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IN REVIEW: HJ SERIES DISCOVERY CONCERT

BRASH BUT HUMBLE: Young Canadian brings honest pianism to Harriman-Jewell Series

Young performers these days are so often given to musical excess and personal flamboyance that it’s refreshing to find one with a solid and sensible foundation on which to build a substantial career. Pianist Jan Lisiecki, 18, has excellent technique, sensitive musicality and a reasoned approach to the piano. He is clearly on an upward artistic trajectory but he plays like a youngster should: with humility in the face of great music despite a headstrong personality that perhaps comes with possessing such gifts. (He also possesses, incidentally, major management, a worldwide concert career and a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon). At his Harriman-Jewell Series debut on May 10th Jan impressed an overflow Folly Theater crowd with direct, honest and occasionally brash pianism I found intriguing. If there is a sense that he is still forming as an artist, there’s also a strong impression he has acquired the tools to build greatness. As an added bonus, his shock of reddish-blond hair has made him a natural for publicity photos and a darling of youthful audiences.

Jan Lisiecki 1

Born in Canada of Polish parentage, Jan Lisiecki (yahn lee-shet-skee) was a prodigy who leapt into the spotlight in his early teens, initially in Canada. “I was put to playing the piano because I had a lot of energy,” he told the audience in a post-recital chat, of his beginnings at the keyboard at age 5. Never one to assume that he knows it all, Jan continues his studies with Marc Durand, one of Canada’s foremost piano teachers, working toward a Bachelor’s at the Glenn Gould School of Music in Toronto. Yet he finds time to play 100 concerts annually and says he clocks in about 300,000 flight miles a year. His Kansas City appearance was part of a 10-city international tour; he was headed to Munich next.

Four selections from Messaien’s Préludes opened the program and we reveled in the crispness of “Chante d’estase dans un paysage triste,” the tranquility of “Le Nombre légere and the unadorned contemplation of “Instants défunts.” The centerpiece of the program’s first half was Bach’s Partita in B-flat major, which was sweet and well-seasoned – disciplined enough to sound like Bach but personal enough to show the pianist’s individuality. There were dynamic liberties taken that stretched beyond the old “terraced” approach (fortunately Glenn Gould, among others, showed us that the piano was more than just an outsized version of the harpsichord), but rubato was thankfully kept to a minimum, emerging chiefly at cadences. The Courante had a youthful headlong energy, yet one always felt we were going somewhere. The repeats in the Sarabande were a shade more stately than in the first iteration, but always tender and pensive. In the Menuets varying melodies came to the fore each time around, and in the Gigue he cut loose and let his wild side take the reins. In all, quite satisfying Bach.

Mozart’s K. 331 Sonata was straightforward and unfussy, with the variation theme sounding like a melody – one you could sing, one free of preciousness or overthinking. The big rolled chords of the final variation were jaunty and playful, giving a hint, perhaps, of the “Alla Turca” finale. In the Menuetto and Trio one felt an honesty of approach but at times yearned for a bit more inflection of phrase and tone. The “Alla Turca” Rondo, which of course brought a murmur of recognition from the audience, was played at a good clip that nevertheless rarely obscured the essential musical line.

Advance notice had indicated Jan would devote the second half of his program to Chopin’s Op. 25, the less-performed of the composer’s two sets of 12 Études. Considering this was one of the Harriman’s Discovery Concerts, though, with a large representation of young people and relatively new classical-goers, the more familiar and accessible Op. 10 was perhaps an appropriate substitute. (Jan has recorded both sets.) The Op. 10 Études are “famous, almost infamous” for their difficulty, Jan said. “But the technique is there only to show you the music.” Chopin always stressed the concepts of singing and simplicity in his music, he added, and these are both essential to his own approach.

The bar is high in Chopin performance, and Jan is on his way to becoming a capital interpreter. He showed off a big, round tone in No. 1 (I could have used more flexibility of tempo), and he played No. 3 at a refreshing tempo (Lento ma non troppo, “but not too much”) that averted the weepiness that so often plagues this piece (which was made into a maudlin pop hit). When he started the dastardly No. 4 at a real-live Presto I wondered if he’d bring it off but he managed just fine. He raced through the “Black Key” (No. 5) but was at his best in No. 8, with its sunny disposition and torrents of headlong sound (Chopin writes veloce). He brought logic and meaning to the big rolled chords of No. 11 and excitement to the final “Revolutionary” Étude. His encore of Op. 25, No. 2 was honest and direct.

There were reservations. At times (as in No. 2) Jan showed a tendency to “toss away” ends of phrases rather than give them a graceful ending, and his excitable temperament led him to play some things faster than felt natural. I’m confident he will continue to give much thought to the poetry and élan in Chopin’s music. He certainly has it in his blood – literally and figuratively – and over time these aspects will continue to deepen and grow, as Jan develops into the great artist that he seems destined to be.

To reach Paul Horsley, performing arts editor, send email to phorsley@sbcglobal.net.

Paul Horsley, Performing Arts Editor 

Paul studied piano and musicology at WSU and Cornell University. He also earned a degree in journalism, because writing about the arts in order to inspire others to partake in them was always his first love. After earning a PhD from Cornell, he became Program Annotator for the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he learned firsthand the challenges that non profits face. He moved to KC to join the then-thriving Arts Desk at The Kansas City Star, but in 2008 he happily accepted a post at The Independent. Paul contributes to national publications, including Dance Magazine, Symphony, Musical America, and The New York Times, and has conducted scholarly research in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic (the latter on a Fulbright Fellowship). He also taught musicology at Cornell, LSU and Park University.

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