Misha Kaploukhii – inspired mastery in Perivale
I have heard Misha play many times over the past four years since I was invited by his teacher Ian Jones to listen to him playing Rachmaninov First Concerto at Cadogan Hall whilst he was still just a ‘fresher’.
It has been a great pleasure to see this young student turn into an artist of considerable importance as he has now reached the final stages of his student career. Important friendships with other musicians at the RCM have played their part in this formation. In particular that with Magdalene Ho frequenting each others concerts with a mutual respect and admiration learning from each other as the road to perfection becomes ever more an impossible dream but also the raison d’être of their lives.
Today Misha coupled the Schumann with Liszt’s masterly entry into the operatic world of Bellini. Listening to Bellini in Sicily obviously takes on another meaning ( I am writing from Trapani where the 3rd International Piano Competition,Domenico Scarlatti is taking place), but the mastery and transcendental command that Misha showed today must have been the similar to that of Liszt who was to take Paris by storm, together with his great rival Thalberg.
