Alexandre Kantorow
The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh - 08/08/24
Alexandre Kantorow, piano.
A huge span of emotion was embodied with skill, passion and musical sensitivity by the virtuosic and poetic young French pianist Alexandre Kantorow in this absorbing morning concert at the Queen’s Hall. The 90-minute programme offered a synergistic blend of nineteenth and early twentieth century works from four composer-performers shaped (at least initially, in Bartok’s case) by decidedly Romantic sensibilities.
Beginning confidently with the Brahms Rhapsody Op. 79 No. 1 (1879), Kantorow demonstrated just the right combinations of poise and attack, assertion and restraint, that this intense piece demands. Its central section and coda in B major have an almost dreamlike quality, with the dominant B minor key taking longer to establish itself. A mini-masterclass, but we were only getting warned up.
Two busy works by Liszt followed. After a moody opening, the Étude d'exécution transcendante No. 12 moves swiftly through a complex snowfall of notes (it is appropriately known as ‘chasse-neige’, or ‘snow-whirls’) towards an aching, quiet conclusion. Kantorow allowed the final notes to settle longingly in the listener’s ear before moving into the Vallée d'Obermann S. 160 No.4 (from the 1804 novel Obermann by Étienne Pivert de Senancour), which itself leans towards introspection and resolves to a similar register beyond its stormy, cross-hand delivered penultimate section. These were superlative performances.
The Bartok Rhapsody Op. 1 Sz. 26 No. 36 (1904) fits well in this programme. Those unfamiliar with this frankly less-regarded piece from the twentieth century Hungarian master might have been struck by its deliberately Lisztian shape and form, though the early influence of a doyen fellow countryman is hardly surprising.
A long opening adagio is followed by a shorter allegretto, but without a pause. Traces of Bartok’s later style can be detected, but for the most part this is a work which, while effectively realised, risks sounding derivative. To work well it needs real commitment. Alexandre Kantorow, with his strong affinity for all things Liszt, provided exactly that.
After the interval our attention was turned to a single masterwork. The Rachmaninov Piano Sonata No. 1 Op. 28 was completed in 1908 as the first of three ‘Dresden pieces’, along with the Symphony No. 2 and part of an opera. It lasts a little over 35 minutes, and although it is structured in classic sonata form, its exhaustive surges, thematic diversions and numerous climaxes lend it a sprawling, fascinating variety. It is an immense technical challenge, too, but one that Kantorow more than matched throughout.
An appreciative and receptive audience was rewarded with a spellbinding concert and two encores – another Liszt excerpt and part of Ravel’s charming Jeux d’eau (1901). The French maestro made full use of the hall’s responsive acoustic by allowing notes and chords to ring fully when required, and alternately to be dampened for dramatic impact.
A balance between building tension and gradually releasing emotion is a hallmark of Kantorow’s playing, which is heartfelt without being sentimental. An inspiring recital by a young pianist whose already established reputation in relation to Liszt and associated repertoire can only grow further.
Website: https://www.alexandre-kantorow.com
Photo credit: Sasha Gusov
