The Daily Northwestern: A feast of pianistic fantasy: Yulianna Avdeeva enchants with Chopin and Rachmaninoff

The Daily Northwestern
By Ben Kim

Against the lustrous backdrop of Lake Michigan, pianist Yulianna Avdeeva took the Galvin Recital Hall audience on a journey of imagination and rumination through the music of Frédéric Chopin and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

The winner of the prestigious 2010 International Chopin Competition, Avdeeva performed as part of Bienen School of Music’s Skyline Piano Artist Series.

Avdeeva opened with Chopin’s “Polonaise-Fantasie.” Rather than emphasizing the “Polonaise” — a traditional Polish dance — Avdeeva let dance rhythms accompany the wandering melodies and frequent tempo changes of the “Fantasie.” Sometimes Avdeeva’s right and left hands were subtly offset, an imaginative touch that created a sense of exploration.

The following piece, Chopin’s “Barcarolle,” a reimagination of Venetian boat songs, exemplified Avdeeva’s characteristic restraint and subdued grandeur.

After a nuanced, poignant performance of Chopin’s “Prelude in C-sharp minor,” Avdeeva launched without pause to his “Scherzo No. 3.” The interplay between serene spontaneity and tumultuous outbursts in the Scherzo mirrored the imaginative and fiery performance of Rachmaninoff that would come later.

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