The Polish pianist Rafał Blechacz returned to Rome on Friday evening where he displayed a brilliant performance in the Santa Cecilia Hall in Auditorium Parco della Musica. (…) the pianist was received enthusiastically and cordially whereas for the audience it was an amazing evening, full of excellent virtuosity and elegance, eloquently applied for the sake of music. Rafał Blechacz is still very young. When he appears on stage, he seems to be even younger, but as soon as his fingers tap the keys, one is immediately astonished by his maturity. This maturity was perfectly presented in the initial Partita No. 3 A-minor of Johann Sebastian Bach, performed so clearly and with amusing charm, apparently with intellectual precision standing behind. The Beethoven piano sonata No. 7 D-major, Op. 10, No. 3 closed the first part of the concerto. It was such a fascinating interpretation – opening Presto and closing Rondò, played with amazing power and bravery whereas largo and mesto were more lyrical than dark – finally they were warmly received by the audience, with numerous bravos! and several appearances back on stage before the artist could finally leave.
The second part of the evening was entirely dedicated to the composer Blechacz is most frequently associated with – Chopin. (…) Listening to Rafał Blechacz playing Chopin is always a sheer joy … and the second part turned out to be so astounding as he charmed the audience with rich and diversified set of seven compositions, including two encores. In the A-major Polonaise I liked this dignity the pianist brought to music to a great extent, but the most important moment of the whole evening was for me Scherzo No. 3, cis-minor, Op. 39 – unique proficiency and sounds of tender waterfall of cascade octaves were simply magical. As the final notes were coming to an end the first applause could be heard, followed by deafening ovation.
The artist was inclined to go back to Steinway piano and perform the Chopin waltz A-minor again in a painfully beautiful way causing even greater applause which impressed all of us. (…) the second bus was this charming Chopin Prelude A-major, making the audience sigh in recognition of his talent. Marvellous!
/Rome, Auditorium Parco della Musica, May 19, 2013, Living in Rome/