Festival International de Piano La Roque d'Anthéron: THE ALIEN

     Concert by Yunchan Lim. South Korean pianist - he recently won the Van Cliburn competition at the age of eighteen. Tonight he'll play Tchaikovsky and Chopin. What will be the intrigue of the performance?

      Getting ahead of myself  - the reviews are enthusiastic:  “almost unreal”, “expressive simplicity”... And thunderous applause. But there is another point of view. Indeed, these were the strangest Tchaikovsky's  "The Seasons" that I have heard - and I have heard them five hundred times over the past forty-five years. Masterful musical delivery. But it is separated from the deeper meaning, from the fragrances and winds of  the seasons. It is completely decorative musical form.

      Yes, the performance is very impressive...It seems like Yunchan Lim is  an alien clone of the musician, into whom the information about these pensive  plays by Tchaikovsky is loaded. In these plays the feeling of heartbreak  is so strong that melancholy cannot stand it and turns into feigned gaiety. It is because it is easier for smart people to joke about their pain then to explain what hurts. It is deliberately  hidden sadness that makes music lovers' hearts ache .

      All these “too human” emotions disappeared in Yunchan Lim's performance. By the way, there is nothing wrong with this: aliens, clones (of whomever), human beings - are all equal in the humanitarian sphere. And the magnificent virtuoso techniques always have their own value. This detachment from musical meaning could be, for example, valuable because it sends listeners into the magical world of Ursula Le Guin, in which only subtle nuances indicate that the action is taking place in a fantasy world.

     It is curious that Tchaikovsky's piano cycle "The Seasons", subtitled '12 characteristic scenes', was commissioned for a honorarium that seemed incredibly high to the composer. He responded to Nikolay Bernard's proposal (Bernard – the publisher), that he agrees to write  "The Seasons": "I have received your letter. I am  grateful for your courtesy and readiness to pay me such a high fee. So long as I am spared I shall endeavor to oblige you. I shall send you the first piece shortly, and perhaps the next two or three. If the circumstances are right then they will be done quickly—at the moment I am very much in the mood for piano pieces. . Yours P. Tchaikovsky. I will retain all your titles."

      The money would be spent on travels and life abroad, where Tchaikovsky, who spoke several languages and highly valued a comfortable lifestyle, spent more time than in Moscow and St. Petersburg. And all this happens less than a year and a half before the crisis, when, according to friends, Tchaikovsky almost drowned himself.

     In December 1875, Tchaikovsky sent two pieces to Nikolay Bernard from Moscow. The composer wrote to Bernard: "…It is not without some trepidation that I send them to you, for fear that you will think them too long or musically poor. I beg you to give me your candid opinion, so that I can keep in mind your requirements while composing the following pieces... If the second piece is unsuitable, then write and tell me... If you want me to rewrite The Carnival, then please do not stand on ceremony, and you can be sure that by next time, i.e. by 15th January, I will have written another for you.”

     Ultimately, it’s hard to tell why this cycle of musical pieces is so exquisitely tender and sad.

    Upon first publication, the publisher suggested the epigraphs for each piece, and the composer agreed. It seems that the most poignant for the entire cycle are these lines:

The last tears over past griefs,

And first dreams of another happiness. (Apollon Maykov).

     Returning to the musician - yes, for listeners who know and love the classic versions of “The Seasons”, the performance by Yunchan Lim was something alien, something from another dimension. And this is why it is so valuable.

       Valentine Chauvine/ Festival International de Piano  La  Roque d'Anthéron.