It’s not every day that Jed Distler is inspired by such piano playing as he was at the reborn Bechstein Hall yesterday for Evelyne Berezovsky’s recital
Riding high on wings of song as Jed said ‘ an emotional generosity playing dangerously and always in the present’. Quite simply the best young pianist he has heard since arriving in London almost a month ago .
With Evie’s mentor Leonskaya playing next door in the ‘old’ Bechstein Hall a programme of Mozart, Shostakovich and Schubert, here was our Evie persuaded by Jed to play as an encore his arrangement of Art Tatum’s ‘Tea for Two’ which he exclaimed, much to Evie’s delight and astonishment , that she plays even faster than Tatum!
But not before a scintillating dose of Rachmaninov and Debussy all wrapped up in ‘X’ certificate Ravel. La Valse ‘ The most decadent I have ever heard and I loved e very minute of it ‘ exclaimed Jed and some remarkable new works by Tatiana Svetlova that he just adored as Evie brought them to life with exquisite commanding authority.
Evie cast a magic spell over us all as her almost improvised freedom and mastery reminded me of another great ‘natural’ Martha Argerich. Earl Wild’s ‘The man I love ‘ was Evie’s parting shot looking us straight in the eyes alla Gulda ( whose only pupil was Argerich ).
Love at first sight directed at each one of us …….irresistible you !
Rachmaninov opened the concert with ‘Lilacs’ and ‘Daisies’ covered in insinuating rubato of another age .Wisps of sound that were miraculously made of streams of gold and silver. Four preludes followed,opening with the most beguiling op 23 n. 4 and n. 6. The fourth in D major was played with robust sound and a sense of balance that allowed the melodic line to shine through all the accompaniment that Evelyne imbued with luxuriant sumptuous sound. Not the usual whispered sound world of Richter but her own overpowering emotionally seductive Philadelphian world of golden velvet. The E flat prelude followed with an emotional drive that was to be mirrored only in La Valse that was still on the horizon. The G major op 32 n. 5 had a liquid fluidity of fragile beauty suddenly caught in a breeze as free as the wind that was blowing by now in these parts , before the insinuating chattering of the ending. Op 23 n. 8 was a mellifluous outpouring just unfolding with notes that were but moving sounds of shifting harmonies of heartrending nostalgia.
What better way to finish this Rachmaninov opener than with the transcriptions of Rachmaninov’s violin partner Fritz Kreisler. Beguiling charm and insinuating beauty thrown off in such style and with consummate ease and an extraordinary sense of improvised freedom – Love was in the air indeed. Interrupted only by the imperious opening of Liebesfreud dissolving into intricate teasing jeux perlé. What beauty Evie brought to the central outburst of melody before setting off again adding her own improvised cut at the end. Jed told me Rachmaninov had made some cuts in his second historic recording where this rather overlong transcription had to fit on one side of a 78 rpm disc.
A youthful romantic outpouring of Debussy that Jed found a little too similar to the sound world of Rachmaninov, but this was Evie’s warm generous heart sharing her love for music with us . As Barbirolli famously said of a rather over efusive Jaqueline Du Pré ‘If you don’t play with passion when you are young ,what do you pare off in old age?’ Luckily Jaqueline had Barenboim at her side who could help channel her temperament. The old age she was destined never to know but maturity she certainly reached before the age of 28 when her career was so cruelly curtailed. ‘L’Isle Joyeuse’ of course suited Evie’s mood with the improvised freedom of nobility and passion, virtuosity and subtlety combining to exhilarating effect. I must take a closer look at Jersey when I am next in Eastbourne !
Two works by Tatiana Svetlova were a real revelation for Jed and myself. I could hear distant references to the Bach Chaconne in a traditional but original sound world of great beauty. Evie playing with the same total conviction of someone who truly loves this music. https://youtu.be/gex0sOR7XZ0?si=rE3RdFq5ANeynE_O
It was Rubinstein who said you should only play music that you truly love and that speaks to you . He went on to say that you must be born with talent, you cannot teach it ! Evie is a living example of that!
This went through my mind as I listened to Evie in the same way I listen to Martha or Maria João .With a sense of discovery where anything could happen and is the very reason why live music making is so essential in this A.I. world that sits gloating in the distance.
Ravel ‘Valses’ just poured from Evie’s hand and heart . ‘Nobles’ played with a freedom that would have had Perlemuter turning in his grave but that Evie played with such originality and a freedom that she saw from the very first Modéré played with heroic nobility. The same she was to find in the 7th and after the bubbling fun of the 6th leading eventually to the whispered magic of the ‘Epilogue’. It was here that Evie imbued the air with magic. Ravel remembering ,’avec un sentiment de regret’ a story that never ends but just drifts into oblivion. It was in this atmosphere that the bubbling cauldron of red-hot passion was allowed to explode with breathtaking decadence. This was a world in which Evie entered with fearless abandon of double glissandi and much else, filling this magnificent Bechstein with sounds it has never known before. The sumptuous night club atmosphere of this very intimate hall just added to the overwhelming emotions that were being banded about before our very eyes.
I had told Jed that Evie was playing ‘Tea for Two’ in the original programme that had been modified. But Jed wanted his tea and certainly only for two! Evie thought for a second before throwing herself into a teatime where cups were being thrown about with masterly indifference.
What a night …..it took a whole chicken and lashes of wine to calm us down after that and allow us to sleep …….perchance to dream !
Described by the French press as a pianist with “a huge temperament, dazzling technique and a heart to match”, Evelyne Berezovsky is one of the most sought-after young musicians of today. She has performed concertos with the Tokyo Mozart Players under Xavier Roth, Musica Viva under Alexander Rudin, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra under Andris Poga, Thailand Symphony Orchestra and North Czech Philharmonic under Gudni Emilsson, Hulencourt Soloists Chamber Orchestra under Giuseppe Montesano and Ben Ellin and the Enschede Symphony Orchestra under Jaap wan Zweden amongst others.
Presenting a unique pianistic style, she has been invited to perform at major venues such as the Wigmore Hall and Southbank Centre (London), Moscow Philharmonic Hall, Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg) and festivals like La Roque D’antheron (France), Les folles journées du Japon (Japan), Fêtes d’Olympia (France), Lorin Maazel’s Festival (UK) as well as being a regular guest at Pianos Folies de Touquet (France).
Born in Moscow in 1991 Evelyne started playing the piano at the age of 5 and appeared with an orchestra for the first time at the age of 11 playing Mozart’s Concerto K415. She has studied with the renowned professors Hamish Milne (London), Elisso Virssaladze (Italy), Rena Shereshevskaya (Paris) and recently has been working with Maria João Pires in Portugal. Evelyne is a Grand Prix winner at the Goergy Cziffra International Competition (2019) in Paris, France.
Programme
RACHMANINOV: Lilacs, Op. 21 No. 5
RACHMANINOV: Daisies, Op. 38 No. 3
RACHMANINOV: Selection of Preludes
RACHMANINOV: Liebesleid in A minor
RACHMANINOV: Liebesfreud in E-flat major
DEBUSSY: Valse Romantique
DEBUSSY: L’isle joyeuse, L.106
Intermission 30 minutes
TATIANA SVETLOVA: “Sonnet No. 5 on the theme of Bach’s Chaconne”
TATIANA SVETLOVA: “Gold Leaf of Gustav Klimt ”
RAVEL: Valse nobles et sentimentales
RAVEL: La Valse
ART TATUM/ JED DISTLER : Tea for Two
(transcription)
EARL WILD: Virtuoso Etudes based on Gershwin’s songs:
The Man I Love
(Embraceable You ) next time ?
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 