Maurizio Pollini’s Aristocratic Piano Recital

Carnegie Hall. April 18, 2010. While aristocratic is a word more properly describing a former age, there are still some contemporary aristocratic pianists around, and Maurizio Pollini must surely head the list in the tradition of, say, Artur Rubinstein. You can sense it immediately as he approaches the piano, a sense that a patrician is about to invite you to a few minutes grace with musical royalty. A hush goes over the audience, polite applause, but certainly not the screaming reception usually given one of today’s media-enhanced piano superstars. Indeed, Pollini has a job to do---make beautiful music---and on Sunday afternoon, he didn’t waste any time in beginning this all-Chopin recital with the two nocturnes of opus 27, performances, which were characterized by infinite control and understated elegance.

The complete 24 preludes followed, each played with a sensitivity to the mood of the music, changing as required, no two preludes sounding the same. There was no “Pollini” sound and the fluidity of the playing was a marvel to behold. I would have preferred if Pollini had paused a little between each prelude, in the sense that a good meal requires a period of digestion, but these mostly short pieces, could, I guess, be digested quickly. In lesser hands, some of these short pieces can sound trivial, but when a master like Pollini examines them, they become as meaningful and beautiful as Chopin’s longer works.

At age 68, Pollini apparently has unlimited energy and, after the intermission, he quickly seated himself to begin a virtuosi second half. The well-known Ballade No. 1 and Scherzo No. 1 were brilliantly played with long lines developed into arching sonorities. It was in the Opus 25 etudes that Pollini exhibited his flawless command of the keyboard. As often as I’ve heard these works, I’ve never heard them played better technically, but more importantly, more beautifully. If anyone doubted it before, Pollini proved once again that he is a titan of the keyboard.

The enthusiasm of the audience was rewarded by three encores: a fiery but not overwrought Étude in C minor (Op. 10, No. 12, “Revolutionary”); a simply beautiful but not syrupy Mazurka in C (Op. 33, No. 3); and an exciting Scherzo No. 3, which, by that time, had exhausted the audience, although I have no doubt that Pollini could have gone on longer.


The Program
CHOPIN Two Nocturnes, Op. 27
CHOPIN 24 Preludes, Op. 28
CHOPIN Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23
CHOPIN Scherzo No. 1
CHOPIN Etude in A-flat Major, Op. 25, No. 1, "Aeolian Harp"
CHOPIN Etude in F Minor, Op. 25, No. 2
CHOPIN Etude in F Major, Op. 25, No. 3, "Cartwheel"
CHOPIN Etude in A Minor, Op. 25, No. 4
CHOPIN Etude in C-sharp Minor, Op. 25, No. 7, "Cello"
CHOPIN Etude in B Minor, Op. 25, No. 10
CHOPIN Etude in A Minor, Op. 25, No. 11, "Winter Wind"
CHOPIN Etude in C Minor, Op. 25, No. 12, "Ocean"

Encores:

CHOPIN Etude in C Minor, Op. 10, No. 12, "Revolutionary"
CHOPIN Mazurka in C Major, Op. 33, No. 3
CHOPIN Scherzo No. 3