Word: chopin
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...second and third movements he performed with a romanticism that was almost Chopin-esque in its style. But this particular interpretation of Mozart lost none of its charm. The woodwinds tended to rush in the excitement of the third movement, but in all the orchestra did an excellent job of accompanying Perahia...
Last Sunday Maurizio Pollini pleased a packed Symphony Hall with a program of Chopin and Debussy that can only be described as populist, plain and simple. Choosing so many warhorses and so few dark horses was not, however, merely a safe bet. It also gave him the chance to play them better than, well, anybody...
Take for instance Pollini's performance of Chopin's first Ballade in G minor, the second item on the program after the opening Prelude No. 25. In spite of a few oddly reassuring finger slips (proof, perhaps, that Pollini is not a cybernetic organism) the interpretation seemed scarily authoritative. A percussive left hand and a sometimes sotto voce right transformed this standby into a sleeker, more macho epyllion...
...fourth Ballade, which came next, is the most difficult to grasp and understand. Pollini parsed it with fire and force, vividly evoking the rich texture of the music. At times he responded to Chopin's thoughts with such enthusiasm that his posterior was airborne six inches above the bench. And considering the number of "F"s in his fortes, it's a good thing he was playing on his own piano...
Having conquered his audience, Pollini then catered to its insatiability with three tasty encores--another demonstration of his irreproachable showmanship. Beginning with a lovely rendition of Debussy's "Isle Joyeuse," he raised the ante with the best, most exquisitely nuanced performance of Chopin's Op. 27 No. 2 Nocturne in D-flat that I've ever heard, live or on disc. Thank goodness the crowd didn't ask for a fourth helping of dessert: it would have been impossible to surpass the scintillating brilliance of the famous "Black Key" etude with which he concluded...