Serious déjà vu last night when Franz Liszt took leave of his grave to perform a stunning recital for us in the form of a young Israeli pianist called Yoav Levanon.
No, seriously. The sallow face, the majestic mane of hair, the long and slender fingers perfectly poised for action…the uncanny resemblance was completed by a miraculous display of virtuosity quite unlike anything I’ve witnessed before. Whatever you may think of his musical interpretation, Yoav definitely has the power to woo a crowd in one instance, and whip it into a frenzy the next.
There was an excited buzz amidst the pews in the church of St-Martin-in-the-Fields last night as the London crowd eagerly awaited the young pianist. At the extremely young age of 18, Yoav Levanon has already achieved things many aspiring pianists (me included) don’t even dare to dream of: at 11, he was favourably compared to the great Artur Rubinstein; at 14, he performed a solo recital at the prestigious Verbier Festival; at 15, he played alongside the legendary likes of Sergei Babayan and Martha Argerich; and most recently, he signed an exclusive contract with Warner Classics for a CD to be released in May, while also joining the rosters of the world-renowned HarrisonParrott agency. Just the thought of achieving all these before one is even old enough to order a drink makes me dizzy.
I was lucky enough to be invited to Yoav’s debut concert in the UK, which also happened to be the launch of a new concert series, created through a collaboration between HarrisonParrott and St-Martin-in-the-Fields, called HP Futures, designed to showcase young talents in this iconic London venue.
The lights dimmed, and the young Liszt lookalike emerged from the stage doors. The crowd quieted down (as much as the acoustics of a church at capacity could allow) and Yoav sat at the piano. Unfazed by the muted din of a rowdy Saturday night at Trafalgar Square just outside, Yoav took his time to meditate before starting the Variations sérieuses by Mendelssohn. I was unfortunately sat where I couldn’t see Yoav’s hands–in fact, with the crowd in front of me, I could barely see him at all. I could only listen to the music; but what a beautiful sound he made! One would never have guessed this was an 18-year-old playing. He was extremely sensitive to the sound he was making, and even with the rather echo-y acoustic of the church, Yoav communicated exactly what he wanted his audience to hear. Nor were the virtuosic passages muddled by the sheer amount of notes. Despite the sheer velocity with which he played some of the virtuosic variations, I was most astonished by Yoav’s touch. His virtuosity allowed him full control of the keyboard, which therefore enabled him to tail off phrases beautifully, like wisps of smoke simply dissipating into the hallowed air of the church. This incredible touch of his was to lead to some exquisite moments in the Schumann Fantasie and the Liszt Sonata.
The Schumann Fantasie was played beautifully. There were some beautiful moments where the acoustics of the church lent a contemplative shimmer to the music. How Yoav managed to execute the fiendishly difficult passage in the second movement with such ease and grace is just unfathomable to me. He played with such poise and control that, from where I was sat, one could not tell he was performing some of the most difficult passages in standard piano repertoire. In fact, my only complaint would be that everything seemed too easy for him. Listening to him, I had a sense of youthful energy bursting at the seams; for my own taste, the Schumann Fantasie requires a bit more emotional depth, and some delicate moments were unfortunately skimmed over.
Nevertheless, this bubbling youthful energy and ferocity served him well in the Liszt Sonata, which for me was the highlight of the night. Thunderous octaves and semiquaver passages were played at such lightning speed I was actually frightened. I was kept on the edge of my seat, and before I knew it it was all over. But what an exhilarating journey Yoav took me on! I could imagine this was how the youthful Liszt performed. This was not simply well-executed virtuosity, but virtuosity designed to dazzle, to push the limits of what we know to be possible. Even at the limits of speed, Yoav managed to achieve incredible lightness of touch as if it was all natural to him, and this was what made the performance so exciting, and what made his virtuosic mark so distinct from others I’ve heard, in a world where flawless playing is taken for granted and performers frequently outsmart presto tempo markings. This was the full force of Yoav’s bold and daring personality telling one of the great stories in musical (and literary) history.
The audience, in return, let loose a barrage of applause after the exhilarating performance of Liszt, and the atmosphere seemed considerably lightened. Yoav felt this, and was cheeky enough to wave his hands in a show of air-conducting, paying tribute to the great orchestral version of Gershwin’s masterpiece, before embarking on the “clarinet solo” which preludes Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, his final act of the evening. The performance of Gershwin showed Yoav’s lighthearted side, revealing his natural boyish impulses to show off and simply have fun. Of course, technical passages posed no challenge to him, and of course he played at hair-raising speeds, but I also loved the way he was playing symphonically, always keeping in mind the possibilities of sound demonstrated by the piano-and-orchestra version of the Rhapsody. What a way to round off a performance, and what a stunning entrance into the London scene by Yoav Levanon!
Restless and ever excited to play more, Yoav responded to the audience’s rapturous delight by playing two encores, the first of which I could not recognize, and the second being “the one and only” (in his own words) La Campanella. By then, I thought I would not be surprised by Yoav’s technical feats at the piano, but his flawless performance of such an exposed and difficult etude, topped by a lightness which only those who are far beyond the greatest technical demands possess, only served to confirm my intuition that here was someone who will take virtuosity at the keyboard to the next level. I wish him all the best in his dazzling career! What a debut concert!
Literally Left-handed 
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