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When Friends of Chamber Music President Cynthia Siebert took the Folly Stage on Friday evening to introduce 25-year-old pianist Rafał Blechacz, her remarks were particularly illuminating.

Blechacz has a clear lineage to one of the world’s greatest living pianist, fellow Pole Krystian Zimerman. As Siebert explained, it was Zimerman who recommended the then-20-year-old Blechacz for the Master Pianists Series in the course of a long conversation following his 2005 Friends of Chamber Music appearance. The young pianist had swept the awards of the International Chopin Piano Competition (just as Zimerman had done in 1975) in a career-making move a week prior in Warsaw.

At first glance, Rafał Blechacz is barely old enough to rent a car. In different attire, he could easily blend in with a crowd of other mid-twenty-somethings at a Record Bar show. The young star pianist opened his recital for a half-capacity Folly audience with Mozart’s Variations in C Major, K. 264. The Folly’s Hamburg Steinway sounded more airy than I can recall in recent memory. Blechacz sold the piece’s light mood as well, with jovial yet shy facial expressions and a slight head nod here and there. The piece was nuanced with a number of distinctly played melodic strains, nice trills throughout, and airy split-octave passages in the climactic moments.

Debussy’s l’Isle joyeuse was quite light on pedaling. Blechacz seemed to prefer a stream of consciousness approach, letting Debussy’s disparate riffs stand fully independent in the opening moments. Overall he brought a nice crescendo shape and intensity to the piece, ending with a suitably joyous flourish.

Polish twentieth-century composer Karol Szymanowski’s Sonata No. 1 in C Minor did not prompt a nationalist outburst from the seemingly shy Blechacz as the composer’s “Variations on a Polish Folk Theme” had from the elder Zimerman at a Los Angeles Disney Hall appearance in 2009. Blechacz’s Szymanowski opened a set of historically-informed Polish literature. The piece began with a fiery opening with a drama of the character of Scriabin (an influence) though not the same dense harmonic language. The Allegro Moderato displayed a Lisztian virtuosity which Blechacz tackled in consummate fashion. The first movement quieted down in a brief B-section before bursting into flames again. I found the opening melodic statement of the Adagio movement too nebulous when an alto countermelody was brought into competition with the principle melody. The movement lost its Adagio namesake after a few dozen bars as the texture filled with 32nd notes. Blechacz’s playing of the Tiempo de Minuetto movement possessed a lovely, light tone similar to that of the Mozart and ended with a humorous staccato. The opening of the Finale introduced a brooding quality akin to Gorecki and built slowly like late Pärt. The pianist then dove into an impressive double fugue with countersubjects full of octave runs. As the piece was building to a fiery climax, the piece’s construction disappointingly forsook its momentum before returning to the fugal subjects. Throughout, Blechacz displayed his impressive pianism, with double glissandi and octave work. The piece seemed a bit superfluous and at moments disjointed, yet looked incredibly fun to play.

The second half of the program was a selection Chopin Mazurkas and Polonaises bookended by arguably two of the most stunning Chopin Ballades one could ever hear. The Ballade in G Minor was incredibly fresh with a number of tiny details I haven’t heard others highlight; sometimes these moments were in the transitional material, others in the secondary voices of principle sections. The opening arpeggio was subdued as was the first appearance of the secondary theme. Here, as in the Mazurkas and Polonaises, I noted Blechacz phenomenal understanding of Chopin’s artistry: never too brash, each part of the texture has its place; the bass was never overpowering yet always important; the melody (even if it was not in the soprano voice) was supreme at all times; while the inner voices were quite subdued, especially in the softer moments.

The Ballade in F Major showcased some lovely agogic accents in the opening phrases. In the fiery second theme, one always hears the right hand’s arpeggios brought out, to the detriment of the piece’s continuity. Blechacz brought out a melody in the left hand I have never noticed which makes much greater sense of the piece as a whole. The final moments had the audience on the edge of their seats. The agitato ending was supremely fast, nearly too fast, but very, very thrilling.

Have no doubt, Rafał Blechacz is a shy piano star in the making. See him now while it’s hip, before he starts selling out arenas of Chopin aficionados.

REVIEW:
The Friends of Chamber Music
Master Pianists Series
Rafał Blechacz, Piano
Friday, February 18 at 8:00 p.m.
Folly Theater
300 W 12th St, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-561-9999 or visit chambermusic.org.

By Topher Levin

Classical Editor and Contributor

Christopher (Topher) Levin is a composer, pianist, music theorist, and music blogger based in Kansas City, MO. His compositions have been performed at music festivals across the US and in Europe. He has spent two summers in Paris, France studying music at the Ecole Normale de Musique through the EAMA program. His trio for clarinet, piano, and percussion is published in the SCI Journal of Scores.

Topher holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (M.M.) in music theory and (M.M.) in composition and from James Madison University in Virginia (B.M.) in composition. Primary composition teachers have included John S. Hilliard, Paul Rudy, Zhou Long, James Mobberley, Chen Yi, Claude Baker, Narcis Bonet, Michel Merlet, and João Pedro Oliveira. His piano teachers have included Patricia Brady and Karen Kushner. Topher maintains a piano studio of 22 students.

Having recently completed a Master's thesis on the beautiful complexities of Chinary Ung's trio, Spiral I, Topher turned his writing attention to the more informal blogging medium. He has taken to it quite well, sharing posts on strange and wonderful music and art found across the web with a modest but growing number of blog followers. He looks forward to writing for KCM and sharing with its readers the stories of all the amazing musicians performing in Kansas City.