The Los Angeles International Liszt Competition Presents Evocation: Éva Polgár in Review
Éva Polgár, pianist
Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
December 15, 2022
Éva Polgár made her second major Carnegie Hall appearance of the season this Thursday in a program entitled “Evocation” including some new and rarely heard Hungarian piano music at Weill Hall. Just a few weeks ago, on November 27, she had impressed this reviewer in a demanding program entitled “Carpathian Impressions” including collaborations with two other pianists at Zankel Hall (also reviewed in New York Concert Review: Carpathian Impressions in Review), but this concert was all solos. She is a powerhouse indeed, combining a winning stage presence, a flair for programming, and highly communicative playing.
Bearing the Hungary Foundation’s title of “Cultural Ambassador of the Year” Ms. Polgár has proven, through her study and performances of Bartok, Liszt, Kodaly, and newer composers, to be a strong advocate for the music of her native Hungary. In this most recent recital, there were important offerings by Franz Liszt and Zoltán Kodály (as she announced, Kodály’s 140th birthday was the next day, December 16th), but she also gave New York premieres of two newer works, one by Hungarian composer László Dubrovay (b. 1943) and one by Russian-born Arsentiy Kharitonov (b.1984), both of whom deserve to be better known here in the US.
Opening with Liszt’s soulful Sursum corda, the recital was off to an uplifting start (literally, with the Latin translation being “Lift up your hearts”). Ms. Polgar showed her gift for pacing and control as the music built from its quiet beginning to its peak. In the next piece, Le mal du pays (Homesickness), she impressed with her coloring of alternating soprano and tenor lines, which were appropriately haunting. It is said that when Liszt played, the music transcended the instrument such that “the piano disappeared,” and one always hopes for that sense in performances of his works. Ms. Polgár’s performance did weave a spell – and only in one or two spots, where one wished for more seamless pedaling, did the complexity of the instrument itself reappear.
Les Jeux d’eaux à la Villa d’Este splashed all homesickness away in sparkling fingerwork, and Ms. Polgár was in her element. Often one hears the focus on one facet more than another – either more wash of pianism or more wringing of the harmonic beauty – but we were fortunate in her interpretation to hear it all.
Selections (Nos. 2, 3, and 4) from Seven Piano Pieces, Op. 11 by Zoltán Kodály were a refreshing move to the twentieth century. Composed from 1910 -18, they show a strong French influence, especially that of Debussy, following Kodaly’s visit to Paris. In the doleful No. 2 Székely lament, Kodaly uses changing meters, ties, fermatas, and frequent changes of tempo to achieve a parlando feeling, and a sympathetic interpreter is essential. Ms. Polgár was just that. She played with intense feeling and conviction, unruffled even by an extremely disruptive cellphone.
The third of the Kodaly set, It rains on the city, reflects even more French influence referring directly to Debussy’s 1887 setting of lines of Verlaine ” il pleure dans mon coeur comme il pleut sur la ville” from the Ariettes Oubliées (inspired as well by a similar line of Rimbaud). It was bewitching in Ms. Polgár’s rendition, with steady repeated piano “droplets” beating poignantly alongside melancholy melodic motifs. No. 4, Epitaph found her skillfully balancing its chant-like phrases against stony chordal accompaniment, closing the set with solemnity.
Kodály’s Dances of Marosszék (1927) brought the first half to a close in high energy. Rather neglected in live concerts, this work can be a tour de force but is hard to hold together with its rather disparate dances – plus considerable technical challenges, including some octaves that are perhaps not overtly showy but can be simply awkward. Ms. Polgár was more than up to the task, and her surrender to the moment gave a special inevitability to its transitions. The dreamy central section was meltingly beautiful. One hopes she keeps playing this, as it could become a signature piece.
After intermission came the two New York premieres and two more Liszt pieces. The first premiere was Hommage à Fellini (The Last Dream of the Clown) by László Dubrovay (2014). It opens with what sounds vaguely like the opening of Liszt’s Gnomenreigen heard through a haze of pedal. It progresses to a circus-like waltz which balloons into a style reminiscent of grand operatic paraphrases, with just enough dissonance to make all feel a bit “off” – as if Godowsky had been filtered through the aural equivalent of a funhouse mirror; obviously, with the title Hommage á Fellini and given Fellini’s filmography, that “off” feeling constitutes a success. Naturally, there are hints of Nino Rota, composer for a multitude of Fellini soundtracks – and if there were not in such an homage, one would be shocked. Ms. Polgár handled it all with brilliance – and from memory, something one does not necessarily expect with contemporary works, but which certainly adds to the depth of the interpretation.
Between premieres, Liszt’s Concert Étude No. 2 in F minor (La leggierezza) was the perfect buffer – even if not this pianist’s best performance of the evening with minor momentary lapses. It was a good Romantic backdrop for the premiere of the more tonally adventurous Concert Etude Op. 44, No. 5 by pianist and composer Arsentiy Kharitonov. Mr. Kharitonov is an intriguing new presence on the musical scene, and his work as a pianist is undoubtedly helping him as a composer to create valuable new additions to the piano repertoire. Ms. Polgar (again without the score) handled this work’s arched shape with artistry – from its quiet beginning to its blazing dissonant fireworks and back to its desolate close. Any composer is fortunate to have such an able advocate, and Mr. Kharitonov was present for a well-deserved bow.
Liszt’s Legende No. 2, St-François de Paule marchant sur les flots (St. Francis of Paulus walking over the waves) closed the program, strongly and with only minor “spillage” – hardly of concern as miracles take place. An enthusiastic audience gave Ms. Polgár a standing ovation and was rewarded with another piece composed by Mr. Kharitonov, Les Exercices Romantiques (for two fingers, one from each hand). Ms. Polgár quipped that she would just be using two fingers because she was “tired” – but her remarkable performance, sounding like ten fingers at least, suggested otherwise! Brava!
