A programme made up of thirty two (thirty three counting the Chopin mazurka encore ) miniatures .Many if not all masterpieces but played with whispered half shades and murmured asides that reminded me of the pianists at turn of the last century.Pianists who would beguile and seduce their audiences with playing of exquisite delicacy and jewel like sounds and were magicians of the keyboard that with the innovation of the pedal were able to seek out the very soul with a kaleidoscopic range of sounds.Some even spoke to the public to let them know how it was all proceeding !

Tonight we were treated to some phenomenal playing of breathtaking beauty and many sounds in the Bartok that I have never heard from the piano before.Brahms too a selection of only Intermezzi that in many ways was masterful as was the Beethoven op 126 Bagatelles.
This is a master pianist and above all a magician of sound .The difficulty is however that without contrast or an architectural shape it is difficult to hold an audience in more than one or two pieces.
Tonight there was undisputed mastery but because of the nature of the programme it became too much of a good thing and I found myself thinking about the marvels that were evolving from this box of hammers and strings rather than being overwhelmed and involved in a musical conversation.

Was it the programme or was it me or was it that this master pianist thought more of the sounds he was producing than what the composer intended?
A controversial artist as many are who have come from the east with phenomenal technical training but lacking the culture of the west The big end or the little end? Controversy is always better than indifference in every walk of life!

I remember Perlemuter being sent a demo of a famously controversial pianist playing Ravel. DG hoping for some words from a disciple of the composer to use in their marketing publicity. “Qu’est-ce que c’est que ca ?’ Innocently enquired the humble master .The pianist after a clamorously unsuccessful competition experience went on to conquer the world and become a cult figure .

Tonight this master pianist received a standing ovation but rather a poor turn out due again to the choice of programme.

I preferred his performance on his last appearance here with a much more substantial programme.
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/11/03/piotr-anderszewski-at-the-barbican-a-world-of-ravishing-beauty-and-refined-whispers/

A beautiful review in the Guardian which I totally agree with except for the Bach but Genius that confronts Genius it is always JSB that wins !As I said Anderszewski is often controversial but there is no doubt that he loves the piano even if for me as on this occasion he smothers it.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/oct/04/piotr-anderszewski-review-barbican-london

Rosen,K.U Schnabel and Fleischer were not always in agreement with his interpretation but strangely it was Fou Ts’ong who loved him………Ts’ong was also deeply in love with music and often would say to me that he knew I preferred his performances from the Chopin Competition in the ‘50’s to his present day performances when he would play and give masterclasses for us in Rome every year. His widow Patsy Toh Fou writes:‘I haven’t heard Piotr for a very long time.Charles Rosen’s comment was rather extreme !!!!!Piotr is controversial but very creative and tends to manipulate the music I think rather than being at the service of the composer’.I remember Ts’ong arriving in Rome to play for us and finding that the day before another controversial figure was playing.He wanted to hear the recital of Mozart and Chopin.After the concert I explained that this pianist ,like Cherkassky tends to manipulate the music rather than following what the composer had indicated in the score . Ts’ong exploded as only he could do :’But Shura loves the piano – this man hates it!’ ………There is no doubt that both Ts’ong and Anderszewski are deeply in love with music.

Roberto Prosseda pays tribute to the genius of Chopin and the inspirational figure of Fou Ts’ong