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.
Last night, we went to see Blue Man Group performance at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT.
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