 

Friday March 20, 1992

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ENTERTAINMENT

 

Russian pianist tough act to follow

 

By Steve Aggergaard

News-Tribune staff writer

 

Listening to concert pianists is sort of like going to that first ju­nior high school dance: It's easy to have fun when it's loud and fast, hut true excellence and meaning is found in (he slow, soft passages.

Alexei Sultanov, winner of the 8 Van Cliburn Piano Competition in 1989, made his mark Fri­day night not with technical wiz­ardry, but with melancholy, romantic phrasing characteristic of pianists twice, three times, even four times his age.

With hair a little too long and a stature that barely measured to conductor Taavo Virkhaus' chin, the Russian-born Sultanov might've  looked   more  at  home serving Bic Macs at the drive-thru than performing Sergei Rachman­inoff's second piano concerto with the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra.

Any  doubts  of  his  virtuosity were dispelled with his first note. Bubbling with intensity, he in­spired the orchestra to accompany him with a guttural, sorrowful Russian sound.

Decades of scales and arpeggios wouldn't guarantee a pianist could play as Sultanov did Friday, lie wasn't especially flashy- Nor was he showing off.

His excellence came from with­in — from an innate sense of ro­manticism that enabled him to de­lay a tender chord just a fraction of a second, or lightly play the notes in his left hand just a touch before or after the notes in his right hand.

Those slight nuances made all the difference, and will make Sultanov's performance nearly impossible to top this orchestra season.

The Russian-born soloist added to the authenticity of Friday's ail-Russian program. The concert opened with Mikhail Glinka's overture to "Russian and Ludmilla" — a failure of an opera with an overture that has become a fa­vorite. The orchestra's perform­ance was spirited and players built and maintained energy very well, but the violins sounded muddy on the fast passages.

The same  was  true  in   Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's first sympho­ny, titled "Winter Dreams." Fast passages sometimes weren't quite I together, but the orchestra portrayed  the sweeping  Russian themes with pompous excellence,  often building to pinnacles with J controlled maturity.

 

September 13, 1993

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Russian pianist delivers passion of Beethoven, magic of Chopin

 

 

By Diana Stein

Special to The Commercial Appeal

 

Alexei Sultanov, the reigning gold medalist of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competi­tion, appeared in concert at Briarcrest High School Saturday night and dazzled his audience from start to finish.

Some in the audience remem­bered seeing the rising young star on television in 1989 as he played Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto in the quadren­nial competition. Now 23, Sul­tanov did not disappoint.

His first offering was Beetho­ven's Piano Sonata, No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57, the well-known Appassionata. The first move­ment was taut and controlled, with dynamic changes of such suspense that created moment-to-moment excitement. The sec­ond andante movement began with a solid stillness and contin­ued with wonderful overlapping pedals that brought out the in­ner voices.

At times, Sultanov became in­trospective; his eyes closed, yet he never withdrew from his lis­teners and his fingers never stopped singing. He changed the mood with remarkable subtlety and control going into the third movement, which sparkled with agitation.

Next, Sultanov delivered an especially tender and sensuous rendering of Chopin's Fourth Ballade in F minor, Op. 52. It was a magical improvisatory out­pouring, as Chopin intended. The emotional peaks seemed to come from deep within, amazing from one so young. The follow­ing piece, Chopin's Scherzo No. 3

in C-sharp minor, Op. 37, was devilish technically, and Sultanov's was a titan technique. The middle section, which can be static in less skilled hands, moved forward with grandeur. The contrasting textures of the lines sounded beautifully all-of-a-piece.

The second half of the pro­gram reverberated with the sounds of Sultanov's homeland, opening with Scriabin's Piano Sonata No. S, Op. 53, a piece of exquisite and shimmering beauty. It dazzled in a Gershwinesque fashion, poignantly lyrical. Per­cussive nervous patterns alter­nated with the ethereal mystical sounds for which Scriabin is known.

An amazing clarity was achieved amid the chaotic beau­ty. This celestial music left the listener in another realm. Sultanov ended with Rachmanin­off's Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 36, a piece that pulled unre­lentingly at the heartstrings. Its three movements went from soulful agitation to light and color, to the jaunty rhythms and lush harmonies for which Rach­maninoff is loved.

Sultanov showed nerves of steel as he ended the piece with an almost unbearably brilliant and raw-nerved virtuosity.

The concert opened with a song by Vladimir Sazanov, an ex­quisite bass singer from Mos­cow.

The concert was presented by First Foundations Inc.

 

 

Memphis, monday, may 17, 1993

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Philharmonic season debut: Sultanov's style splendid

 

Pianist parades his individuality in performance

 

 

 

Pianist Alexei Sultanov has let his hair grow since his last Boulder appearance three years ago, and the shoulder-length, wavy locks that he brought to the stage of Маску Auditorium on Friday to open the 1994-95 season of the Boulder Philharmonic would be the envy of Liszt himself.And as Sultanov, gold-medal winner in the 1989 Van Cliburn International Competition,

demonstrated in his work with the perennially popular В Flat Major Concerto of Tchaikovsky, he is a master of the keyboard who might well cause a certain greening of the gills even in that legendary virtuoso of the past century. Sultanov's sovereign command of the Tchaikovsky score expressed itself above all through the stamp of individuality, as he brought an unusual amount of excitement and interest to this familiar music through occasional rubatos and minor accelerations. True, the "majesty" that the composer calls for in the opening Allegro of the Concerto disappeared for a moment behind the outburst of energy with which Sultanov somewhat brash-ly attacked the score; soon, however, the pianist had himself and the music — well in hand for an interpretation that spoke of both understanding and

affection.Especially interesting was the artist's hesitant lingering over the solo passage that leads to the conclusion of the the opening movement; here he evoked from the score a feeling of introspective improvisation, engaging for a moment — as it were — in the searching of Tchaikovsky's own oft-tormented soul. The individualism of Sultanov's performance makes him a challenging soloist to accompany,

and at times he gave Phil music director Oswald Lehnert a run for his rubles. However, the spontaneity of the pianist's work was so immediately infectious that the able instrumentalists of the ensemble were drawn into the spirit of Sultanov's playing and supported him with no great difficulty. Indeed, the entire performance  exuded an aura of musical mesmerism. Beyond all that, Sultanov quite aside from all that hair is a fascinating pianist to watch. His hands are of a beauty that matches those that Albrecht Duerer folded in prayer so many centuries ago, and the ease with which he executed the powerful runs of the final Allegro left the large audience in Маску breathless.

The Phil itself was in fine form for this first performance of a    season that sees the orchestra on stage two nights in a row for each of its subscription concerts. Under Lehnert's guidance the ensemble offered a reading of Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony  distinguished by an emphasis upon the contrast between the gentle lyricism and dramatic drive of its two completed movements.

Of particular interest was Lehnert's careful shaping of the dark clouds that spread their shadows over the middle of the opening Allegro — a sensation that grows so ominously out of the violins and then envelops the rest of the orchestra in anxiety and apprehension. And the delicacy with which the Andante was played stressed again the masterwork that this symphony is. To open the program, Lehnert took the Valkyries, Richard Wagner's  martial-minded maidens, on a rambunctous "Ride."

 

By Wes Blomster , Camera Music Critic

 

The Boulder Philharmonic repeats the above program at 8 tonight in Маску Auditorium.

Saturday, September 17,1994

 

 

 

 

 

 

Virtuoso pianist captivates audience

 

 

Challenging, sensitive

performance features works of Frederic Chopin.

By Victor Weidensee

Journal Reviewer

 

 

 

From the beginning to the end the audience was spellbound by the piano performance of Alexei Sultanov at Friday evening's concert in the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Theater.

Sultanov, winner of the Van Cliburn International Competition in 1989, has performed throughout the world.

Since winning, he has performed in more than 100 concerto and recital performances in the major music centers of the world, including Berlin, London, and Tokyo, as well as Washingfon. D.C, and New York City's Carnegie Hall. The artist, who began studying piano in Russia at the age of 4, now

resides in Texas.

The concert was a straight-ahead recital format and featured the piano works of the Polish romantic composer Frederic Chopin.

Chopin, a contemporary of the great piano virtuoso Franz Liszt, created the majority of his music intimate of musical instruments, the piano. The romantic nature of the compositions stress the appeal to the emotions through the use of contrasts, changes in harmonic structure, and emphasis on melody. The all-Chopin concert included, among others, the "Ballade in F minor," the "Nocturne in С minor," the familiar "Waltz in E b major," the "Sonata in В minor," and one of his best-known works the "Polanaise in F minor."

Technically, Sultanov knows no limits, his  control is awesome and the speed with which he executes- the most difficult challenges is inspiring. However, he is also capable of the, most refined and sensitive performance of the slow and sustained sections of the music.

For example, in the slow section of the "Sonata" he brings all the depth of the emotional content of the music to the audience bу his controlled performance.  Sultanov is without a doubt one of the shining stars in the new generation of virtuosi pianists.

He has a formidable technique, great power, is a master of the rubato as applied to Chopin, and understands and makes use of the value and the power of contrast needed in the performance of the romantic music of Chopin.

The program was well attended by many young people who, I suspect, are studying piano. The performance must be an inspiration, not only to the adults, but to these youngsters.

The Rapid City Concert Association is to be commended for making it possible for the citizens of the community to have the opportunity to see and hear this example of high-quality musicianship.

 

Rapid City Journal

saturday,January 14, 1995

 

 

 

Virtuoso pianist captivates audience

 

Challenging, sensitive

performance features works of Frederic Chopin.

 

 

From the beginning to the end the audience was spellbound by the piano performance of Alexei Sultanov at Friday evening's concert in the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Theater.

Sultanov, winner of the Van Cliburn International Competition in 1989, has performed throughout the world.

Since winning, he has performed in more than 100 concerto and recital performances in the major music centers of the world, including Berlin, London, and Tokyo, as well as Washington, D.C., and New York City's Carnegie Hall. The artist, who began studying piano in Russia at the age of 4, now resides in Texas.

The concert was a straight-ahead recital format and featured the piano works of the Polish romantic composer Frederic Chopin.

Chopin, a contemporary of the great piano virtuoso Franz Liszt, created the majority of his music for the most intimate of musical instruments, the piano. The romantic nature of the compositions stress the appeal to the emotions through the use of contrasts, changes in harmonic structure, and emphasis on melody.

The all-Chopin concert included, among others, the "Ballade in F minor," the "Nocturne in С minor," the familiar "Waltz in E b major," the "Sonata in В minor," and one of his best-known works the "Polonaise in F minor."

Technically, Sultanov knows no linuts, His, control is awesome and the speed with which he executes the most difficult challenges is inspiring.

However, he is also capable of the, most refined and sensitive performance of the slow and sustained sections of the music.

For example, in the slow section of the " Sonata" he brings all the depth of the emotional content of the music to the audience bу his controlled performance. 

Sultanov is without a doubt one of the shining stars in theJiew generation of virtuosi piariists.

He has a formidable technique, great power, is a master of the rubato as applied to Chopin, and understands and makes use of the value and the power of contrast needed in the performance of the romantic music of Chopin.

The program was well attended by many young people who, 1 suspect, are studying piano. The performance must be an inspiration, not only to the adults, but to these youngsters.

The Rapid City Concert Association is to be commended for ' making it possible for the citizens of the community to have the opportunity to see and hear this example of high-quality musicianship. 

 

 

By Victor Weidensee , Journal Reviewer

January 14, 1995

Rapid City Journal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sultanov's Chopin concert is beautiful, magnificent

 

 

Alexel Sullnnov, the brilliant pia­nist who won the eighth Van Cliburn competition, brought not only the ge­nius of Frederic Chopin as a compos­er, but also his heart and soul, as he astounded the Springfield Communi­ty Concert Association audience Sun day evening; with a gorlous all

Chopin recital.

The young man was all business. He entered, brushed the tails of his tuxedo aside and al­most before he sat down, began to play. By the time the first few hotesof the "Ballade In F Minor" went by, I knew that we were In for an evening of magnificent music.

Chopin Invented the ballade — a one-movement form that allowed him full freedom of expression out­side the boundaries set by the tradi­tional forms. He wrote four of them, and this (and the G Minor) are my favorites. The principal theme Is a beautiful and poignant waltz that un­folds with dramatic brilliance until the final Coda, a musical explosion of planistlc color.

The 19th century had two giants of the piano — Chopin and Franz Liszt. Both of them seemed to be bent on writing music that was unplayable by ordinary mortals. Each composer was quite aware of the other, and there appeared to be almost a compe­tition between them, although It was never acknowledged publicly.

Certainly Chopin transformed the world of piano music. Along with the ballade, he brought the Polish mazur­ka and polonaise to the world's atten­tion. He took the nocturne of John Field and made It an entirely new composition.

Nocturne translates roughly as "night music," but Chopin's "Noc­turne in С Minor" Is a very dramatic night Indeed. It has a huge crescendo, and you can hear the octaves that Liszt had made his trademark creep­ing Into this composition.

The "Scherzo In B-Flat Minor" has a big crashing Introduction, and then takes off Into a section where the pia­nist starts at the ends of the keyboard and meets in the middle. The Chopin scherzo are virtuoso pieces, meant to show off the pianist's technical abili­ties, while also allowing for warmly Romantic Interpretation.

The "Grande Valse Brilliante In E-Flat Ma)or" Is a familiar piece — he even wrote a version of It for piano and orchestra. Very dance-like. It has a rollicking section In D-Flat that just makes you want to smile.

Chopin wrote U "Preludes," and Sultanov Included five (from Opus 28, written between the years of 1836-39) on this program. He began with the familiar. "No. 20 in С Minor" — the big crashing chords that every piano student learns. Only 13 measures long, this is a marvelous study for the contrast between the heroic fortissi­mo and the sweet and tender piano and pianissimo lections.

Sultanov played these preludes as a set, and as he progressed In order from No. 20 to No. 25, gave us a lesson on the difficulty level of the Chopin preludes, from easy to Incredibly viruostic. They contain all the composi­tional magic of the composer, from Polish by birth, although he lived In Paris throughout his compositional career, Chopin was very sentimental about his homeland, bringing it to life in the traditional dances of the coun­try, the polonaise and the mazurka. The "Polonaise In A-Flat Major" is probably the most familiar of the /genre, and Is rather martial In char­acter, but full of pomp and circum­stance. The famous four-note de­scending pattern that begins softly but builds to octaves were positively a blur of motion as Sultanov's left . hand built the volume to a heroic lev­el.

After Intermission, Sultanov played three of the Op. 56 mazurkas. The Chopin mazurka reminds me of the Brahms Intermezzos. Both are lit­tle jewels of Romantic mood-setting, exquisite In their variety and creativ­ity. Originally a Polish dance in triple meter, they are transformed by Cho­pin, who wrote more than 50 of them, into works of stunning beauty.

The "Sonata No. 3 In В Minor" closed the program, one of the Romantic period's huge compositions that came to be known as the "grand sona­ta." Although conforming more to traditional form than Liszt's В Minor sonata, or even Chopin's own earlier works, this gigantic work Is truly Ro­mantic In character.

The first "Allegro maestoso" has one of the most beautifully lyrical melodies In all of the literature as the second theme. The scherzo look graceful flights all over the piano, set­tling In the middle to an Introspective trio section. The "Largo" is a lovely expressive melody, but the final ron­do, marked "Presto, non tanto; Agita­to" Is one of the most difficult pieces In piano literature. Exactly as the ti­tle stales. It Is fast and furious, replete with technical passages thai tax even the most virtuostic player.

Sultanov was more than equal to the task; Indeed, this evening was the most beautiful and exciting Chopin I have ever heard. After hearing the music, with the millions of octaves played at blinding speed, I was sur­prised to find that Sultanov's hands were considerably smaller than mine. (L measured — his fingertips barely reached the last joint on my fingers!) He has Incredible power, and Incredible sensitivity. He played Chopin like It was meant to be, and the way that most pianists only dream of. I feel fortunate to have beard him. I know that he was slated to come here once before, but was taken 111. I am so glad that he finally got here, but more glad that I got to see and hear him.

The audience certainly understood the quality of music they heard. The standing ovation brought us two en­cores, the first the beautiful "Fanlasie Impromptu In C-Sharp Minor," Its lyrical D-Flat major section is the melody that became the song "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows." The sec­ond encore was the most exciting "Revolutionary Etude" l have ever heard.

Sultanov met his audience in the lobby after the concert, signing auto­graphs. As we waited for him, one audience member summed up the program well: "My gut level Is that he played more notes here tonight than I have played in my lifetime!"

 

  

By Anhker

Correspondent

 

Monday, March 4. 1996    Springfield, Illinois 

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