MUSIC

Michael Morley

NO SUCH MEDICINE was needed either during or after Russian pianist Yuri Rozum’s quite staggering recital in the Elder Hall on Monday. After what had seemed like a local musical equivalent of the Olympic Marathon, to drag oneself along to a recital on a Monday evening after three concerts in the previous four days was both a labour of love and of something Count Sacher-Masoch provided a word for. In the event, the performances of a range of Russian works offered piano playing as impressive as anything heard in Adelaide in a very long time. Although the bouquets of Tchaikovsky which occupied the first half were very sweet-smelling and impeccably played, they (mostly) made even Liszt at his most humdrum and flashy sound , by comparison, positively inspired. Apart from a splendidly thought out rendition of the Opus 59 Dumka, the other works, especially the extravagant nonsense of the Op.1 Scherzo, were fairly insubstantial: and Rozum’s account of three pieces from The Nutcracker, in Ptetniov’s arrangement sounded a touch too measured by comparison with the latter’s own version (available on CD).

But Rozum really came into his own in the second half with miraculous accounts of four Scriabin Preludes, the F Sharp Major Sonata, and the Rachmaninoff E Flat Minor Etude-tableau, followed by three preludes, including the wonderfully rhetorical B Flat Major, which received a performance as unforgettable in its way as Richter’s own definitive account of the piece. Throughout the concert one marveled at the poetry of Rozum’s playing, at the unfailingly warm and singing tone, at the perfect balance between the hands, at his command of form and musical argument. The only sour note was that provided by the Elder Hall Steinway, which sounded throughout as if it were dressed in a threadbare grey cardigan: to say that it lacked brilliance would be like suggesting that, to choose a random example, Ute Lemper lacks subtlety. Throughout, if one pricked up one’s ears one could almost hear the music plaintively murmuring, “I’m actually better than this.” Hats off to Mr. Rozum for not only persisting but carrying the day, offering as he did a handful of encores, among which a Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody and the Chopin Revolutionary Etude more than warranted the standing ovation he received. We need to hear him again - soon, and above all on a piano, which is appropriate for his remarkable abilities.