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Superb soloist sets the bar high (October 31, 2007) Although the chief box office attraction for the WA Symphony Orchestra's concert on Monday evening was the famed pianist-turned-conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy, the chief joy of the first half of the program was a stunningly fine account of Prokofiev's very rarely heard Piano Concerto No. 1.
The young soloist, Czech Republic-born Lukas Vondracek, is a superbly equipped pianist with an ability to maintain intensity of presentation at white heat.
I especially admired the quality of tone he drew from the piano. Again and again, notes were clothed in a wonderfully bright, ringing tone that projected into the auditorium.
Prokofiev's concerto is not for the limp-wristed. Olympian staying power is needed to maintain the pace in this unforgivingly difficult obstacle course.
Vondracek's brilliance persuaded the listener that this jejune work (which deservedly lasnguishes in the shadow of the same composer's Third Concerto) is more substantial than it really is.
Throughout, Ashkenazy was the most accommodating of accompanists, alert to the soloist's every nuance. It was a triumph that thoroughly deserved the wild, sustained applause that broke out.
There was an encore from Vondracek : a beautifully considered account of the Intermezzo in F minor by Suk
Neville Cohn, The West Australian
Wednesday, 31 October 2007 |
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