by Melanie Wong
Photo credit: Richard Termine, The New York Times
In a world where piano virtuosos are a dime a dozen, how
does one stand out? Easy: By becoming YouTube's most watched pianist. And, with more than 60 million views and 108,000 subscribers, that’s exactly what
Russian pianist Valentina Lisitsa has done. Now a notable international performer,
Ms. Lisitsa added an even more interesting—and brilliant, I might add—trademark
to her concerts: fans have the opportunity to choose her program by voting online ahead of the
concert.
This past Saturday night marked the
opening of 92Y's 2013–14 season and Ms. Lisitsa's audience-chosen program
included a hefty mix of Rachmaninoff preludes, Chopin nocturnes, a Shostakovich sonata, and Liszt's Totentanz.
Ms. Lisitsa—a tall, blonde beauty—was a vision in pink that
evening, but it was her deep inner focus that drew in the audience's attention from
the beginning. With fastidious fingers and a sparkling sound, she began the evening with Rachmaninoff's
Prelude in G Major. As she continued to float through the set of preludes, it became
evident that her most impressive skill is her seemingly infinite decrescendos
and unlimited ability to create ever-softer pianissimos.
Of course, this quality was heightened by the unmatched clarity and ring of her
choice piano, a Bösendorfer.
Before starting Shostakovich's dense Sonata No. 2 in B
minor, Ms. Lisitsa charmed the audience with her own program notes for the
piece—taken from her YouTube channel—and explained the work as a "testimony to
human suffering." Here again, it was the soft sections that were most thrilling; in particular, the "Largo"
movement's haunted weightiness was chilling, and her rejuvenating brilliance
toward the end of the "Finale" was notable.
After intermission, Ms. Lisitsa glided through a set of
Chopin preludes, ending with three audience favorites: the Nocturne in D-flat Major, op. 27; Nocturne in C-sharp minor, op. posth.; and Nocturne in E-flat Major, op. 9. Over two hours from the evening's start, the end was finally near as she began
Liszt’s Totentanz. With almost superhuman stamina, she ripped through the bewitching dance of death with a
feverish zeal—a wild ending to the arduous, albeit entertaining, journey.
The first encore—which audience members chose during intermission by voting in an online survey on their smartphones—was the
Schubert-Liszt version of Ave Maria. After
the rapturous applause simply wouldn’t quit, Ms. Lisitsa simply shrugged and
performed Liszt's La Campanella with
just as much energy as she began the night with.
It was a truly splendid New York début for Valentina Lisitsa, and watching her innumerable hand gestures, each uniquely paralleled to a
specific mood and character, was a true delight. Being a true YouTube
sensation, she is yet another fine example of a classical musician whose
efforts are helping to bring the genre into the 21st century.