Press
10. 11. 2007
Between Freestyle and Mastery Anika Vavic's Piano Recital at the Musikverein
Vienna – The young pianist Anika Vavic, a native of Belgrade, is not an unknown quantity in Vienna anymore. Three years ago, Musikverein and Konzerthaus declared her a "rising star", sending her on a successful tour that included many of the foremost stages, such as Carnegie Hall in New York, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Cité de la Musique in Paris. Thus, it was certainly not only her faithful Serbian compatriots who filled the Brahmssaal to the last chair at her solo recital on Thursday at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde – although they had turned out in full force.
The young star had certainly not picked an easy program. It is especially courageous to play Joseph Haydn's Sonata in A-flat Major, Hob. XVI/46 on a Steinway today, however perfect an instrument it may be, and it demands a lot of stylistic delicacy.
After all, the diverse sounds of the cembali or early pianofortes that are usually used these days to perform music of this period (the work was written in 1765) have created a tradition of hearing - even if only subconsciously - that is hard to fight.
Masterful Interpretation
However, after Ludwig van Beethoven's Sonata in D Major (Op. 10/3), it was mainly in Sergey Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 8 (in B-flat Major, Op. 84) that Anika Vavic proved herself to be a masterful interpreter who knows how to bring across even content that is not written to be particularly effect-conscious.
Thus, in their broad lyrical sweep the two first movements require remarkable intensity in order to have their full impact. The way in which she made these segments, quite similar in their discretion, seem independent in their content showed an extraordinary power of identification with the work.
And of course, its virtuosic finale inspired the audience to enraptured ovations.
Translation: Alexa Nieschlag