Dazzling pianist Lola Astanova has probably never heard the late Kirsty Macoll’s massive hit with that teasing punchline, ‘In These Shoes? I Don’t Think So.’ I’ve heard pianists perform in bare feet, outrageously brash socks, thongs, riding boots and trainers, but I’ve never seen a turbo-charged virtuoso zip around the keys or execute the pedals with such aplomb in towering, needle-sharp stilettos. Astanova is glamour personified with the looks of a film star and the grace of a dancer.
This was a piano-inspired weekend. It’s not often that an audience can hear a soloist debut with the orchestra one night and give a solo recital the day after. Nor is it routine to hear an orchestra as motivated as it was under the direction of the American conductor Gerard Schwarz. The repertoire wasn’t groundbreaking, with Gershwin’s ‘An American in Paris’, ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ and Ravel’s neo-classical ‘Le Tombeau de Couperin’ and the glorious ‘Daphne and Chloe Suites, One and Two’.
But it was rare to hear the imaginative scores of Gershwin and Ravel refreshed with explosions of colour like sonic fireworks throughout the orchestra. And the QSO acquitted Gershwin’s swung rhythms, slammed accents and jazzy asides admirably just as the Brass burst out of the textures with panache and retreated again with flair.
Astanova’s pianism in the Rhapsody was uncompromising, intelligent, technically brilliant and suitably theatrical. She wowed the crowd. A dicey moment loomed when the orchestra and soloist threatened to pull apart but was skilfully diverted by Schwarz. In the Daphne and Chloe Suites, the orchestra expressed drift after drift of irresistible warmly rounded sound. The conductor’s sound building was intense and all sections were balanced, conversed effectively and played to optimal capacity. The woodwind excelled in the Second Suite and stretched an arm right out of the orchestra with striking solos from Alexis Kenny flute, Huw Jones, Oboe and Irit Silver, clarinet.
On Sunday 13 October 2013, Astanova charmed a smaller audience with a selection of piano greats including Scriabin’s Etude in B flat minor and Liszt’s Waldesrauschen. Astanova is an extraordinary colourist and gifted lyricist with a flair for creating beautifully nuanced harmony. And, wherever those tunes are placed, whether in the Left Hand or Right, they are magnificently radiant and sing in many voices. Evidently, Astanova has an affinity with Chopin and there were glorious passages in the composer’s fiery second Sonata, although the Marche Funebre was perhaps too slow and hungered for greater variety in phrasing. But the pinnacle of this stunning recital was reached in Rachmaninov’s Moment Musical in E minor and Prelude in B minor.
For more information, visit QSO’s website or Astanova’s YouTube channel.
Image: Lola Astanova by Queensland Performing Arts Centre website.
