(Konstantin Scherbakov)
One of the most remarkable recitals we have
had in Durban for a long time. (Review by Michael Green)
The Russian pianist ,
who now lives in Switzerland, has built a big reputation as a specialist in
virtuoso music that is off the beaten track.
At the age of 49 he has played in 35 different countries and he has, so
far, produced 34 CDs, many of them under the Naxos label.
Playing for the Friends of Music at the Durban
Jewish Centre, he gave a remarkable demonstration of his prowess at the
keyboard. In a programme devoted mainly to music by Liszt, with some by
Schubert, he played very difficult works with great power, speed and accuracy,
the total result being one of the most remarkable recitals we have had in
Durban for a long time.
He opened with a rarity, Schubert’s Grazer Fantasie. It was written in 1818
but the score was lost and discovered only in 1962. It was first published in
1971. This was the only piece on the programme that was not a virtuoso display.
It begins with a gentle Schubertian melody and works up some steam with a
polonaise-style development. Lovely music and very well played.
More Schubert followed, the well-known Wanderer Fantasy, so named because
Schubert used his own song, The Wanderer,
as a main theme. Scherbakov played, I think, Liszt’s edition of the fantasy, with
additions and elaborations. He handled the many technical and interpretative
difficulties with aplomb; not the least of his merits is a calm demeanour at
the keyboard.
After the interval came the big virtuoso
music, starting with an extraordinary arrangement by Liszt and Vladimir
Horowitz of Saint-Saens’s Danse Macabre. Then
came Liszt’s imposing and ambitious transcription of Isolde’s Liebestod, from
Wagner’s opera Tristan and Isolde. One
might think that this essentially orchestral and vocal music would defy
transition to the keyboard, but no musical venture was too bold for Franz
Liszt, and this arrangement is dramatic and compelling.
Liszt’s Totentanz, Dance of Death, made a loud and brilliant end to the programme. An
interesting piece this. Written in 1849, it is based on the mediaeval chant Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) and contains,
in its diabolical intensity, many glimpses into the future music of the 20th
century. Konstantin Scherbakov gave a tremendous performance that brought the
audience to their feet at the end.
The Prelude Performers of the evening,
funded by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, were a group of a
cappella (unaccompanied) singers from Durban High School: Mthokozisi Hlela,
S’bonelo Dlamini, Haydn Henning and Maqhawe Madonsela. They showed good balance
and control in songs by Gershwin, John David and a traditional Plea for Africa. - Michael Green
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