Chopin Master Enthralls With Passion, Spontaneity

Consider the case of Mikhail Voskressensky, the Russian pianist who appeared on the International Piano Symposium series at Pepperdine University on Thursday.

A specialist in the music of Chopin--he made his debut at the age of 20, playing the F-minor Concerto, in Warsaw--Voskressensky again turned up internationally as the bronze medal winner in the first Van Cliburn Competition in Fort Worth in 1962. He was 27 years old. Since then, those of us in the United States have heard little of him, except as an active teacher (he has produced numerous winners of major competitions) and a piano jurist.

Voskressensky proved an imposing, magnetic presence Thursday night in Smothers Theater, playing a serious and substantial Chopin program that lasted less than an hour. But those nearly 60 minutes were enchanted, ending in three blazingly touching encores, a cheering audience and a shopful of floral bouquets.

Passion, impetuosity, spontaneity and articulateness marked this recital, the high points of which were the Third (C-sharp minor) Scherzo, the Polonaise in F-sharp minor and (the final encore) the A-flat Waltz.

The composer’s wide but elegant emotional range informed each performance, yet each had an aura of being created on the spot. Voskressensky’s considerable and polished virtuosity made all this musical freedom possible. He can play as fast or as slow as he deems appropriate; every musical utterance speaks directly to the listener. That’s technique.

Three mazurkas proved manic. The Ninth and Tenth Waltzes were sufficiently poetic yet with an urgency they do not always receive. A sense of life-or-death hung over the program-closing Polonaise, and one followed its progress with a curiosity born of the pianist’s deep identification.