Jan Lisiecki - a singular pianist
In 2010 I decided to go to Singapore to celebrate the year of the Golden Tiger, a special moment for all tigers like me. Singapore is a very interesting place. A city in continuous transformation, walkable and liveable, but with a cultural tradition totally foreign to our own. Walking through Merlion Park I unexpectedly came across a white piano and decided to sit down nearby to see if anyone would come and play it. Thus, totally unexpectedly, was my first encounter with Jan Lisiecki. A tall, slim, casually dressed young man approached the instrument with great determination and started off with a beautiful Chopin polonaise. The interpretation was brilliant and very classical, until it suddenly became something different, something I had never heard before, "Chopin played Mozart style". An extravagant combination, which captivated us for a few minutes, until it mutated again. Thanks to a quick turn of his hand, which moved something inside the piano, the sound was radically transformed. Half the keyboard sounded like a harpsichord and the other half like a normal piano. Chopin was barely distinguishable, jazzy, played in unison on this two-voiced instrument. The people, who at first had not registered the pianist's arrival and who chatted happily during the first piece, were now absorbed and mute. Lisiecki kept moving things around and changing the piano voice, the rhythms, the melodies which at times seemed familiar and at others totally atypical. From that day on I followed Jan Lisiecki, this Polish talent, based in Canada, but a citizen of the world, who at the age of nine (9) gave his first concert with an orchestra. At fifteen he was hired by the Deutsche Gramophon to record Chopin and was world renowned for his passion and virtuosity. Ten years later I had the pleasure of hearing him again in person, this time from the "Cazuela" of the Colón Theatre. This enjoyment was the fruit, once again, of an unexpected coincidence. The Mozarteum brought the Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra of the city of Bremen. The concert was to feature a violin virtuoso, Christian Tetzlaff, who unfortunately had to cancel his tour. Jan stepped in for him and dazzled with his performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3 (opus 37). The encore was sublime. Lisiecki played Chopin's nocturne No. 21 in C Minor, rarely heard at the Colón, with a sensitivity and intensity rarely seen. A real delight. I hope I will not have to wait another ten years to hear him play again. See you soon Jan!