Murray Perahia in Concert

I had the privilege of seeing Murray Perahia in concert. He is probably one of the outstanding living pianists still plying their trade today, and one of my personal favourites (along with Martha Argerich). His program included Bach's second partita for keyboard, Beethoven's Appasionata Sonata, Chopin's Ballades Nos 3 and 4 and assorted other works by Chopin.

I was especially looking forward to the all-Chopin post intermission portion of the programme, and it did not disappoint. One of Perahia's most popular recordings is his wonderful rendition of the four ballades, and he did not disappoint in his live performance of the latter two. He also performed an assortment of other Bach pieces (Mazurkas, Waltzes, Preludes) with aplomb.

More disappointing, in my opinion, was his rendition of the Bach partita, which is somewhat surprising given that Bach is a major part of his oevre. Perahia's recording of the Goldberg Variations remains one of my favourites to date, and he has recorded Bach extensively, but his performance lacked the crispness and clarity of his CD recordings.

It was inevitable that Perahia received a massive ovation at the end of what was a relatively short performance. He came back for three curtain calls, performing parts of two of Schubert's impromptus, and a Chopin piece that I could not identify. All in all, a wonderful concert by a world reknown pianist that everyone was more than thrilled to see