The Chopin Society UK proudly present as the Opening Concert of their “Year of Polish Pianists” Series

A standing ovation for Rafal Blechacz the 2005 winner of the Chopin Competition in Warsaw and now invited to open The Chopin Society UK “Year of Polish pianists.’ Playing of rare beauty and most notably of sumptuous rich harmonies. His masterly use of the piano transformed this good Steinway B into a magnificent ‘D’ as his whole body moved in continuous circular movements allowing him to play with a glowing luminosity of fluid sounds. Movements that reminded me of Stefan Askenase, another great Polish pianist and Deutsche Grammophon artist like Blechacz, who used to regularly fill the Royal Festival Hall with his Chopin playing of noble simplicity.

It was this same aristocratic nobility that we heard today with a musician who could transform Schubert’s four early Impromptus into ravishing tone poems, each one illuminated by his magic palette of colours based on a rich harmonic awareness of golden sounds.

The radiant opening call of the first Impromptu with his beautiful radiant cantabile of glowing fluidity .Dynamic contrast of full robust chords of orchestral weight leading to a beautiful mellifluous outpouring over a rich full harmonic accompaniment and some delicate staccato bass notes. It just demonstrated Rafal’s absolute mastery of sound and above all of the pedal which for him is indeed the very soul of the piano.The second Impromptu with notes that were merely rising and falling streams of golden sounds leading so naturally to the passionate outpouring of the central episode ,richly harmonic with dramatic changes of key. Poignant ,languid beauty to the third Impromptu with a wonderful sense of balance as the accompaniment was whispered but giving a sonorous backing from which the melody just seemed to emerge. It was like the sculptures by Michelangelo just emerging as if by magic from the Carrara marble.The genius of creation indeed! There was radiance and harmonic sumptuousness to the cascades of notes of the fourth that were greeted by a melodic line of freedom and beauty. A remarkable performance in which four perfect movements were woven into one complete whole by a master musician of extraordinary sensibility.

The ‘Moonlight’ Sonata, too, was played with masterly musicianship and a mellowness of sound in the opening movement that brought a poignant significance to one of Beethoven’s most maligned and misunderstood works. Some very interesting highlighting of inner counterpoints in the repeat of the Allegretto second movement and again in the Presto agitato last movement. The Trio of the second movement played with full rich organ sounds but combining grace,charm and delicacy.The last movement with dynamic drive and a superb sense of balance with beauty of sound even in the most strenuous passages. It must be mentioned that Rafal sometimes rearranges the hands as he did in the final cadenza where to watch his swopping over of hands belied the magnificent sounds they were producing.The opening movement too where the left hand gave a helping hand to the right in order not to split the chord. It was a habit that he used also in the Barcarolle and the Third Ballade and it was only his complete understanding of the music that could allow him to break the physical shape on the page with the convenience he made of execution .

But it was to Chopin that Blechacz turned after the interval giving masterly performances of some of Chopin’s best loved works.

The Barcarolle that was played with a luminosity of sound and breathtaking power as he dug deeply into the soul of the music and found a heart that could beat with refined insistence but also reveal a hidden passion of breathtaking potency.

A third Ballade played with great freedom as an almost improvised pastoral landscape was unraveled with glowing beauty. Even Blechacz was inspired as his passionate temperament was allowed full reign in the glorious flowering of one of Chopin’s most gently un dramatic of his Four Ballades.

The Third Scherzo , usually played with mechanical precision, was here endowed with rich orchestral sounds. Octaves that were transformed into a demonic outpouring of drama and dynamic drive before dissolving into a Chorale of timeless nobility and sumptuous beauty. Chopin’s cascading comments never interrupting this majestic flow but simply illuminating the wonders that were unfolding from Blechacz’s magic hands.

These were hands that had illuminated Schubert and Beethoven ,too, with a palette of colours and kaleidoscope of sounds that could give new life to works reproduced so many times but never recreated as today, respecting the composers intentions on and within the page.

Three mazurkas op 50 were played with a ‘ joie de vivre ‘, with robust dance mingled with subtle whispered confessions, that could reveal his Polish soul in his 50 mazurkas, more than in any other works. Penned far from home and where these ‘ canons’ were covered with flowers and the inner nostalgia that a poet felt far from his homeland that he was destined never to see again .

Blechacz brought a subtle poetic poignancy to these miniature gems but also found the robust fearless intensity hidden within.

It was the same refined beauty mixed with robust rhythmic drive that he brought to the Waltz in C sharp minor, offered as a thank you to an audience that had been mesmerised but such fearless mastery.

A public wanting more, even knowing that Champagne was being uncorked at the back of the hall to celebrate, most generously, this opening concert of a series of Polish pianists.

Blechacz happy to close with Beethoven , coming full circle after his opening ‘Moonlight’. This time with the ‘ scherzo’ from his early sonata op 2 n 2 . Played with teasing characterisation contrasted with mellifluous outpourings of Schubertian beauty, with the final bars thrown off with the knowing nonchalance of the great artist we had heard all afternoon.

RAFAL BLECHACZ winning the Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2005 at the age of 20, his recitals fill the biggest concert halls in the world. Rafal Blechacz’s appearance in the intimacy of Westminster Cathedral Hall will therefore be a rare privilege and unique experience. More so as he limits his concerts to no more than only 45 per season -” This help me to keep the right balance and to be fresh when going on stage” – as he said in a recent interview.

Considered today as a foremost exponent of the music of Chopin, the Polish pianist is often ranked along his idol and compatriot, Krystian Zimerman. Both have been praised for capturing the “Chopin idiom” with poetry and sensitive articulation.-“The most important is to be true to what the composer left in the notes. It is a key I use to open my each interpretation” – explains Blechacz. Biographical information is certainly crucial but they must be enriched with the elements that reach beyond the biography, so in case of Chopin, letters of his students who wrote about his playing. Thanks to these texts we can tangibly experience Chopin’s performance (…) The musicological knowledge is also of a great importance as is musical intuition”.

When asked last month in Germany by Zsolt Bognar, where he feels most creative, Rafal Blechacz responded that “most definitely on stage”. When I’m in a practice room or my studio at home, I have some ideas but the moments with the public; that special atmosphere gives me freedom. I cannot imagine life without playing public concerts” – concludes our Star Pianist, who – as you can see from the enclosed photo – is already impressed by the Chopin Society UK activities. I have no doubt that he’ll find the same with our audience this Sunday.