Saturday Gazette-Mail - September 14, 2006
Russian pianist gets a chance to rehearse

By David Willaims

Pianist Yakov Kasman bailed the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra out in May 2005, when he substituted for the ailing Olga Kern. He arrived just before the Friday concert and, with only a few minutes to talk with conductor Grant Cooper about tempos, he performed the notoriously difficult Rachmaninov Third Piano Concerto without any rehearsal.

In the review of the performance I wrote, “If he was bothered by the tension of the moment, he hid it easily behind a blazing tone balanced by an intellectual calm that displayed Rachmaninoff’s densest counterpoint with élan.”

On Friday and Saturday, Charleston audiences will get to hear what happens when Kasman actually gets a chance to rehearse with the orchestra. He’ll play Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor as soloist for the opening nights of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra’s 2006-2007 season.

I talked with Kasman by phone from his home in Birmingham, Ala., and asked what will it be like to have some rehearsal time with this orchestra?

He laughed. “Maybe it works better without rehearsal, who knows? It is so unpredictable. But I love this piece so much that I treasure the time to play it with orchestra. I really look forward to the time with the orchestra.

“I can talk hours about the piece. Prokofiev was 22 years old when he composed it and when you listen to it, it is unbelievable. I try to imagine where I was at 22 compared to where he was.”

In the music, you hear Prokofiev’s “depth of understanding, of feeling in the music, his gift of melodic and harmonic ideas and his ability to create drama.”

The inception of the piece could hardly be more dramatic. Kasman says that it was written in memory of a friend who took his own life.

“Prokofiev got a letter from him that said, ‘I will give you a real muse, I committed suicide,’” Kasman explained.

Kasman points out, “Along with Rachmaninov Third and the Brahms Second, it is considered one of the most difficult piano concertos. It has four movements; about half of the first movement is a solo piano cadenza, extremely difficult both technically and musically.”

He described the second movement as “a two-and-a-half-minute troika ride” [imagine a careening sleigh]. “The piano part is in nonstop sixteenth notes, quite unique and very beautiful.”

To Kasman, the third movement is a “draconian scherzo” that sets up the finale, a big movement that includes one of Prokofiev’s memorable “Russian fairy-tale themes that turns heartbreaking and incredibly beautiful.”

I asked how much his view of the piece changes from performance to performance.

“In general, it doesn’t change, but like any masterpiece it doesn’t open up [to your understanding] from the first time. I always discover something I did not notice before, even major things.”

The concert also includes Beethoven’s “Egmont” Overture and Brahms’ Symphony No. 2.

Kasman has been a silver medalist in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. In addition to his performing career, he serves as artist-in-residence at the University of Alabama, Birmingham.

When asked what he does to relax, Kasman laughed warmly, maybe even wistfully.

“There really is no time when I am not practicing. My favorite way to relax is when I go to Russia, at least twice a year, Christmas break and summer. I love walking and taking in the beautiful nature.”

If you go

The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra and guest artist Yakov Kasman perform at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Clay Center. A reception follows each concert. Tickets are $9 to $49 for adults and $5 to $13 for students. Call 561-3570.