Rafał Blechacz, the extraordinarily talented young generation pianist of international reputation. At the age of 20 he won the Frederick Chopin Award in Warsaw and keeps developing himself. This recital proves his strong and intriguing personality which is thriving more and more year by year. He is not only a virtuoso, the piano is just brought to life under his fingers. How fascinating!
(…) The recital of Rafał Blechacz, recently performed by him, reaffirmed all his assets due to which he obtained the Frederick Chopin Award in Warsaw.
(…) As opposed to many of his contemporary peers from the East, Blechacz is not simply a pianist who performs claptrap. He is an artist with intuition and sensitivity. His technique is obviously wonderful as befits a person who wants to pursue international career, but is more focused on revealing timbres, fluency, subtleness of subject transfers rather than claptrap as is the case with some contemporary famous piano stars.
Music above all. In case of Blechacz it was pretty visible in Debussy’s The Island of Pleasure (I’sle joyeuse). Abundance of beautiful timbres as well as dynamic allegros made this sublime piano work even more exceptional. We are captivated by his special approach towards music, so intelligent and sensitive at the same time.
(…) Blechacz’s talent lies just in discovering that what makes this sophisticated and inspiring music even more valuable, in particular due to the magic touch of the keys, always gentle and dynamic.
The second part was devoted to Chopin. In it he performed Ballades No. 1 and No. 2, four Mazurkas and two least often played Polonaises Op. 26, which aroused great interest as they were performed with a fresh approach, big enthusiasm and considerable authenticity.
Two ballades were interpreted in the Romantic Spirit, characteristic of Chopin music, combining an inside revolt, genuine sensitivity, powerful transfers and uninhibited excitement following idle calmness.
Very personal and dynamic pianist art. An artist of rich personality who is bound to surprise us with its new reveals a number of times.
/Paris, Pleyel Hall 07.06.2011 Gérard Mannoni/