Krystian Zimerman at Tokorozawa Civic Cultural Centre Muse, December 4th 2021

 

You could tell Zimerman meant business the moment he walked on stage wearing a tailcoat and a bow tie. I don’t remember when was the last time I saw a soloist wearing that somewhat cliched but cool attire in a concert. I guess it was not out of character for him. He’s known for quirks like touring with his own piano -this being one of the reasons he haven’t performed in the US in over 15 years; according to Wikipedia tight security checks destroyed two of his Steinways. Besides those anecdotal circumstances, he’s definitely in the shortlist of the best living pianists in the planet. He was Karajan’s and Bernstein’s favorite exponent of the instrument. Lutoslawski’s Piano Concerto was dedicated to him. He entered the world stage in 1975 by winning the Chopin competition!

Unlike in America, Zimerman comes quite often to Japan. This year he played ten dates in this country. One of them, luckily for me, near where I live. I’ve been meaning to see him for years and I wouldn’t let this chance pass this time. I got my ticket early on. It was my first visit to this concert hall in Tokorozawa. It’s an impressive building with great acoustics. I was lucky to get a fifth row seat.

The program was bookended by the longer pieces of the evening, the ones that showcased Zimerman’s virtuosity more evidently. The first half was comprised by the first two of the six Bach Partitas. These suites, among the last written by the German composer for keyboard, are renowned for their extreme difficulty, which was center staged during its most vigorous passages. In my opinion the slower ones, extended to almost an ethereal imprecision very different from the compact tightness of the Gould recording I’m used to, made even clearer that we were in the presence of a master of the instrument. The same applies to Chopin’s Sonata No. 3, the last piece of the encore-less evening. The emotional impact conveyed in its slow passages, in addition to the galloping more epic ones, were great examples of the reasons why we go to concerts. 

The levels of intensity went up a few notches with the Three Intermezzi Op. 117 by Johannes Brahms. The second half of the program opened with it and from the first note you could see people in the audience weeping. Understandably so. The essence of 19th Century Romanticism,  focusing on the individual, in this case in a rather intimate -instead of epic- way is what this piece is all about. These three movements are an emotional trajectory that to me sounds like the soundtrack of grief with a glimpse of hope in the mid-section of the third one. I read it’s supposed to be an elegy. Most certainly past memories and images come to mind while this music is being performed. It takes an artist of the stature of Krystian Zimerman to reach that level. Guiding the audience, like he did on that day, through a journey of sorrow and hope. Unlike the last tailcoat-bow tie wearing pianist I saw, this was a performance I will remember for a long time.  

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