How Does He Get the Piano to Sound Like That?!
Yesterday I went to see Radu Lupu play the Mozart D minor concerto with the SF symphony. It was a bit of an adventure getting there – the train was delayed because of a suicide and a half dozen cabs passed me by before I managed to flag one down. The Russian cabbie told me a funny story about going to Radiohead’s website for an mp3 and thinking that the RIAA had nabbed him for piracy when the splash page flashed ‘HAIL TO THE THIEF.’ I got to the hall just as the orchestra tutti was starting and had to be snuck in the back by one of the ushers.
It was well worth it. Lupu was great as always and of course Mozart is far and away my favorite composer. The D minor in particular is unusual in so many respects – the orchestra part really has no melody in the beginning; it’s all pulsating rhythm and atmosphere, and the piano introduces a completely different theme when it enters. To me it’s among the most exciting soloist entrances in any concerto. The ensuing dialogue between orchestra and soloist is witty and moving and perfectly made, typical of Mozart.
Lupu is an interesting physical presence on stage.
My friend Kirsten remarked that it was strange to watch someone so scruffy play Mozart. “I feel like he should be playing Brahms or something, you know, something bearded!”
During orchestra tuttis he’s utterly catatonic, leaning back in a straight back chair with arms folded across his big belly. Then he puts his hands on the keyboard and produces the most uncannily gorgeous sonorities. The piano really sounds like another instrument when he plays. New Yorker critic Alex Ross says that Lupu’s Brahms op.117 is one of the most beautiful piano recordings ever made; I agree.
Lupu plays Mozart: