Mariam Batsashvili at Wigmore Hall conquering the Olympian heights of Liszt wth fearless abandon
Mariam Batsashvili entices with jewel like brilliance in Haydn’s D major sonata and astonishes in Liszt as she conquered Olympian heights with fearless abandon at the limit of what only Liszt himself would have made possible.
Haydn played with wit and charm as Liszt spoke with demonic seduction. A perfectly equilibrated Haydn of jewel like precision, where the composers restrained brilliance of his age was a marvel of characterisation.
Liszt on the other hand was played without the restraint of bar lines as this is a personal interpretation of a great artist with a vision of monumental proportions. Freedom and luminosity with a fearless drive at the limit of the possible. Mariam is a stylist not an intellectual with a dedication to finding the very meaning behind the notes that she interprets with passionate conviction and poetic beauty.
Mozart’s innocuous D minor Fantasia was given an operatic performance where the characters entered with larger than life declamations . The simple chiselled opening melody was played with extraordinary luminosity as Mariam played with sounds like icicles on a bed of barren desolation. Whispered palpitations were played with quite extraordinary sensitivity as the Allegretto opened like a breath of fresh air on such a torrid scene.
