ARTEM AKOPYAN

SATURDAY 28th MAY 2011

INTERNATIONAL TALENT AT MUSIC NAIRN

One of the pleasures of belonging to a concert society such as Music Nairn is that sometimes one has the privilege of hearing a performer who, one realizes, is destined for "the top".  Artem Akopyan, this reviewer suspects, showed himself to be one such last Saturday.  Rarely has a musician away from the international stage shown such thoughtfulness, such control and variety of tone, in his interpretation of such a wide-ranging programme.  Akopyan’s ability to display fortissimo, pianissimo and, more unusually, every shade between was apparent from the start as he discovered so much new in his moving interpretation of Beethoven’s Appassionata sonata.  A shattering performance of Chopin’s B minor Scherzo raised the tension still further before the interval.  Then he switched to the perfect blend of pedalling and clarity to suit the impressionist and neo-classicist aspects of Debussy’s suite Pour le Piano.  But it was in Janácek’s 1905 Sonata, written in reaction to the slaying of a student at a Prague demonstration, that Akopyan showed his real talent: it is (relatively!) easy to bring out the wistful and the angry in Janácek, but the subtlety of tragedy is rare indeed.  Finally Tchaikovsky brought the audience delightfully down from its anguish with his Grand Pas de Deux from the Nutcracker.  And, as an encore, Khachaturian’s dazzling but devilish Toccata.  Perhaps the most remarkable feature of Akopyan’s playing was the improvisatory quality of his interpretations, demanding – and receiving – every ounce of the Steinway’s considerable resources.  This is a pianist to watch!

PZM