Pianist Olga Kern

By Rudolf Schroeter

[Editor's note: Unable to attend this concert because of a scheduling conflict, I asked Mr. Rudolf Schroeter to review the event. Mr. Schroeter,; a retired litigation lawyer living in Carmel, California, was born in Hamburg, Germany, where he studied piano with Elisa Hansen, former teacher of Christoph Eschenbach. Mr. Schroeter is an excellent pianist, and among his other interests are photography and collecting art. Mr. Schroeter and his wife were in Ft. Worth Texas for several weeks in May 2001 in order to attend the entire Van Cliburn Competition.]

In the midst of her preliminary program at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition last year, Olga Kern of Russia was rewarded with several standing ovations and remained the darling of most of the audience and some of the critics throughout the two weeks of the competition. As predicted by many, the judges awarded her a gold medal after final Mozart and Rachmaninoff concerto performances.

The Steinway Society spared neither expense nor flowers in presenting this extraordinary young pianist on March 17, 2002 at Le Petit Trianon Concert Hall in San Jose, and on behalf of the capacity audience must be congratulated, and thanked, for doing so. Yet, in the coolness of afterthought, the seemingly contradictory opinions of Ft. Worth and Dallas critics [ã . . . musical ability and personal charisma to place herself at the center of the classical music world . . .ä; and ã. . . often too ready to sacrifice nuance for power and speed . . .ä] fairly describe what happened the other night, before all of us went home thoroughly pleased to have met and heard this serenely elegant young woman who blends impeccable technique with both power and coquettish charm.

To develop her present powers while sharing a small Moscow apartment with young son and aging parents, Ms. Kern must have been self-disciplined and very focused as she was Sunday night in the eveningâs most satisfying performances: Two of Olivier Messiaenâs Etudes de Rhythm, which demand the pianistâs total understanding of not only the unusual metric variations but also the transcendental content contemplated by this intense and introspective French composer.

Similarly rewarding was Ms. Kernâs authoritative and surprisingly idiomatic playing of Samuel Barberâs Sonata Op.26, written in an increasingly dissonant phase of this essentially lyrical and even romantic American composer. Her interpretation of this monumental sonata was entirely satisfying and her mastery of the intimidatingly difficult last movement was a joy to behold. One had to be impressed by her loving attention to all the musical details of this product of what to her must be an alien culture.

Schumann, Chopin and Liszt, on the other hand, are culturally nearer to her and yet (or maybe, therefore); received less of her loving attention. Ms. Kernâs natural gifts blended with carefully acquired skills might suggest maturity beyond her age; yet, her awkward interpretation of most of Robert Schumannâs Kinderscenen Op.15 proved her to be playing from a young personâs perspective rather than from that of the kindly observer of childish games and emotions probably envisioned by the (then still bachelor) composer. It is fair and necessary to add that everything we heard Sunday evening assures us that Ms. Kernâs musical maturing will be steady and make each successive recital more satisfying than the one before.

Her youth may also be responsible for the slightly superficial reading of Frederic Chopinâs Fantasy Op.49 (we missed both the aching lyricism and the bracing marching moods of this marvelous and indeed fantastic amalgam of emotions) and for the programming of what essentially is salon music in the hands of all but a few, more seasoned, pianists: Franz Lisztâs transcriptions of Wagnerâs Isoldeâs Liebestod and Mozart themes in Reminiscences de Don Juan. To be sure, while many of us would have preferred to hear this young star play music of greater significance at the end of her recital, Ms. Kern rendered Lisztâs creation of symphonic impressions, by means of only 88 keys and two hands, quite effectively. For this she was rewarded with a standing ovation charmingly acknowledged with three delightful encores.

We shall look forward to Steinway Societyâs presentation next season of Ms. Kernâs colleagues: the Cliburn Competitionâs other gold medal winner Stanislav Ioudenitch and its silver medal co-winner Maxim Philippov. We had the good fortune of hearing the other silver medal winner, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, earlier in this Steinway Society season.