An unforgettable lesson in Russian poetry for BPO
BY: Mary Kunz Goldman / Courtesy The Buffalo News | December 7, 2012
Music Director JoAnn Falletta is conducting the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra this weekend in an all-Shostakovich program, a concert that will be remembered for a long time. It starts with the Piano Concerto No. 2, with the irrepressible Michael Boriskin as soloist.
The piano concerto is like a diamond – compact, chiseled and sparkling. The massive Symphony No. 13, in contrast, is a big boulder of a piece, based on the poetry of Yevgeny Yevtushenko, most notably “Babi Yar,” about a massacre of Jews that the Nazis carried out and the Soviet regime lied about.
It’s rare to hear this symphony live (the last time the BPO played it was almost 40 years ago). And what hits this performance out of the park is that Yevtushenko is on hand to read his poetry.
This is the first time the BPO has performed that effervescent piano concerto. Boriskin and the orchestra’s musicians played with wit and sensitivity. Everyone was crisp and in sync. Boriskin showed tremendous style. He he seemed to have internalized the music’s rhythms. His playing, though quiet and controlled, has zip. At the snap-bang end of the first movement, it actually hurt not to applaud. The Andante sang.