Russian Pianist Masters The Stage

Akron Beacon Journal - February 3,2006

by Elaine Gureglan

Olga Kern overflows with charisma, talent in awe-inspiring show

Olga Kern knows how to make an audience leave saying "Wow."

Actually, the audience didn't want to leave E.J. Thomas Hall on Thursday night after Kern's Tuesday Musical piano recital. I heard the first encore, a Russian dance. After I dashed out to meet my deadline, Kern reportedly played two more: Charles Lisberg's Spinning Wheel and Rimsky-Korsakov's The Flight of the Bumblebee.

With her music making and her stage presence, the Russian pianist delivered a larger-than-life charisma. It was an old-fashioned program delivered with brisk, confident charm. The program previewed the one she'll give when she debuts at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall next month.

Singers sometimes change their dresses at intermission, but this was the first time I've seen a pianist do it. Whether in a tomato-red gown or a gold-flecked aqua number, Kern, 30, projected the assurance of a pianist who has lived fully in the music she played.

Kern was the co-winner of a gold medal at the 2001 Van Cliburn International Competition. The many concert dates that came from it have given her an assured finish to her performance. The steely evenness of Kern's runs in Liszt's glittering operatic paraphrase, Reminiscences de Don Jaun, spoke of a competition veteran's diligence. Kern sometimes mugged for the audience here, dramatizing the roles in Mozart's Don Giovanni. The lovely singing line she produced would have sufficed.

There was nothing extraneous in her well-conceived performance of Rachmaninoff's Morceaux de Fantaisie (Fantasy Pieces), Op. 3. You could hear Russian cathedrals echoing in Kern's deep, forceful octave lines in the famous Prelude in C-sharp minor.

In the Sonata No. 2 by Chopin, known for its funeral march, Kern made something remarkable and spontaneous sounding of the Scherzo.

Intelligence, driving force and a sure sense of the overall arch of the piece made Mendelssohn's Variations Serieuses a strong opening to the program. A few dropped notes here or there only reminded the listner that the person with this fabulous technique is, after all, still human.