Chamber Music Prom 4: Monday 8th August at 1.00 p.m. ( Liszt, Prokofiev)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

BBC New Generation Artist Khatia Buniatishvili explores the virtuosity of two great composer-pianists. Liszt - one of this year's anniversary compoaers - is a favourite of hers and she begins her concert with his Sonata in B minor, technically one of the most demanding works ever written for piano. Similarly virtuosic is Prokofiev's 7th Sonata, a work written amid Stalin's brutal rule in the early years of World War II it contains some of the composers most dissonant and troubled music.

Khatia Buniatishvili very much admires pianists of previous generations, a passion which influences her own unique style of pianism.

Liszt: Piano Sonata in B minor
Liszt: Liebesträume - No. 3: O Lieb, so lang du lieben kannst!
Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 7 in B flat major

Khatia Buniatishvili (piano)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The above information says we shall be hearing "Liszt: Liebesträume - No. 3", but of course no such work exists, as there are no Liebesträumes 1 & 2. It should be Nocturne no. 3: Liebesträume.

[rauschwerk]

Chamber Music, 8-8-11 - Khatia Buniatishvili

"Listen - I can play the finale of Prokofiev's 7th sonata much faster than Pollini. Whaddya mean, the last pages are a shambles? The audience cheered, didn't they?"

[Norfolk Born]

It certainly sounded pretty messy to me*. But I'm forgetting that visceral excitement seems to be the prescribed hallmark of the Proms year, judging by the hyperbole that precedes and (immediately) follows each performance.
(*Perhaps it just sounded that way in East Suffolk)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I've merged the two threads on this concert.

E.A.

[cavatina]

I found her playing to be quite beautiful, and thought it showed an extraordinary degree of intensity, sensitivity, and depth. Perhaps I would have noticed the "messiness" more if I hadn't been awed by what a volcanic passion she brought to the piece that bordered on the genuinely unsettling.

My only complaint is I wish I'd been on the keyboard side of the gallery instead of off in no-man's land. (Note to self: show up earlier. ) Curious, did Norman Lebrecht review it anywhere? I could be mistaken, but I'm fairly sure I spotted him skulking around...might be interesting to hear his take on it, at any rate.

[cavatina]

It certainly sounded pretty messy to me*. But I'm forgetting that visceral excitement seems to be the prescribed hallmark of the Proms year, judging by the hyperbole that precedes and (immediately) follows each performance.
(*Perhaps it just sounded that way in East Suffolk)

In this case, I didn't think it was hyperbole at all. Speaking as someone who hasn't missed a concert yet, there have been quite a few genuinely thrilling performances this season. Perhaps if you were in the hall, it would be more immediately apparent to you.

Anyway, you seem to say "visceral" like it's a bad thing. Do you have a problem with vibrant, vitally alive performances?
I sure don't. There's nothing about a forceful, dynamic performance that automatically precludes nuance and sensitivity. Of course, strength of feeling alone is no measure of quality, but I'd be rather reluctant to take a dump on an entire season just because many of the performances have been passionate.

[amateur51]

In this case, I didn't think it was hyperbole at all. Speaking as someone who hasn't missed a concert yet, there have been quite a few genuinely thrilling performances this season. Perhaps if you were in the hall, it would be more immediately apparent to you.

Anyway, you seem to say "visceral" like it's a bad thing. Do you have a problem with vibrant, vitally alive performances?
I sure don't. There's nothing about a forceful, dynamic performance that automatically precludes nuance and sensitivity. Of course, strength of feeling alone is no measure of quality, but I'd be rather reluctant to take a dump on an entire season just because many of the performances have been passionate.

Could you ease up on the scatalogical imagery please, cavatina?

[Panjandrum]

In this case, I didn't think it was hyperbole at all. Speaking as someone who hasn't missed a concert yet, there have been quite a few genuinely thrilling performances this season. Perhaps if you were in the hall, it would be more immediately apparent to you.

Anyway, you seem to say "visceral" like it's a bad thing. Do you have a problem with vibrant, vitally alive performances?
I sure don't. There's nothing about a forceful, dynamic performance that automatically precludes nuance and sensitivity. Of course, strength of feeling alone is no measure of quality, but I'd be rather reluctant to take a dump on an entire season just because many of the performances have been passionate.

Perhaps you're not familiar with the score; or classic versions of Prokofiev 7 (eg Pollini, Argerich, Richter et al). I can assure you she fell to pieces in the final movement. If it's excitement at all costs for you - fine. If fidelity to the score counts for something, well...

[cavatina]

Could you ease up on the scatalogical imagery please, cavatina?

Sorry to offend your refined sensibilities, Am. My apologies.

[amateur51]

Sorry to offend your refined sensibilities, Am. My apologies.

You do it quite a lot, cavatina, like a small child seeking to shock her parents or guests at tea

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSrXqOI9988

[cavatina]

Perhaps you're not familiar with the score; or classic versions of Prokofiev 7 (eg Pollini, Argerich, Richter et al). I can assure you she fell to pieces in the final movement

There's some truth in that: I did notice a certain "coming off the rails" quality about her playing in the last movement. But as I said I was more focused on reacting to the searing, near demonic level of intensity of her playing than anything else. And since I wasn't on the keyboard side of the gallery, seeing the expressions on her face as she played only made my impressions stronger.

If it's excitement at all costs for you - fine.

Have you read my comments on the thread about Dudamel's Mahler? You might want to have a look at that. But then, you might want to go ahead and put me in your filter file and get it over with, too. Either way; it's up to you.

If fidelity to the score counts for something, well...

I never said she was better than Richter.

[cavatina]

Anyway, Am, what did you think of the performance? If you can get it on the I-player, it's worth a listen (even if it's not Richter). I was actually surprised they chose such heavy pieces for the afternoon; I would have thought the programme more suited to an evening concert.

[amateur51]

Anyway, Am, what did you think of the performance? If you can get it on the I-player, it's worth a listen (even if it's not Richter). I was actually surprised they chose such heavy pieces for the afternoon; I would have thought the programme more suited to an evening concert.

I think I've commented on Khatia Buniatishvili's performance of Liszt sonata in B minor in a previous performance and I'm afraid that I don't find that much progress has been made. It is a piece in many 'sections' and the trick of the finest performances to my ears is to manage to play the sections with individuality while at the same time causing the piece to gel as a whole. I don't find that Khatia Buniatishvili knows where to start playing like that and the word that popped into my mind whilst listening was 'undigested'. She's got a fair idea of 'how it goes' but she communicates very little idea of how the different parts relate to each other. There is also this dreadful tendency (she is not alone) of equating soft quiet playing with excessive slowness and fast playing with loudness, to the extent that the piece being played becomes a series of fast/loud-slow/soft bulges. There was an awful lot of telescoping of dynamics too, fences were rushed and I'm afraid that in some of the faster passages it was like watching a hurdler knocking over fence after fence until she was just able to stumble through. Very disappointing.

The Prokofiev sonata no 7, like the Liszt, started well enough and then as soon as things slowed down, it started to fall apart. It's almost as tho' she is less interested when things go more slowly. I continue to get the feeling that she practices some sections more than others (what do I know? - I can play chopsticks without music - but that's how it feels to me) and when she gets to her more practiced sections her whole approach changes and suddenly we're off. But again the wish to play faster gets the better of her and clarity and structure are lost - this is a very noticeable feature for me.

And yes the finale of the Prokofiev was appalling. I'm not even sure that we got the full measure of the score, such was the gabbling and general blur of sound that she produced.

I'm really sorry to write like this. She clearly has plenty of facility but I don't hear that much musicality; pieces get pumelled. And Ms Bott announced another award and another set of engagements. If I were her friend/manager, I'd suggest a sabbatical and see if I could get her mentored by someone who could instil some sense of perspective into her playing.

Apparently such luminaries as Martha Argerich and Stephen Kovacevich think otherwise. I admire them both and I hope that they're right.

[cavatina]

Apparently such luminaries as Martha Argerich and Stephen Kovacevich think otherwise. I admire them both and I hope that they're right.

Well, she certainly has plenty of time to grow. Who knows what she could be at fifty?

Perhaps I'd agree with you more if I hadn't experienced it live and seen the extreme intensity playing across her face as she was moved by the music...at times I found myself wanting to avert my eyes and look away, it seemed almost too personal and intimate a thing to look at her.

Surely in a world of "cookie cutter conservatory" pianists, that sense of personal connection--identification, even--is a rare quality worth noting.