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Valéry Afanassiev Piano Recital
CHOPIN/CRUMB 1999
July 10 (Sat) 6:30 p.m.
Concert Hall ATM
A ¥4,000 / B ¥3,000 All seats reserved.
Chopin: Mazurkas No. 13, 17, 28, 20, 21, 32, 34, 40, 41, 47, 49
Crumb: Makrokosmos, Volume 1 (Twelve Fantasy -Pieces after the Zodiac for Amplified Piano)
The year is 1983. At a concert in Japan given by Gidon Kremer,
a strange number is listed in the program: George Crumb's "Makrokosmos, Volume I" (1972).
However, when it comes time to perform the piece --
never heard before by most people in the audience -- the "main performer" (i.e., Kremer)
disappears from the stage, leaving only his accompanist at the piano.
The unusual looking man then begins to perform, his face thrust toward the piano.
At first, the audience looks on with astonishment,
but is soon captivated by the fantastically expanding universe of sound.
That was the shocking way that the Russian-born pianist, Valéry Afanassiev (b. 1947),
made his debut in Japan.
His performance of Schubert's sonatas has been described as "lyricism at the freezing point"
and "sound from the nether world."
His performance of Schumann's piano concerto stretched on for 40 minutes and captivated all those who heard him.
His performance of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" was fashioned as a play on stage,
written by Afanassiev himself.
Afanassiev, now a Belgian citizen but living in France,
is the kind of pianist who challenges us to no end,
stirring up both frenzy and puzzlement.
His pianism, supported by a tenacious finger touch,
suggests more of a plodding movement of an ox,
one step forward at a time, rather than a effortless gallop of a racehorse.
While we may even come to feel a sense of dizziness at his slowness --
with time itself seeming to freeze -- Afanassiev leads us on a journey,
without our realizing it,
to the original landscape existing in the depths of the composer's mind.
The year is 1999, the month July.
The program of Afanassiev's recital at Art Tower Mito lists the names of two composers from quite different periods:
Fryderyk (Fredric) Chopin and George Crumb.
With the 150th anniversary of Chopin's death to be marked this year,
Afanassiev has selected 11 mazurkas (Polish folk dances) --
said to be the "diary of Chopin's heart."
He will play them almost in the order that they were written,
thereby giving us an overview of that composer's short 39-year life.
The next composer on the program is the enigmatic American composer George Crumb (b. 1929),
a neo-Romanticist dabbling in both astrology and mysticism.
Afanassiev will play Crumb's "Twelve Fantasy-Pieces after the Zodiac,
for Amplified Piano" (1973), Volume II of the "Makrokosmos."
As the name suggests, the piece includes amplified sound of the piano,
played from the inside of the piano, as well as both the human voice and whistling.
How will the inner cosmoses of these two composers encounter each other and establish rapport at the hand(s) of Afanassiev?
On a summer eve, with stars glittering in the sky, undoubtedly the most controversial piano recital ever to be performed at Art Tower Mito will begin!
Copyright 1999 Mito Arts Foundation. All Rights Reserved. Created by TK.
Mail to: webstaff@arttowermito.or.jp
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