Last Friday night I had the pleasure of hearing Murray Perahia live at
Spivey Hall, in Morrow, Georgia (according to many, one of the best small
halls in the world, acoustically speaking).

To say that he played well would be like saying that Mother Teresa was a
nice lady.  He was fantastic.  The program consisted of three pieces:

Bach Partita No. 4 in D major, BWV 828
Beethoven Sonata No. 28 in A major Op. 101
Schubert Sonata in A major, D. 959

He walked on looking surprised and almost disappointed that the audience
was actually there -- shy and nervous looking.  He sat down and immediately
broke into the most searing Bach I've heard.  He was so sure, so --
aggressive -- and then heartbreakingly touching, yet never sounding like
he was showing off or trying to impress anyone.  The Gigue was so fluid
that it truly seemed to flow, but in short bursts of crystal.  I absolutely
loved the Bach over anything else that night.

The Beethoven piece was unfamiliar to me, but he made a great presentation
of its ups and downs, sounding like an older more dissonant Beethoven
than the one of the more "beautiful" sonatas with which I am more familiar.

After intermission he came on and again to me looked like he was surprised
the people were still there... Then sat down and immediately he played
the Schubert and again his decisive playing and emotional interpretation
(meaning he was interpreting the emotions of the sonata, not playing
emotionally) was so extreme to my ears, that I heard it as if from a new
angle every moment.  I know this piece, and still prefer the Mitsuko
Uchida recording, but last night's reading was in a class of its own.
Extreme Schubert, from what to me was an unlikely source.

He graciously gave us two encores.  First, as he said, "a Schubert
Impromptu", and then a Chopin Nocturne.  I think I should be able to
write which specific pieces these were, but I fall short of my desired
state of education -- the Schubert was the very fluid, almost perpetual
motion one, and the Chopin -- well, it was the beautiful one...

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution review by Pierre Ruhe can be found at:
http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/0403/26spivey.html

I think Mr. Perahia is becoming somewhat angular in his playing style,
but it is a sharpness that clarifies, and an acuteness that pierces.
He's one of the great ones.

Miguel Muelle
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http://mmuelle.home.mindspring.com