Recital Of The 20-Year Old Russian Evgeny Sudbin Was A Real Treat
Nothing seems to be of any difficulty for the young Evgeny Sudbin, in who was born in St.Petersburg. In any case, he had the nerves to play works which are deliberately avoided by his already established colleagues. The organizers were absolutely justified in proclaiming that this pianist is well on the way to a successful international career. This season, UBS-Wolfsberg uses the chance to participate in the Verbier Festival and engaged Sudbin as one of their highly valued artists. The pianist, already overwhelmed with prizes, put Beethoven at the top of his programme. Yet the Six Bagatelles, from the composer’s last years, are under no circumstances mere bagatelles as such, as they require a highly accomplished pianistic ability, and need to be comprehended within the context of Beethoven’s late string-quartets. No problem for Evgeny Sudbin. In the melancholic Andante con moto, he projected the ideal purity of the movement in balanced contrast with the rhythmic passages and rising dynamics. In contrast to the 1st Bagatelle, the 2nd in G minor was a little faster than the movement’s marking.

Crystal-Clear Passages
Sudbin articulated the passages in a crystal-clear manner as if Bach himself was looking over his shoulder. The Andante was well formed with melodic emphasis and a graceful style. For the B minor Bagatelle, Sudbin accented the bass line and brought a spark of powerful life into the work. And in this area, the technically complete pianist Evgeny Sudbin seems to be fully accomplished. In the Andante amabile, Evgeny communicated emotional depth and charm. Whenever Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit is announced, then the audience is naturally prepared for some virtuosity. Ondine emerged from the tremolo, in a glidingly smooth and fluent manner. The difficult interweaving of material always remained transparent.

Bell-Like Vibrations
On the contrary, Gibet’s sound of octaves and the bell-like tolls in the bass were slowly introduced to audience’s mind. The chord-shifts with their jangling harmonies were magnificently played. In Scarbo, Evgeny dazzled the audience with pianistic fire-works of a rare kind. The ascending rapid passages in wide intervals were always clean and secure. One has to forget that Alexander Scriabin doesn’t have in mind the classic form of sonata. His 5th Sonata, with the inventive 8-tone scale, is an example of that. Hammering and beautifully tender were the conflicting characteristics of this piece, which Sudbin made the main feature of this wild and massive work. In the F minor Ballade on the contrary, the Russian outstanding talent was moving into calmer waters. Lyrically narrated, with passages smooth and bedecked as if with garland, Sudbin ended the Ballade with rich-coloured chords. A monumental accumulation of musical material brought forth Rachmaninov’s B minor Sonata. What this young Russian did was the ultimate proof, that what the audience had encountered here, allows us to hope for only the best.