{TABLE} Sonata No 1 ............................... Chopin Sonata No 4 (with E flat Nocturne) ........ Field ABEGG variations .......................... Schumann Etudes symphoniques ....................... Schumann {/TABLE} NIKOLAI DEMIDENKO is one of those rare pianists for whom technical virtuosity is just a starting point, a tool for the exploration and celebration of music. That was one of the many lasting impressions left by the recital he was engaged to give at the National Concert Hall last night to celebrate the centenary of Castleknock College Union.
All evening, his superlative technical skills were focused precisely on achieving musical results. It was not that he avoided technical display; even when it was there, wonder at his skill was dominated by the integrity of the performance. Moreover, each piece was played with an appropriate individuality.
Chopin's Sonata No. 1 is the least often played of his three sonatas. Written when the young composer was steeping himself in Bach's "48", it mixes contrapuntal techniques with the quasi improvisatory brilliance more often associated with Chopin.
Field's Sonata No. 4 takes improvisation further, both in the lightweight flair of its outer movements and in the absence of a composed middle movement. Field would have improvised one, or used another piece. Demidenko chose the E flat Nocturne H30, and in both Field and Chopin he conveyed these central qualities with an absorbing persuasiveness.
Even in the virtuosity of Schumann's ABEGG Variations and Etudes symphoniques, Demidenko's playing had that profound, internalised quality which makes the audience seem to be experiencing the music not just from him, but with him. I wondered whether the young Schumann would have played the variations in such a rarefied way. But, confronted with such interpretative strength, my questionings seemed irrelevant; indeed, cannot recall hearing the Etudes symphoniques played with such a consistent command of gesture, with such an understanding of what makes this somewhat highbrow music tick.
