Both Friends of Chamber Music leaders and the audience breathed a sigh of relief Thursday evening when Murray Perahia stepped onto the stage of Gates Concert Hall at the University of Denver.
Because of complications from an old injury to his right thumb, he has been prone to cancellations in recent years.
But Perahia was not just present Thursday, he was in prime form, demonstrating the kind of impeccable technique and poetic depth that have made him one of the most revered pianists of our time.
Leery of modern fare, Perahia has stuck to the bedrock of the classical repertoire, opening with a work by Johann Sebastian Bach, the composer with whom he is most associated.
He brought the kind of authority and purpose to Bach’s Partita No. 6 in E minor, BWV 830, that one would expect of someone who has over his lifetime absorbed this work into his very musical being.
Underlaid with an appropriately subtle forward thrust, this was a direct, unmannered and eloquent performance that took listeners on a moving journey into the inner world of this transcendent work.
He then turned to Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109, offering a thrillingly dynamic interpretation that captured its sometimes restless spirit and the hint of mystery that hovers at its edges.
By placing these two works back to back, Perahia drove home the enduring radicalism of both, especially the third movement of the sonata, a series of exquisitely executed variations that move into an almost other-worldly realm.
The second half opened with Robert Schumann’s “Kinderszenen,” Op. 15, with Perahia lovingly shaping each of its 13 distinctive episodes — miniature recollections of youth that are variously playful, wistful and romantic.
Rounding out the program were spirited, wonderfully idiomatic performances of three mazurkas by Frederic Chopin, as well as his Etude No. 1 in A flat major, “Aeolian Harp,” and Scherzo No. 4 in E major, Op. 54.
After a deserved standing ovation, the pianist returned for three encores, including Johannes Brahms’ Intermezzo and two Chopin selections.
Taken together, it was an unforgettable evening.
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
