Dynamic pianist captures style, spirit of Shostakovich with WSO By: Holly Harris Posted: 4:39 PM CST Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024

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This article was published 01/12/2024 (658 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You can’t beat Shostakovich for electrifying a house, as well as heating up a crowd of 1,500 winter-chilled listeners as only the 20th-century Russian maverick can.

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s Saturday Classics program of Stravinsky and Shostakovich, led by Daniel Raiskin, featured the WSO debut of Armenian-born pianist, Marianna Shirinyan, who threw sparks with her rendition of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major, Op. 102, last performed on this stage in 1989 (one of life’s imponderables is why it takes decades to hear these terrific pieces again).

The work, originally penned in 1957 as a 19th birthday present for the composer’s pianist son Maxim, is one that needs to be heard more often, and preferably live.

After taking the stage, the dynamo artist, 46, who currently teaches at the Norwegian Academy of Music, wasted no time in getting down to the business at hand. She immediately plunged into the opening Allegro movement’s deceptively simple, spiky opening theme, before bursting seconds later into its hammering octaves, propelled by a rat-a-tat snare drum that cut through the orchestra with militaristic zeal.

We were then provided with the first taste of her more lyrical sensibility, with the introduction of the D minor theme. Her head thrown back with her eyes closed at times, Shirinyan is a deeply expressive, communicative player who embodies both the style and spirit of her music, later enthralling us with her sublime interpretation of the subsequent, slower-paced Andante movement.

Here she seemed to suspend time itself, creating an oasis of calm with her luminous tone, molten phrasing and whisper-soft pianississimos — a truly exquisite performance matched by Raiskin’s sensitivity.

Then it was time for the rousing Allegro finale, laced with the composer’s trademark wit. Her ripping through its cheeky Hanon-like finger exercise passages — the bane of every young piano student — brought a smile to the lips, as did the say she bopped on her piano bench in time with her fellow musicians, demonstrating her absolute engagement throughout, whether performing her own solo passages, or listening intently to the orchestra tutti sections.

After the crowd leapt to its feet with cries of “Bravo!” Shirinyan responded with the first of two encores: Schubert’s Impromptu, Op. 90, No. 2, tossing off its rippling right-hand triplets with aplomb.

She then announced she had a “little Armenian ditty” for us, launching into Alexander Arutiunian’s Dance Sasoun, driven by pounding, syncopated accents.

The evening also included Stravinsky’s Suite from Pulcinella, each charming, neo-classical movement knitted together from his original ballet score for the Ballets Russes while spotlighting individual players.

A particular highlight was its seventh movement, in which principal bassist Meredith Johnson delivered the principal theme over principal trombonist’s Steven Dyer’s instrument, Stravinsky’s admittedly unusual, wholly idiosyncratic orchestration eliciting audible chuckles from the crowd.

The second half featured the WSO première of Leokadiya Kashperova’s Symphony in B Minor, Op. 4, composed in 1904-05. The Russian composer, herself a former pupil of legendary pianist Anton Rubinstein, was Stravinsky’s piano teacher when he cut his musical teeth as a child in Russia.

After Raiskin set a languorous opening tempo, the players launched into its first of four elegant movements that ebb and flow, the players responding to the maestro’s expansive approach.

Kudos again to individual players for their respective solos, including concertmaster Gwen Hoebig and principal horn Patricia Evans, heard during the opening Andante movement.

During the brass chorale at the top of the third, the orchestra backbenchers infused the performance with stately grandeur, as the work gradually built towards its triumphant close.

As expected, the crowd — now fully warmed up — gave another standing ovation to the maestro and his musicians, clearly dazzled by this evening of Russian fire and soul.

holly.harris@shaw.ca