Anna Polusmiak Fulfills Promise

 

If the metaphor fits wear it.
   Just back from The Netherlands where a critic dubbed her a "keyboard lioness," pianist Anna Polusmiak did just that Thursday night at Music Hall.
   Given her lithe, powerful performance of Rachmaninoff’s "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" with the Cincinnati Symphony led by Paavo Järvi, it seemed no exaggeration to liken the 23-year-old, Ukrainian born Northern Kentuckian to a pianistic queen of the veldt.
   Garbed in glittering turquoise for her CSO Music Hall debut, she put grace and focused energy into the old warhorse, sparking an instantaneous ovation.
   But Polusmiak’s wasn’t the evening’s only spontaneous demonstration. There was applause after the Adagio of Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, as well, and not just the inadvertent kind. Järvi recognized it as such and didn’t wave it away with his hand, but turned and acknowledged it with a smile.
   The all-Rachmaninoff program, which included the CSO premiere of Two Dances from "Aleko," an early, one-act opera about gypsy life, was a crowd-pleaser. The Symphony No. 2 and "Aleko" Dances will be recorded next week by Telarc.
   Polusmiak’s performance shone from outset, where her diamond bright touch etched the "Rhapsody" theme, then traced sparkling counterpoint with the trumpet and winds. The rapid passages in Variation 4 were never so vividly played and the cadenza-like Variation 11 spilled over with virtuosity.
   There was plenty of heart in her work, too, as the gorgeous "upside down" Variation 18 demonstrated. Preceded by shudders in the strings, it unfolded tenderly, tracing a sonorous arch that floated to earth like a feather (you could tell listeners had been holding their breath because of the rustling heard at the end). The bombastic finale with its witty, understated ending brought the crowd to its feet. Her encore was a total contrast, Rachmaninoff’s soft, touching "Daisies."
   Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony was everything we have come to expect of Järvi and the CSO, transparent and full of gesture and emotion (and better than the Rachmaninoff Second I heard him conduct with the Los Angeles Philharmonic April 6). The introduction was exceedingly dark and brooding, emerging in the low strings and amassing a wall of sound before tapering into the restless Allegro, where you could detect a beating heart beneath the surface energy.
   The brisk, bright scherzo featured lightning quick transitions and a nostalgia-laden theme that hinted at the outpouring to come in the Adagio. And an outpouring it was. Clarinetist Richard Hawley and bassoonist William Winstead demonstrated the special character that pervades the CSO winds in the gentle melody that interrupts the yearning opening motif. It was a gradual ascent from there, as the motif wound its way through the orchestra and Järvi built it to a crashing climax. The long afterglow brought a couple of swells in the strings and the movement ended with warm undulations in the violas.
   The energetic finale featured dense undercurrents, echoes of previous movements and an exhilarating and very Russian sounding finish. Järvi’s encore was a treat, Rachmaninoff’s earliest extant work, a charming teenage Scherzo modeled after Mendelssohn’s music for "A Midsummer Night’s Dream."
   The Dances from "Aleko," which opened the concert, were like encores in advance. The Women’s Dance moved sinuously from low clarinet to high flute, with a sizzle of tambourine. The Men’s Dance began with a slow, swaggering melody in the cellos and basses that built to a boisterous conclusion (the skittering violins at the end will need to be cleaned up a bit before the recording session).
   Repeats are 11 a.m. today, 8 p.m. Saturday at Music Hall.
(first published in The Cincinnati Post April 28, 2006)