Misha Kaploukhii at St Mary’s Perivale
The Keyboard Trust Autumn Festival 2023
Misha I have heard play many times over the past two years and the young teenager I was so impressed with when he played Rachmaninov First Concert at Cadogan Hall is fast turning into a considerable musician of great stature. I also heard him play Liszt Second Concerto as winner of the RCM Concerto Prize but now at the ripe old age of 20 we can judge his playing not only of virtuoso gymnastics but of a true thinking interpreter of the deepest thoughts of the classical composers. It is thanks to the careful help of Ian Jones that this Russian trained pianist from the Gnessin School in Moscow is now delving deep into the scores of the great classics. It is only here that he will learn the real secrets of a true interpreter who thinks more of the composers wishes than his own!
It was the very first bars of Beethoven’s penultimate sonata that revealed a profound interpreter of the composers very precise indications. The wonderful way that the opening trill was just a vibration that lead to the opening sublime melodic outpouring. But there were also the cascades of delicate arpeggios played with a clarity and shape that was enthralling. The rising and falling scales that accompany the development section were beautifully realised as was the magic change of key from the E flat to D flat just before, played so simply allowing Beethoven’s genius to speak for itself. The measured tempo of the Allegro molto and the absolute authority of the treacherous Trio was a great contrast to the mellifluous outpouring of the ‘Moderato cantabile molto espressivo’.The ending just disappearing on a cloud of pedal as Beethoven reaches on high to one of his most sublime creations. There was a clarity to the fugue that made the return of the Arioso even more poignant as the fugue returns in a whispered backward turn leading inexorably to the final glorious exultation and the triumphant arrival home on A flat. A performance of great maturity and intelligence allied of course to a superb technical command.
Read more here at Christopher Axworthy’s blog
