Boston Classical Review

Yulianna Avdeeva performed a recital Wednesday night at Pickman Hall for the Celebrity Series of Boston. Photo: Robert Torres

The Celebrity Series of Boston presented pianist Yulianna Avdeeva Wednesday evening at Longy School of Music’s Pickman Hall. In her Celebrity Series debut, Avdeeva explored the virtuosity and experimentation of Liszt and Beethoven, two giants of the 19^th century, who were as famous as pianists as they were composers.

Wednesday’s performance featured works from a time when each composer was engaged in radical musical innovation and high melodrama, even as they navigated tremendous personal challenges.

In five short works by Liszt, Avdeeva’s excellent technique was well up to the challenge of rendering both the composers technical and harmonic innovation, and the moody, haunted effect of this late works. Winner of the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2010, Avdeeva’s feel for the delicate, unsettled tonality of Liszt’s Chopinesque harmonies were especially apparent in La lugubre gondola wherein Liszt imagines the death of his friend Richard Wagner.

The highlights of the first half were the Bagatelle sans tonalite and the Csárdás Macabre, both of which were dazzling in their flirtations with atonality. Avdeeva executed to perfection the thrilling runs and dashing ornamentation for which Liszt is best known. The Bagatelle in particular was both charming and audacious, as Liszt’s experiments with new harmonies manifested in bold tritones and disorienting chromaticism.

Longy’s intimate Pickman Hall is perhaps too small a venue for these composers. Though the articulation necessary to these pieces was beautifully managed by Avdeeva, her playing was too loud for the room. This, combined with the hall’s resonance and the open grand piano was at times overwhelming and made it difficult to hear the music’s full dynamic range.

Avdeeva, however, turned the hall to her advantage in Unstern! Sinistre, disastro and Legend No. 2 “St. François de Paule marchant sur les flots”—the latter a musical depiction of St. Francis’ miraculous crossing of the Straits of Messina. Here, Avdeeva balanced the rolling of the waves in the left hand with the uplifted spirit of St. Francis in the right, driving the piece to a sublime crescendo as the first half came to a close.

While Avdeeva seemed at home with Liszt’s singular brand of virtuosity, she seemed less comfortable with Beethoven’s massive “Hammerklavier” Sonata. While technique is still paramount in this piece, it must be matched by a panache that is almost self-parodic as Beethoven explores soloistic drama in the Allegro, speed in the Scherzo assai, high tragedy of the Allegro, and the contrapuntal ingenuity in the final fugue.

Again, the technical requirements of the piece posed little challenge to Avdeeva. However, she had trouble capturing the contrasting materials of the first movement. A lack of rubato in the opening led to awkward transitions between the movement’s initial chords and the more subdued second theme. This lack of clear navigation was felt throughout the movement, as Avdeeva lost the greater movement’s structure.

This was also a problem in the Scherzo Assai. Though Avdeeva’s speed and daring recalled her performance of Liszt’s cheeky Bagatelle, then excessive speed drove the second movement to a sudden end: a cadence that ought to be a sly wink became an abrupt break.

Avdeeva found the sweet and simple soul of the third movement Adagio sostenuto, as she moved through the sweet chords and sorrowful melodies with gentle intensity. It was moving to watch the changes in Avdeeva’s face as she herself seemed to move through the emotions of the piece.

Though the Largo continued with more lovely playing, the fugue that followed became muddled and confused. Again, an over-emphasis on the mechanics of the form caused a lack of balance and clarity among the various fugal lines.

In her encore, however, Avdeeva was sensitive to the simple, Austrian melodies of Schubert’s Moment Musical in F Minor, which made a sweet and delicate finale to her intense program.

The program will be repeated 8 p.m. Thursday at the Groton Hill Music Center. celebrityseries.org

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