Compared to Lang Lang and Yundi Li, it took Piotr Anderszewski a long time to achieve a reputation as a top world class pianist. The Polish pianist was first recognized globally after he received the Gilmore Artist Award in 2002. He remained the oldest winner of this prestigious award before Ingrid Fliter broke the record at the age of 33 in 2006.
The Carnegie Hall recital CD (EMI/Virgin 2009) is a recording of the Anderszewski concert in New York City in December of last year. The concert covers works from various German, Czech and Hungarian composers. They include Bach, Schumann, Janacek and Beethoven. Bartok’s Hungarian Folksongs from the Csik District is the encore.
In the Bach Partita No2, Anderszewski’s flexible but sophisticated style of playing vividly reveals different characteristics of each section of the work. The difference within the work ranges from soft melancholy in Allemande to Dance suite in Capriccio. And Anderszewski brings out the slow, melodic nature of Janacek’s In The Mists almost to perfection.
However, the performance of Schumann ‘s Carnival scenes from Vienna is disappointing. In the third movement, Anderszewski’s interpretation turns the slow section into a sad depiction of the Carnival. Also, during the fourth movement, Anderszewski plays too fast. The Polish pianist fails to let listeners experience the joyful, happy atmosphere of the Viennese party.
Above all, through the excellent idiomatic interpretation of Bartok, Anderszewski’s new record defines a wonderful evening in New York, the sort of experience one would definitely want to go through in person. I recently had a chance to speak with Anderszewski briefly about the record, and here is what we talked about:
Jonathan: Why did you decide to perform works of German, Hungarian and Czech composers for your concert in New York?
Piotr: I had not the composers natinalities in mind when deciding the programme.But it is true that in general middle European music is the one I feel the most affinity with.
Jonathan: Among all works you performed, which did you find the most challenging to interpret?
Piotr: The most challenging was the Schumann piece, by far.
Jonathan: Can you tell our readers more about what you have coming up?
Piotr: My future plans after this CD is maybe a Schumann CD and I would like to record Bach’s English suites.