Igor Levit. The Creative Appearance of the Pianist

Main Article Content

Olga P. Saigushkina

Abstract

The article attempts to outline the creative appearance and reveals the essential peculiarities of the performing art of the German pianist, a native of Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod) Igor Levit (born in 1987).
A follower of the Russian performing school traditions, Levit studied under the instruction of his mother, who had received a musical education in the class of Bertha Marantz, Neuhaus’ student. Subsequently, the young man studied with prominent European music teachers. The article particularly emphasizes the versatility of the artist՚s interests, his desire to master large layers of the piano repertoire, and the intensity of his creative life. Over the past decade, the pianist has recorded several albums for the Sony Classical label, including outstanding works of world piano classics and rarely heard compositions: Goldberg-Bach’s variations, Variations on the theme of Beethoven՚s Diabelli, Bach’s Partitas, all Beethoven’s sonatas, 24 preludes and fugues by Shostakovich, “36 Variations on the theme The United People Will Never Be Defeated!ˮ  by F. Rzhevsky, Passacaglia On DSCH P. Stevenson and much more.


His interpretations from new positions reveal the content and stylistic peculiarities of famous works and lay down new traditions of performing rarely heard music. The vastness and stylistic diversity of the repertoire were especially vividly demonstrated by the pianist in «home» concerts during the quarantine period. The article reveals distinctive peculiarities of Levit՚s performing art: naturalness, honed and inspired skill, continuity and fluidity of musical time. The artist՚s pianist gestures – light, airy, plastic, filled with expression – accurately reflect the inner figurative meanings of the works. On the concert stage, the pianist establishes continuous lively communication with the listener, as well as with the orchestra during the concerts performance without a conductor, expressing his feeling of music through sound, body movements, facial expressions. In his manner of stage behavior, without exception, all pianist actions and sound results are due to the intense feeling of music.


Keywords: performing art, expression, content, pianistic gesture, renewal of traditions.

Article Details

How to Cite
Saigushkina О. П. (2022). Igor Levit. The Creative Appearance of the Pianist. Music Scholarship / Problemy Muzykal’noj Nauki, 48(3), 127–136. Retrieved from https://musicscholar.ru/index.php/PMN/article/view/1385
Section
Musical Performing: History and the Present
Author Biography

Olga P. Saigushkina, Saint-Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory, St. Petersburg

PhD (Arts), Professor at the General Course and Methods of Piano Teaching Department