Photo of Mr. Perahia from The Telegraph.
Last night, my husband and I attended the Murray Perahia piano recital at the Barbican Centre in London. It began at 7:30 in the evening and we were seated in the right side of the theatre’s C section, seats 16 and 17 in the Balcony section (as last time we sat in the Circle section for Philippe Jaroussky) and it was quite a good place to sit, we discovered. The view of the stage was perfectly fine and unobstructed.
The evening’s performance began as Mr. Perahia quietly walked up to the grand Steinway and Sons grand piano and began to play J.S. Bach’s Keyboard Partita No. 6, BWV830. It was astonishing. Mr. Perahia brings such demonstrative passion to his playing and also exudes a raw emotional quality with it as well. His versatility was apparent; his skill extraordinary.
The evening continued with Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 30, Opus 109. After the interval, we were delighted with some excellent Chopin. He played Chopin’s Ballade No. 3, Op. 47, three Etudes, three Mazurkas, Nocturne No. 7, Op. 27 No.1 and the Scherzo No. 4, Op. 54.
What happened after that I have no idea, since unfortunately I became ill and had to head home before the end of the last piece and any encores. Needless to say though I was not present for the entirety of the evening’s performance, I was thoroughly enchanted and awestruck by Mr. Perahia’s impressive skills as a pianist. If you are able to go to his future concerts, I would say you would be privileged indeed.