Tuesday 29 March 3.00 pm
Rameau: Suite in E minor
Allemande; Courante; Gigue en rondeau I; Gigue en rondeau II; Le rappel des oiseaux; Rigaudons I,II,double; Musette et rondeau; Tambourin; La villageoise
Scriabin: Poèmes Op 32 no 1 and 2
Scriabin: Etudes Op 42 no 4 and 5
Chopin: Ballade no 3 in A flat Op 47
Liszt: ‘Dante’ Sonata from Annees – Italie
Some superb playing from Konstantin Lapshin,a true poet of the piano.
A world of ravishing sounds of luminosity and clarity but with an infinite variety of subtle sounds.
From the delicacy and exquisite ornamentation of Rameau where the clarity together with luminosity of Rappel des oiseux together with the magic of La villageoise was of such ravishing beauty that was breathtaking as it was unexpected.
There were a kaleidoscopic range of sounds as the poèmes op 32 and two studies op 42 by Scriabin unwound with a mystical and passionate outpouring of such purity where Konstantin’s hands just seemed to caress the keys.There was passion,power and explosions of sound but never hardness or ugliness.It was a lesson in how to disguise the fact that the piano is after all just a box full of hammers and strings.In Konstantin’s delicate hands however it became a celestial harp full of glowing sounds.A very spacious and personal account of Chopin’s third ballade allowed the music to unfold as if a great story was being told.
And of course the greatest story was the one he told in one of the finest performances of the Dante Sonata by Liszt that I have ever heard.
Gone was all the usual rhetoric and bombastic sounds replaced by an architectural sense of sound that for once this work astonished,bewitched and overpowered as one of the great masterpieces that Liszt was to write in his years of pilgrimage.
The ravishing beauty from the very first notes of the Petrarch Sonnet 104 was elaborated into a tone poem of rare passion and beauty and offered as a thank you to the very enthusiastic audience at St Mary’s today.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=uNBVr1dYgG0&feature=share
An impressive technique, and the impulsive, Romantic expression that has been a hallmark of so many Russian pianists, including Rachmaninov and Horowitz”- said ‘Fanfare’ magazine (USA) about Konstantin Lapshin, a multi award – winning Russian concert pianist who has in his collection more than 15 International and National prizes. Konstantin moved to London in 2007 to study at the Royal College of Music, where he won all the competitions and prizes available for pianists, including the most coveted Chappell Gold Medal and the College’s highest prize The Queen Elizabeth Rose Bowl. He subsequently played for HRH The Prince of Wales. Since then, he has given performances at various concert halls across the Europe, Russia and America, including the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre, Cadogan Hall, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, the Salle Cortot in Paris, Piano Salon Christophori in Berlin, Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire and others. In 2014 Konstantin was invited to play Rachmaninov’s Concerto no.3 with Odessa Philharmonic and Grammy award-winning conductor and pianist Mikhail Pletnev In Odessa (Ukraine). Konstantin holds Doctoral degree and teaches at the Royal College of Music, giving masterclasses around the world and adjudicating International festivals and competitions.
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 