BRAHMS: Fantasien, Op 116; BEETHOVEN: Sonata #31, Op 110; BRAHMS: Four Pieces, Op119; BEETHOVEN:Sonata #32, Op 111. Radu Lupu, Town Hall piano recital, 16 February 1997 NEW YORK.
This kind of music making that shakes you to your roots and inspires the deepest gratitude. Thank you Radu Lupu for your dedication and honesty. Had I been there, I would have been applauding my hands red and singing, "Bravo!" Your audience who had come in the dead of winter to hear you in freezing NY were so fortunate.
Yes! I wish I could haven there, myself. I've heard hundreds of performances of Opus 110, but can't remember ever hearing one so exquisitely expressive and full of the kind of heightened spiritual awareness I believe must have motivated Beethoven to create it in the first place.
The Brahms pieces have always had a deep meaning for me and I remember reading through them, reaching for the right sound, the right heart beat, the right inflection. Sometimes these would emerge in my playing, and then they dispersed. It is difficult to contain Brahms, to keep him inside, ready to be shared on demand. Radu Lupu can do this. Those of us who heard these pieces in our inner soul-ear now can hear them exposed in real time and space and can float with the music. Yes, the Beethoven A flat Sonata is a great realization, and I agree Beethoven is deep in spirit here, as in so many other great works. He is still with us.
Wonderful to hear such a fully serious program of pieces selected for their great depth and profound beauty instead of the usual selection of spectacularly difficult, showy selections determined to prove that the player has very fast, exceedingly strong fingers dedicated to pleasing the "crowd." This is first-rate playing of some of the finest pieces in the repertoire. Can't understand why n artist of this caliber chose TOWN HALL. Surely, Mr. Lupu belonged at Carnegie or Alice Tully at the very least!
I don't know, because most of what I have comes from my late friend's collection; if and when I come upon any more I'll try to upload as soon as possible. Thank you.
Vi sono persone che dovrebbero avere il buon senso di uscire dalla sala o addirittura restare a casa se hanno tutti questi colpi di tosse. Una vera mancanza di rispetto verso un così grande pianista, recentemente scomparso. Sembrava di essere in un sanatorio, non a teatro!
I'm sorry you got that impression of his Brahms. We can agree on his Opus 110 (I haven't yet heard Opus111), but having studied all of these pieces, myself, and performed both Opus 116, 119 and Beethoven's Opus 111, I can tell you Mr. Lupu's mastery of phrasing and dynamics is second to none -- an ideal towards which few could even hope to aspire. His SOUND is just perfect for Brahms. The rich and subtly varied golden brown tones of Brahms' music, though filled with enormous implicit power, should never be heard as harsh, boisterous, brittle or merely "brilliant." I love Mr. Lupu's spacious, contemplative, deeply compassionate, genuinely insightful interpretations and the way he uses his enormous range of dynamic gradations with utmost sincerity and deep conviction. He is much more than a "great pianist;" he is a magnificent artist.