Nov 21, 2022 8pm City Hall Concert Hall
Igor Levit Piano Recital
Beethoven: Tempest, Pathetique, No.25, Waldstein
Encore – Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated! – Improvisation & Thema
(scroll down for English review)
暫時未能現場聽列維特的全套貝多芬鋼琴奏鳴曲，但能聽四首已經不錯，第四次現場聽他，又沒有重覆曲目（除了今晚的加奏）亦很好。無論是聽他的唱片，還是他的現場，我還是較喜愛他願意彈冷門曲目，多過他的琴技，絕不敢說他差、不好，只是難曲又未至於彈到像super virtuoso那種程度，現在彈「沒那麼難」的貝多芬，亦不見得標青。
這晚的演出，我相信有些人會佩服他彈得很快，亦一定會有人覺得他彈得太快。我認為快是果不是因，對我來說他的彈法實在是「啖啖骨」，不大想去讓音符歌唱、讓旋律歌唱，較着重呈現衝刺力，假如他想要這種質感，就只能用這麼快的速度去彈。如果他想彈成這樣，我又不想他用正常速度彈，快快彈完更好。只計音樂，這四首奏鳴曲他只用了66分鐘彈完。
另一方面，慢板又會拖得太慢。唯一我可以接受的是下半場一開始的《第25鋼琴奏鳴曲》，一首很短的所謂次要作品，快板爽快而有充裕的強弱反差，慢板也保持流動。我欣慰這場賣得很好，證明還是有足夠的香港樂迷是追到國際樂壇，不會依戀舊名字。
The Beethoven year would have seen Igor Levit playing the Beethoven Sonata Cycle throughout the world but the pandemic interfered. So although Levit’s Hong Kong debut was just a selection of three well-known and one underrated sonatas I’m still grateful.
This being my fourth time seeing him live, and I’ve reviewed several of his recordings so I know my like and dislike regarding this inquisitive pianist. I admire his choice of repertoire more than his pianism. I savoured th rare pieces he played but I always felt he didn’t have what it takes to render them with justice.
Likewise for such mainstream fare of Beethoven. Some would wow at his frantic tempi but some would hate him for that. To me, these tempi were the effect, not the cause of such idiosyncratic interpretations. I think Levit’s approach was too bony, the missing “meatiness” was his avoidance of a singing tone, whether it was for a phrase or the beauty of a single note. The No.25 sonata, an encore favourite of Andras Schiff, was the only one that fit Levit’s quicksilver approach. The allegros were energetic yet infused with enough dynamic gradations and the middle movement was kept flowing.