Misha Kaploukhii at St James’s Piccadilly
The intelligence and maturity of a young master
I have heard Misha play many times over the past two years since his mentor and teacher at the Royal College of Music Ian Jones asked me to listen to his performance in Cadogan Hall of the Rachmaninov First Piano Concerto. Misha who had recently left his homeland as Ukraine was being invaded and sought refuge in the UK .Ian has become his mentor and in these two years since first listening to him he has grown in stature and is fast becoming a master. His Beethoven op 110 and the Godowsky ‘Fledermaus’ I have written about just a month ago when he played them in the Autumn Festival in Perivale for the Keyboard Trust.
They were remarkable performances then but now even in this short space of time his Beethoven has grown in weight and authority. The simplicity and maturity he brought to op 110 was masterly. An important statement where he had understood the real meaning of an interpreter to transmit the wishes as written in the score to the listener. Beethoven was completely deaf when he wrote these last sonatas but he could obviously hear them in his head and miraculously was able to write down meticulously the sounds that he wanted. Of course it is not only the notes but the meaning behind the notes too that depends on the personality and technical mastery of the performer. So it was quite remarkable how this 21 year old could have played with such mature mastery today.
Read more here at Christopher Axworthy’s blog
