Sergey Schepkin occupies an important position within the Boston piano world. He can frequently be heard on WCRB and in the Glissando series which he directs, as well as on YouTube. Last Sunday he delivered three centuries of repertoire for the Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts concert series at Williams Hall, NEC. A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, he has concertized worldwide and has won numerous prizes. A Steinway Artist, the Boston Globe praised him for his “uncommon, almost singular capacity and integrity.” One of his recent projects was to play all of Beethoven’s sonatas in a cycle for the composer’s 250th anniversary.
After entering with quiet elegance, Schepkin began with Beethoven’s Sonata No. 5 in C Minor, a favorite key for the master for its high drama and pathos; he also employed it for the Pathétique Sonata and his Symphony No. 5, among many other prominent works. Beethoven said that C minor was the key in which the demon spoke to him. The fifth sonata reminds one of Haydn (Hob.XVI:20) and Mozart (K457), both also in C minor. The very lyrical first movement, possessing many different themes, could easily be heard as an Italian Opera. The second one comes across with immense tenderness as well as dramatic splashes, and the prestissimo third movement brings back the drama of the first.
Schepkin embodies the best of the Russian school of piano playing, the full orchestral sound, the beautiful singing cantabiles, the exquisite touch control of his dynamics. His gift is to lay bare the soul of the music, transcending the mere notes and turning this recital into a profound emotional experience. He is a pleasure to watch as well; his gestures intermittently caress and punctuate the notes as they soar from the instrument.
Debussy wrote his first book of preludes in a three-months period from 1909-1910; the set premiered in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in July 1910. Schepkin began with Les pas sur la neige (footprints in the snow), which he infused with desolation and loneliness. Ce qu’a vu le vent d’ouest (What the west wind saw), has its origins from the Andersen fairy tale “Garden of Paradise.”
Schepkin’s fingers flew fast as the wind over the sweeping virtuosic arpeggios, producing a mood of dramatic and ominous turbulence leading to a final abrupt climax when the wind levels everything. In contrast, the iconic La fille aux cheveux de lin (The Girl with the Flaxen Hair) sounded innocent and Madonna-like. La sérénade interrompue (The Interrupted Serenade) brought to mind an unlucky Spanish troubadour whose señorita slammed the window shut at his clumsy outpourings. La cathédrale engloutie (The Sunken Cathedral) is based on a Breton legend of a magnificent cathedral that occasionally rises from the sea floor. Schepkin shaped a sublime image of mystical and ethereal quality.
As a story arc for these six preludes, picture the composer seeing footprints in the snow with foreboding, leading to a place that causes him great distress and anger, the reason for his anguish a young angelic girl, his clumsy overtures toward her rejected. In his dreams he sees himself betrothed in a majestic cathedral, but in reality he means nothing but comical relief to her, thus the pianist ended the first half of the program with La danse de Puck, from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. Schepkin excelled in portraying the impish and mischievous fairy, leaving the stage with a spring in his step.
Arnold Schoenberg’s Six Little Piano Pieces (Op. 19)began the second half. Not being a big fan of Schoenberg, I had low expectations, but found these shorter than one minute miniatures pleasant and interesting. Schepkin very effectively brought out their emotional variety rooted in the Viennese repertoire.
The highlight of the evening arrived in Schumann’s masterpiece Carnaval. It depicts a masked ball, many of the characters appearing are painted as musical miniatures, stock characters from Commedia dell’arte, as well as Schumann’s personal acquaintances. Eusebius and Floristan represent Schumann’s dual personalities (he was bi-polar besides being born under the sign of Gemini-the twins). Chiarina (No. 11) refers to Clara, Schumann’s future wife, Ernestine von Fricken is Estrelle (No. 13), Schumann’s love interest at the time, and Chopin and Paganini make cameo appearances.
Having played Carnaval since 2018 Shepkin has developed a profound musical understanding which he manifest throughout. From the beginning measures, the tenth chords in both hands pose a challenge to many pianists, but with Schepkin’s long fingers, they were clean and crisp, with a sound that penetrated the hall; if his ffs sounded loud, they also were full-bodied though never bangy. The majestic beginning morphs into a charming waltz, and then a magical moment when the piece seems to leave the ground entirely and becomes airborne. Next appear two stock characters: Pierrot lumbers and Harlequin sparkles. Schepkin depicted Eusebius with heartbreakingly sensitivity, sincerity and introspection, employing sublime LH voicing and generous rubatos; Floristan’s virtuosic impulsivity stood in stark contrast. The Coquette responded aggressively and Floristan rejected her swiftly.
In an unforgettable interpretation, Schepkin’s characterized Chiarina superbly, with heartfelt tenderness, abundant longing, and signal brilliance. Chopin never forgave Schumann for including him in Carnaval, but under Schepkins’s fingers Chopin moved with fluid loveliness beyond description. Estrelle is flamboyant, the challenging repeated notes in Renaissance are played with evenness and ease. Pantaloon and Columbine are lighthearted and comical, Paganini somehow crashes the Valse allemande, leading to Aveu, where the two lovers recognize each other and shyly exchange their love, dancing into the night, until the March of the Davidsbündler against the Philistines, a statement of Schumann’s musical manifesto. With Carnaval’s final chords sounding, the ball ending much too soon, this spellbound listener wished it could have gone on longer.
Responding to a standing ovation, Schepkin offered a tribute to Cathy Chan, the founder and organizer of the series that has been enchanting Boston audiences for 35 years, begore encoring with a sublime and embracing Clair de Lune.