Carnegie Hall

Yesterday, the two of us and Max went to see Denis Matsuev at Carnegie Hall. Going in, we were a bit worried how Max would take two hours of classical music at the end of the full and exhausting school week, but he was a great trooper, listening attentively and, at times, not without interest.

The performance was, indeed, great - watching him playing Beethoven's Appassionata vs., say, listening to his recording playing same, is a big difference. And Stravinsky's "Petrushka" was a breathtaking rollercoaster - we didn't know you could play piano that fast and smooth. At times, the staccato of individual notes transcended into a contiguous sound like a cello. The audience brought him back for five encores, including a pin-drop crystal Debussy and a fantastic jazz improvisation. Unbelievable.

Speaking of audience - most, if not all - Russian. Which might have sucked for Matsuev. Once, Grishkovets, when asked why he stopped performing abroad, said, if I wanted a Russian audience, it would be easier to go to Voronezh. Having all-Russian audience, besides blocking the fair share of truly international name recognition, has one more downside. Most of us in that middle-aged audience never learned to display our emotions freely on public. While the applause were long lasting, its energy was by far less, then, say, an all-American audience gives even after a mediocre performance. And there were almost no shouts and whoops. Maybe because it was Friday.