The Hallé Orchestra returns to Nottingham's Royal Concert Hall with an astonishing performance by pianist Denis Kozhukhin...
There are great pianists, but some make you wonder how what you’re seeing and hearing is even possible. Denis Kozhukhin is one of those musicians. Watching him is like watching an F1 driver set fastest lap after fastest lap, or a figure skater landing every spin and turn of a flawless ice routine. And to be honest those comparisons fall short.
Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto, first performed in 1909 is one of the most technically challenging pieces for the piano. But Kozhukhin meets these demands, playing (as virtuoso pianists do) entirely from memory, he plays instinctively, using what must be tremendous muscle memory. There is literally no time to read sheet music, no time even to think, only to play. The piece includes so many different piano techniques including runs, trills and arpeggios - his hands are a blur across the keys as the music swells around the concert hall. Kozhukhin is completely in command, he has remarkable control and skill.
I've loved watching the Hallé over several years, and I do not intend to disrespect this immensely talented and likeable orchestra by saying this, but when Kozhukhin plays the piano, everything else fades into the background. Seated centre stage, he dominates the entire concert hall.
Naturally that is not to diminish the superb playing of the Hallé under conductor Alpesh Chauhan. Witnessing a conductor guide more than seventy musicians while remaining perfectly in time with the soloist is fascinating to watch.
My hands are tired just from clapping
The concerto’s thunderous final chords bring the first half of the evening to a close. And Kozhukhin returns to the stage for three rounds of well deserved applause. My hands are tired just from clapping. I can only imagine how Kozhukhin must have felt after playing such a testing piece of music.
The second half of the programme is Walton’s First Symphony, one of the finest British symphonies ever written. Composed when Walton was just thirty, the work apparently reflects the composer’s relationships with Imma von Doernberg and Alice Wimborne and took five years to complete. It's a fabulous piece of music and everyone enjoys it thoroughly.
But I just can't get over the extraordinary virtuosity of Kozhukhin. His skill and dexterity are almost impossible to appreciate fully unless you have seen them with your own eyes. And everyone here tonight has been truly privileged to do so. It's a live performance at the highest level. Kozhukhin's hand-eye-brain coordination seemed inhuman. Absolutely incredible!
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