Olga Kern's Alice Tully hall debut - synopsis

[rohansahai]

Just back ....it was a great concert, and here's my analysis of what I heard:
The programme:
Mendelssohn: Variations Seriuses op. 54
Mendelssohn/Rachmaninov: Scherzo from A Midsummer night's dream
Chopin: Sonata no. 2 in Bb minor
Intermission:
Rachmaninov: Mourceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3 Complete
Wagner/Liszt: Isolde's Liebestod
Liszt: Reminiscences de Don Juan

It was not a houseful (around 90% of the hall was filled). She walked in wearing a bright red back-less dress ..looking slightttly tensed. I've never heard much Mendelssohn, so can't comment much on the first two works .. The Chopin was simply awesome! Fiery 1st movement (though the 'un-knowledgeable' Alice tully hall audience clapped after the 1st movement. The scherzo was again blasted through though not without the lyrical breaks and nuances. The Funeral march was the highlight ! I loved the way she made the 'rhythm' talk and express! The finale was fast (as most of the sonata was) and very precise ....thunderous ovation broke out at the end of the work!
After the intermission ...the dress changed to a wavy Lemon coloured gown (she looked like a darling nymph !) She started with the Rachmaninov ...for some reason i did not particularly liked the Elegie (the first in the set) ...I thought she was giving some weird accents at places, but, again, thats just my taste! The prelude was awesome and so were the rest of the miniatures.
And WHAT do I say about the Don Juan .....she just blew it away .....the octaves, the jumps, the cadenzas and runs ...it was a breathtaking display of keyboard fireworks that simply left all of us clapping madly and endlessly for the goodies (encores!). I loved her 'girly' attributes ...touching her upper chest while bowing to the audience! She dedicated the first encore to "All in the audience who were in love" and it was .....Schubert/Liszt: Litanei (one of my favourite schubert songs).
The 2nd encore was the famous heroic polonaise and that deserves more than just a mention for the insane speed right from the beginning which became even faster when the L.H. octaves came (probably the fastes octave section i've ever heard!)...I think she played it inside 6 minutes or maybe just around it. The third encore she dedicated to her son (it was his favourite piece) ...Spinning song (by an anonymous composer)...and the 4th ...guess what ....The flight of the bumblebee !
Haha ...I enjoyed myself thoroughly ..had a great seat too ...right from where you can see the hands !
She was signing CDs ..so I waited patiently in the queue and got mine signed ..along with a pamphlet with a pretty pic of her! I shook hands ...congratulated her for an 'amazing' performance ...and well, that was it !

[tds]

rohansahai, thank you for sharing your analysis of olga's AT hall debut. isnt music a wonderful thing? and olga being such an incredibly talented!? may she continue touching people this way.