Nicolas Namoradze

Nicolas Namoradze - IKIF
25th International Keyboard Institute and Festival
Merkin Hall, New York

July 12th, 2023

Namoradze: Memories of Rachmaninoff's "Georgian Song"
Ligeti: Etude No. 11 - "En suspens"
Ligeti Etude No. 16 - "Pour Irina"
Bach: French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812
Rachmaninoff/Namoradze: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27
iii. Adagio
Schubert: Sonata in B-Flat Major, D. 960


The 25th season of the International Keyboard Institute and Festival is in full swing with six evenings of recitals at Merkin Hall and a series of master classes at Klavierhaus. Last night, following recitals the previous several evenings by Jerome Rose, Martin Garcia Garcia and Jeffrey Swann, Nicolas Namoradze played a challenging and most intriguing program. He has a big technique, a huge dynamic range, and the ability to make a convincing case for works the listener hasn't encountered before. Indeed, the whole first half of the program was most effective!

It is, however, difficult to write well about music you haven't heard before, but I will try to do the best I can regarding the Namoradze and Ligeti works at the beginning of the program.

I could not find any Rachmaninoff in Mr. Namoradze's Memories of a Georgian Song but found it fascinating, nonetheless. It began incredibly softly with high treble octave leaps accompanied later by chords and chord clusters. Sometimes it was quite harsh, and alarming. Later on there were fragments of melody, and soft parallel chords. In the end, there was a return to the very soft high treble octave leaps with some accompanying notes teasing us as to whether it would end up in major or minor. (The end was so soft that, up in the balcony, I couldn't tell which!)

Interestingly, the shift to the Ligeti etudes seemed not such a big change in styles. The first etude was, indeed, full of suspense, with interesting modes, and moods. The second etude started very slowly, as if it was the motive of a fugue. Full of dissonances, it was also very expressive. Later it became faster, and it concluded with some brilliant
fingerwork.

Mr. Namoradze's playing of the Bach French Suite was warm, very clear, and 'conversational." Some highlights of it, for me, were his bringing out the voices of the Allemande, the majestic feel of the opening of the Sarabande, the charm, but also the depth of the Minuets, and the great clarity of the Gigue, as well as its triumphant conclusion in D Major.

This may be a minority opinion, but I have trouble falling in love with Rachmaninoff's orchestral works as with his piano works. So I was not optimistic when anticipating my reaction to Mr. Namoradze's transcription of the slow movement of the Second Symphony. But, to my great surprise, I found it wonderful, "translated" into the language of the piano! There was much lush, gorgeous music, and powerful passages reminiscent of the piano concerti. Later there was a huge climax on a C Major chord. The music then continued only after a long, dramatic pause, very quietly. Another later section had a beautiful mid-range melody, played by the left hand, accompanied by elegant figurations played by the right hand.

The second half of the program consisted of the great B-Flat Major Sonata of Schubert, one of the glories of the repertoire. It's a very big work, even more so when one plays the first movement repeat, as has become more common nowadays, and which Mr. Namorzade did. Schubert sits on the cusp of the time between the Classical and Romantic eras. For my mind, Mr. Namoradze's approach was too much into the latter, leaving out perhaps some of the good things of the former. One should never play like a metronome, of course, but too much adjustment of tempo (Ie. excessive rubato, or overly long pauses at rests) for the sake of "expressivity" (in the first movement, especially) can lessen the strength of the structure, the logic, and the already inherent expressivity in the music.

Nonetheless, there was much to admire in his interpretation, including the charm of the Scherzo of the third movement, the witty, somewhat pompous playing of the Trio, and a truly magical shift to C Major in the second.

For encores, Nicolas Namoradze played two works of Scriabin. They were wonderful! The first was his Etude, Op. 42, No. 4. It was sly, suggestive, and gorgeous!

The second encore was the Fourth Scriabin Sonata, a fearsomely difficult work. It ranged from unearthly, quasi psychedelic lightness, in the beginning, to a martial feeling and a colossal sound at the end. It was stunning!