He Bangs, He Bangs
I went for the 1st recital of this year's Piano Festival tonight, together with my sis and D. The pianist was Alexander Markovich from Russia.
When he came on stage, we couldn't help giggling, because he's so HUGE, but he has a very cute and smiley face. His programme included works by Ravel, Schumann, Kreisler-Rachmaninov and the lesser-known Polish-born composer, Xaver Scharwenka.
The moment he started playing, it seemed as if the piano had deeply offended him. He was banging and banging on it throughout the whole recital and he was playing at lightning speed, so much so that many of us (we 3 and some of the audience) felt that he was playing in a heck-care manner. No doubt his technique is very good, but the tonnes of wrong notes due to super-fast speed and the consistant bangings really got on to our nerves. I felt as if my ear-drums were going to burst anytime. His handful of lyrical passages couldn't save him either.
After the concert, we met 2 well-known piano teachers. One of them said that it was horrible, while the other said that she felt like throwing a book at him.
Hopefully, the other 4 remaining pianists for this festival will take pity on our ears. We certainly do not wish to torture them any further!