Jean-Yves
Thibaudet once again conquered hearts as he dazzled audiences with virtuoso
showcases in Los Angeles and New York City.
During his 3-day performance at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles,
he gave the audience a double Liszt treat - an impeccable replay of his 1998
concert with the LA Philharmonic (Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat
major), followed by the ominous Totentanz (Dance of Death) for Piano
and Orchestra. The Piano Concerto was not an exact replay to be sure, after
all no two concerts are ever identical. While orchestra and pianist were the
same, this time the conductor was the amiable Emanuel Krivine who wielded
the baton with a special charisma. And of course the orchestra responded in
kind.
The
chemistry between conductor and soloist was evident soon as the orchestra unleashed
the Concerto's famously forceful first seven notes
and the piano entered with a flourish. (Perhaps their being fellow Frenchmen
with a common link to Lyon had something to do with it? Until Summer 2000 Krivine
was Director of the Orchestre National de Lyon and Lyon, of course, is the city
of Jean-Yves' birth.)
Liszt is said to have sung "Das versteht Ihr alle nicht!"
to the seven opening notes. Which means "This none of you understands!"
- referring to the daringly unconventional (and thus unfamiliar) style in which
he had fashioned his first piano concerto: in four parts, like a symphony; yet
like neither a symphony nor a concerto - the theme repeats and expands in one
flowing, seamless movement, without the customary moments of silence between
parts. But of course -- thanks to pianists like Jean-Yves Thibaudet whose elegant
artistry and brilliant mastery of his craft never fail to transport the listener,
enrapt - from the thematically defining allegro through adagio
and scherzo to the resounding finale, via florid cadenzas and
surpriseful melodic recitatives with the flute, clarinet, cello, oboe and yes,
even the lowly triangle(!) -- audiences through the years eventually did understand,
as those in LA did, that this is a unique piano concerto and why it has become
a favorite of all time.
The deathly
grippingTotentanz is the Piano Concerto's emotional opposite.
A series of six variations on the Latin hymn Dies irae (God's wrath),
this less familiar work is suffuse with foreboding. Like the Piano Concerto,
the theme is defined at the start and the subsequent variations provide
numerous occasions for a display of shivering flourishes or damning force
by the dominant piano, conveying degrees of eeriness and fear and climaxing
in the double glissandi (slides across the keyboard with both hands)
that Thibaudet delivered with power and finesse.
The second all-orchestral half of the program was equally enjoyable. Deliberate
or not, it was clever to have a 20th century composer, who was thought to be
an iconoclast in his youth, remind the audience of the classical symphonic form.
Sergei Prokokiev's Symphony No. 1 in D major ("Classical"),
composed in the style of Haydn (i.e., structured, employing the sonata form:
exposition, development, and recapitulation), is among the composer's most lyrical
works and is perhaps as classical as Prokokiev gets. No wonder it has become
a favorite in the modern concert repertory as the audience, taking delight in
the familiar, clearly showed. Claude Debussy's impressionistic La Mer
concluded the program, again departing from standard form as it evoked alternating
images of playful waves shimmering in the sun and of angry waves lashing against
rocks on the shore.
It was quite a variety show, so to speak, of distinctively discrete parts, but
so well put together and so masterfully delivered. The resounding standing ovation
was certainly well-deserved.
A couple of weeks
later in New York City, Mr. Thibaudet made his Carnegie Hall recital
debut to great critical and audience acclaim. He had played many concertos
in this hallowed hall and elsewhere in the city before, but in his case,
familiarity breeds only more admiration.
Above photos show Jean-Yves after performances with the LA Philharmonic at the
LA Music Center (2001) and the Hollywood Bowl (2000); at a radio broadcast from
the HMV Record Store in NY (1999)
A MESSAGE FROM JY (1999)
UK
Jean-Yves
Thibaudet once again conquered hearts as he dazzled audiences with virtuoso
showcases in Los Angeles and New York City. 