Christian Blackshaw is a pianist with a bit of a reputation in the Mozart scene, so we want to hear him when he returns to Bourgie Hall on Thursday evening. However, the disappointment was proportional to our expectations.
Published at 2:07 am. Updated at 9:00 a.m.
Emmanuel Bernier Special Collaboration
Personal anecdote: Our first assignment to La Presse on March 12, 2020 was to allow us to hear Christian Blackshaw in Bourgie. However, it was a missed opportunity as the Great Detention had already been imposed a few hours before the concert.
It was obviously just a postponement. But even if “part” is synonymous with “play”, the artist had no more fun than necessary with the musical material, which is nevertheless extremely suitable.
It feels like someone is patiently polishing each piece of their silverware. But not all that glitters is gold…
We still have to give credit to Christian Blackshaw for his magnificent, delicate and singing slow movements. But how can we enjoy it when the fast movements, which are cruelly lacking in Mozart’s momentum, make us feel so uncomfortable?
Slow motion is usually an oasis between two storms. If they remain in their glass of water, the oasis loses some of its magic.
We see this in the Allegro con spirito (“with spirit”!) of the Sonata in C major, K. 309, where the eighth notes of the accompaniment are so detailed that they steal the show from the irresistible right hand melody. Not much happens at the end of the development either, where the score abruptly switches from G major to G minor at the end of the exposition, a bit like a flash in the blue sky.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Christian Blackshaw reconnects with the Montreal public after a missed meeting on March 12, 2020, a few hours after the major delivery in Quebec.
In the final Rondo, it is Alberti’s bass (common accompaniment formula in Mozart’s time) that takes up the entire space, even though it should remain in the background. Every note is pronounced, although one would expect prescient phrases.
As soon as we reach the next work, the Sonata in A major, KV 331, we look at the clock over time, with the pianist particularly fond of repetition. The beginning of the third variation, which abruptly moves us from major to minor mode, does not make the performer bat an eyelid, maintaining his British phlegm throughout.
In the Minuet, as in other moments of the evening, we regret the excessive sameness of the fast scales, from which we vainly expect a certain volatility. After the break this did not improve with the Sonata in F major KV 533/494 and the Sonata in D major KV 576.
The sound is great throughout, with precise control of the pedal, but what good is it when the language that supports it is also soothing?
Forget that porcelain Mozart for five o’clock tea! The “divine” Mozart was a monster of joy, a spirit of dazzling vivacity, not a cherub to be dusted off on a dull day!
The pianist’s unusually long encore allowed us to hear the Austrian composer’s Adagio in B minor KV 540.