Polusmiak not to be Missed
Sergei Polusmiak and Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 7 are fissionable material.
But that wasn’t the only flashpoint on Polusmiak’s recital Thursday evening in Greaves Concert Hall at Northern Kentucky University.
The Ukrainian born pianist, distinguished artist-in-residence at NKU, presented a blockbuster program that was arresting even to contemplate. In addition to Prokofiev’s energizing work, it included Beethoven’s Sonata No. 23 in F Minor (“Appassionata”); four Chopin Preludes, Op. 28; Chopin’s Ballade No. 4 in F Minor; and four Rachmaninoff’s Etudes-tableaux, interleaved with three of his Preludes.
Polusmiak’s performance, on a Hailun concert grand piano (the same Chinese-made brand used by Lang Lang in a Countdown to the Olympics concert in Beijing in 2007) was powerful and emotive. Polusmiak is a pianist of the fiery Russian school, a pupil of Regina Horowitz (sister of Vladimir Horowitz), who immigrated to the U.S. in 1998 and became Tom and Christine Neyer Family Professor of Music at NKU. Since then he has founded a studio that numbers some of the most promising young pianists to be found anywhere and an outstanding chamber music series due to expand next season.
Polusmiak’s heat threatened to overwhelm the opening Beethoven, which was nevertheless thrillingly dramatic. What a contrast between the ominous beginning, with its fluttery trills, surging lines and sudden dynamic shifts and the relaxed, enveloping warmth of the lyrical second theme.
The variations movement was deeply felt, leading into the propulsive, inexorable finale with its heart-stabbing melodic thirds. Some notes fell under the piano now and then, but the musical effect was overwhelming.
Chopin was well represented by four of his Op.28 Preludes, including the soulful, melancholic No. 6 in Minor, and his great Ballade in F Minor. The Ballade, initially searching and confidential, blossomed into a billowing sound, though Polusmiak seemed wrung out at the end, perhaps even a bit impatient.
The stellar portion of the recital came after intermission. Polusmiak was in his element here, not only with Prokofiev but also Rachmaninoff, in selections from his Etudes-tableaux, Op.39 and Preludes, Op. 23 and 32.
The turbulence of Op. 39, No. 1, in C Minor was followed by what felt like a cruise on a calm sea in the Prelude Op.23, No. 6 (in E-flat, the relative major).
Polusmiak skittered nimbly over the keys in Op. 39, No. 3 in F-sharp Minor. By contrast, he soared full volume in Op. 32, No. 5 (G Major), while imparting a child-like quality to the gentle theme heard in the piano’s high register.
Shifting moods continued in Etude-tableau Op. 39, No. 6 (A Major), which opened with angry rumbles in the bass, followed by a kind of doomsday march. Prelude Op. 32, No. 12 (G-sharp Minor) was like a waltz that spun out of control to end on a soft, plaintive note.
Capstone of the set was Op. 39, No. 5 in E-flat Minor, a rhapsodic, ravishing work that conjures Rachmaninoff’s piano concertos.
(Note: Polusmiak’s former student Anna Shelest has made an outstanding recording of the Etudes-tableaux as part of her prize package for winning the Louisiana International Piano Competition in 2007.)
All of this was but prelude to the Prokofiev Sonata, which filled the hall with unalloyed energy. Polusmiak captured the essence of the composer and his work with powerful, hard strokes in the opening Allegro inquieto, a highly caloric Andante caloroso – even more delightful with its Gershwin-esque tune at the beginning and end -- and the unrelentingly rhythmic finale, entitled simply “Precipitato.”
Polusmiak is an NKU treasure, a great teacher and a distinctive pianist whose performances should not be missed.