As Alexander Lubyantsev sat down on the piano last night, for Chopin's 1st Piano Concerto, he already seemed to be in some sort of a trance. As the orchestra played its rather long intro, Lubyantsev sat seemingly staring at the top of the piano, with an occasional glance at conductor Robert Maxym. And when his turn did come - it seemed to be amazingly coordinated, with a tremendous amount of focus on the part of Lubyantsev. It was a mesmerising performance of an artist who seemed to be completely consumed by the piece he was playing - he didn't look once at the crowd; just at the conductor for his cue, and the piano (whether he was playing or not) - and finished to a rapturous applause. His first encore was his own composition (called Raindance), followed another encore of Chopin's Etude no 24. And he came back for a third encore (because "the audience was doing so much hard work" [in clapping]), of a piece he "thought the audience would know, but he wasn't sure if he knew" - all to great applause.
Earlier in the evening, the orchestra started with Beethoven's Prometheus Overture, which ensuring a lively start to the concert. Beethoven's 8th Symphony was played in the first half to cater for the long concerto, and I am surprised that I don't listen to it more often.
The JPO plays tonight (same concert details) and Alexander Lubyantsev is back next week for an all Russian billing playing Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.3.
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