Kirill Richter Plays London
The London Coliseum felt like the place to be as it warmly welcomed the virtuoso musician, pianist and composer Kirill Richter for his debut here – a one-night-only event that I’m so glad I didn’t miss, writes Michael Holland.
The first half was Richter with violinist Alena Zinovieva and Avgust Krepak on the cello. Just them on a huge stage bathed in black white and all the greys in between. The only colour we could see was the polished wood of their instruments picked out with spotlights.
They played music composed by Richter. They played without sheet music, but with their hearts. Alena and Avgust, of course, played in the traditional way but also slapped their instruments, plucked and hit the strings rather than merely drew their bows across them, to create different sounds. And all the time Richter would be in the middle at his grand piano; sometimes hardly heard but always making his presence felt. He did not bogart the limelight, but let his fellow musicians take the attention. Writing the music and seeing it enjoyed by a mesmerised audience seemed to be enough.
Projected onto a screen behind them were waves on a beach, lingering smoke, and dark storm clouds, all creating the moods the music was conveying. I’m not sure it needed a signpost for us; the music alone achieved that.
After the interval, the trio were joined by the National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan and, conducted by Alibek Kabdurakhmanov, they all came together to perform The Sands of Time, Richter’s epic, orchestral fantasy making its U.K. premiere in front of dignitaries from the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation whose generous support made this evening possible.
This time the video backdrops were more dynamic, as was the music. Now The Richter Trio were overwhelmed with strings on both sides and a small percussion and horn section at the back, but were, none the less, still the main attraction.
There were mountain ranges flowing past our eyes, as did distant galaxies like the opening credits to Star Trek. Close-up tsunamis threatened to flood the theatre and the forest fires set the whole orchestra ablaze with movement and light, seemingly firing up the players’ souls to bend and move with the fire and water and shooting stars as they played with vigour.
This modern classical music was composed and performed for a contemporary audience who want more than to sit and watch accomplished musicians do their thing. Tonight they got much more through music, spoken word, video installations and spirited playing.
Bravo.
Check out The Richter Trio: https://www.youtube.com/@richtertrio?app=desktop
Video trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WaX7EXK0SU
