Supreme pianistic and musical distinction marks Piotr Anderszewski’s triumphant December 2008 Carnegie Hall recital, not to mention the most naturally luminous sound quality I’ve ever heard in a solo piano recording emanating from this venue. The pianist obviously warmed up long before coming out to play the opening selection, Bach’s C minor Partita. The Sinfonia’s dotted rhythms generate excitement and anticipation by way of Anderszewski’s subtle rhythmic inflections, while the Allemande and Courante speak as much as they ravishingly sing. Rarefied control and dynamic calibration justify the Rondeau’s clipped deliberation.
In Schumann’s Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Anderszewski’s flexible phrasing and sophisticated voicings stress the movement’s lyricism and whimsy while minimizing its square and repetitive nature. I’m not crazy about that little hesitation between the main theme’s first two notes, but perhaps that’s the jest from Vienna! The Scherzino is appreciably light and supple, the Intermezzo’s inner voices suavely flutter with little aid from the sustain pedal, and the Finale gathers momentum more through intense linear interaction in contrast to the more chord-oriented power of Michelangeli and Richter.
Anderszewski captures the conversational syntax of Janácek’s In the Mists to idiomatic perfection, and does just as well in his Bartók encores. The main program’s finale, Beethoven’s Op. 110 sonata, figured on one of Anderszewski’s earliest solo studio CDs. His meticulously detailed conception has become more fluid, organically poetic, and far less micromanaged. He now lets himself go when Beethoven does, riding the crest of the fugal finale’s exultant sweep as if his life depended on it. This release defines a great New York night. [7/27/2009]
