Radu
Lupu
“The piano’s golden triad”;
this was how critic Carla Moreni described Maurizio
Pollini, Krystian Zimerman and Radu Lupu, musicians
who share with great performers of the Olympus
their anti-stardom, simplicity and an ascetic
devotion to the reasons of art. Many years ago
Pollini held two memorable performances in Messina,
the first immediately after winning the “Chopin”
Competition in Warsaw. Zimerman, a real Pole and
also a winner of the “Chopin” Award,
was hosted last season by the Laudamo Philharmonic
, leaving behind memories of a touch of exceptional
beauty. For the first time, this year we will
hear Radu Lupu, the most visionary, the most imaginative
and the most solitary among these poets of the
piano. Over the past thirty years the interviews
given by this Rumanian maestro (as self-effacing
as his fellow countrymen Ligeti and Kurtag) can
be counted on the fingers of one hand, and since
1990 no journalist has managed to approach him.
For some time now he has abandoned recording studios,
rarely visited previously, and his recordings
have hence already become historical documents.
He ignores the media and advertising; he appears
shyly on stage, sits on an ordinary chair and
not on the traditional stool, then... reflections
of light on the keyboard. At the end he leaves
the stage, passing behind the piano. We will hear
him perform Beethoven’ Pathetique which
was one of his favourite pieces at his first international
appearances, and Schumann’s Fantasy in C
major, op. 17. It was precisely for his interpretations
of Schumann that in 2006 Radu Lupu won the Abbiati
Award.
