As part of the wonderful London Piano Festival which takes place every year at King’s Place, Argentinian pianist, Ingrid Filter performed a romantic programme of Beethoven and Chopin works.

Filter came to the stage in dazzling silver jacket and spangled shoes, her starry appearance under the stage lights suggesting more tango than Beethoven or Chopin. Despite her bold entrance, she appeared nervous, rubbing her hands, and the opening bars of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No 18 in E Flat were not quite assured as they could have been.

Thankfully – the hesitancy was short-lived as Fliter settled into Beethoven’s playful Allegro movement where Fliter’s articulation seemed perfect with her subito piano technique, shifting the weight of her finger (and her body) on and off the piano key abruptly, to produce a forte or pianissimo sound.

In the Presto con fuoco – the fiery movement, Fliter was extremely comfortable playing at breakneck speed and was the mistress of the cross over hands! The two sonatas she was performing were early Beethoven works, where joy abounds, and Fliter delighted in the composer’s extroversion and virtuosic score.

The largo e mesto in the following Beethoven sonata Fliter played, the No.7 in D, brought all Fliter’s emotional intensity to the pot. The main theme gradually unfolded over deep, sustained chords and the effect was heart-rending.

In Chopin’s Nocturne in B and Chopin Piano Sonata No.3 in B Minor, Fliter excelled and one can see why she is known for her Chopin recordings. There came the extraordinary joy ride of Chopin’s Sonata no. 3 – mad – in all his exuberance.

We were brought back down to earth with Chopin’s Largo, an extended contemplation of life with all its toil and loss, and through all that marvellous yearning, love prevailed – all of which wasl rendered ardently by Fliter.

KH

If you want to know more about Ingrid Fliter, please read her interview with the Cross-Eyed Pianist , our sister blog.

Ingrid Fliter, pianist