Maurizio Pollini, still thinking

(stock Konzerthaus photo)

Like my previous entry this is going to be short, in this case because I must confess to limited expertise in realms of pianism. But I was excited to go to Maurizio Pollini’s Konzerthaus recital on Monday night, because I find his analytical, “modern” playing fascinating. The previous day I saw Boulez at the Musikverein, and Pollini could be fairly called the Boulez of the piano (as supported by their frequent collaborations*): sometimes sometimes bordering on distant but always clearly structured and thought-out in every detail. The program opened with Schubert’s great final Sonata in B-flat major, given a reading by Pollini that seemed at first glance unassumingly smooth. In the first movement, the mysterious low trill in the opening passing with little drama. But the tempo relationships between each section were masterly, the accelerando in the recapitulation perfectly judged. Likewise, other movements all seemed to flirt with being cursory and too light (particularly the very fast outer sections of the third movement), only the reveal an inner logic, free from any gratuitously innovative touches. (Also free of any folkish bounciness in the third movement, which passed with Mendelssohnian grace.)

In comparison, Pollini’s performance of his signature composer Chopin (and in popular pieces like the Berceuse, Barcarolle, and Ballade Nr. 4) was more iconoclastic. Here I suppose we expect more romantic sentiment and pianistic self-indulgence in the big tunes and dramatic gestures, but like in the Schubert Pollini was not about to give any, with an introverted, dissected, and structural account even of the more thundering passages of the second Scherzo. The quieter works were where Pollini’s tightly controlled tendencies were most apparent--and this was when I sometimes wondered if his Chopin ultimately is really my style, because while I could listen to Pollini’s Hammerklavier all day I like more conventionally sweeping accounts of Chopin. But that’s a matter of personal taste, and there is no dispute of the intelligence and unique character he brought to each work.

Reception was very enthusiastic and we got three encores. First was the Nocturne in D-flat op. 27, second the least flashy Revolutionary Etude I have ever heard, and the last was, rather alarmingly, a stunning performance of the entire g minor Ballade, all approximately 10 minutes of it (my jaw may have dropped a little bit when he launched into that arpeggiated Neapolitan). Very generous.

*And more directly by the appearance of Pollini’s favorite mark of piano, a customized Fabbrini Steinway, both at this Konzerthaus recital and at Boulez and Daniel Barenboim's concert in the Musikverein (this is noteworthy, seeing a non-Bösendorfer in the Musikverein is rare). I wondered if this could actually have been the same instrument, but Google tells me that both Barenboim and Pollini are Fabbrini fans so they probably both brought their own.

Maurizio Pollini, piano. Konzerthaus, 6/6/2011. Program: Schubert, Sonata in B-flat major; Chopin, Prélude in C# op. 45; Barcarolle in F# op. 60, Ballade No. 4 op. 52; Berceuse in D-flat op. 57, Scherzo No. 2 op. 31. Encores: Chopin, Nocturne in D-flat op. 27/2; Etude “Revolutionary” op. 10/12; Ballade No. 1 in g minor op .23.