Kalichstein’s powerful piano performance a hit at Elon
By Scott Van Dorn
Sometimes his hands flew 12 inches off the keys with intensity, coming down so hard it was a wonder how his fingers did not break.
Other times, however, he played so delicately it seemed like he was not touching the keys at all.
It was certainly a passionate performance by Joseph Kalichstein at Elon University Thursday night.
Kalichstein talks to the audience after his performance
“I’m a music major and that was by far the best piano concert I’ve been to at Elon,” student Melanie Binder said, “It was incredible, he was so expressive and the dynamics were amazing. He really made the music come alive.”
Students, faculty and residents came to Elon’s Whitley Auditorium too see the pianist, who had been a part of the prestigious Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson piano trio.
Kalichstein, who has been playing since he was 3.5 years old, has been included in performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony and Scandinavia. In 2006, he also toured as a soloist with the Julliard Orchestra.
Elon University and The Burlington Times-News were able to bring in the famous performer for The Adams Foundation Piano Recital Series at Elon.
Kalichstein started his performance with a piece from German composer Robert Schumann, “Kreisleriana, 8 fantasies, Op. 16″, which featured a wide extreme of emotions. He mentioned how some of the music was meant for children fantasy stories, but added it was sometimes very spooky.
“I don’t know how the German children sleep at night,” he said to the audience. “It’s like ‘Rock-a-bye Baby,’ think of what happens to the cradle.”
His next piece, “Fantasy in F-sharp minor, Op. 28″ by Felix Mendelssohn was one of the crowd favorites. After attacking the keys in a wild ending, the last note seemed to send an electrical charge through the performer as he sprang back from the piano, drawing applause from the crowd.
After a ten-minute intermission, he played a powerful number from Chopin, “Ballade No.2 in F Major, Op. 38.” Before the piece, he explained how it had an unusual, tragic ending. After playing the last note, this time Kalichstein slowly slumped backward, as if he just recieved terrible news.
He then played selections from an angst-filled Mendelssohn piece titled “Songs without words, Op. 62.” But then, because he couldn’t let the audience leave “with that much strain,” he concluded
Kalichstein's standing ovation
with an upbeat Chopin piece, “Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op 52.”
He recieved a standing ovation.
Patrick Bachman, a piano-performance major at Elon, described the difficulty of Kalichstein’s playing, specifically noting how high he takes his hands off the keys.
“That takes a lot of confidence, the keys are so thin and to be able to take them up you have to know exactly where your hands are located,” Bachman said. “Actually what he’s doing is forming his hand in a shape and then that’s what’s going to be hitting keys, it’s not like finding something in the dark. I’ve been starting to work on that, and you just have to let go, you can’t have any inhibition when you play the piano.
Kalichstein, however, remained modest afterward.
He admitted, even though the entire performance was without music, his memory is not quite as good as it used to be.
“When I was younger, it took me only a few days to memorize a piece,” he said. “Now it takes me weeks.”
Then, when asked how much he practices everyday, he responded with a smile.
“Not as much as I should,” he laughed.
The next event in the piano recital series is a performance by organ player Billy Summers on March 15.
Tags: Elon, Julliard, Kalichstein, Laredo, mendelssohn, piano, Robinson
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