The final example of musicality came from the young pianist Mihkel Poll, who gave an intimate recital at Estonian House. He played mostly Romantic music from Central Europe, appropriate for a reedy, longhaired young man with the hands and fingers to handle the repertoire. He began with modern works from Eduard Tubin and Arvo Pärt, although Tubin’s Ballade on a Theme by Mart Saar was, except for some plain harmonies and bright, major key modulations at the start, very much in the style of Chopin. These were well-made, involving works, with beauty and emotional depth, the latter’s Variations of the Healing of Arinushka was moving without bathos, but Poll seemed to be playing each a little too fast, a lightly aggressively, as if nervousness was getting in between himself and the meaning of the music. His right hand articulation at the start of the ‘Ondine’ movement from Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit was a bit inconsistent, but this is where he slowly overcame his stiffness and began to play in a fluid manner, letting the tension, expression and power in the music speak for itself – musicality is often, in great works, about getting out of the way as much as plunging in. The Ravel had a fine overall shape, and was followed by a thrilling ‘Chasse-neige’ from Lizst’s Trancendental Studies. Poll was sharp and blistering, pulling out the intensity from the music and making it sound almost easy. He knew exactly what he wanted in Lizst’s arrangement of Schubert’s Erlkönig; an aggressive opening and an incisive balance of agitation, lyricism and foreboding. Poll was at his best in Schumann’s great Fantasie in C Major, Op. 17. The opening movement was involving, fluid and rapturous but with a bracing toughness, and the chorale section was very fine. He clearly understood the structure of the work, which is not a simple matter, and knew what different sections and phrases meant to him and how they related to each other. That’s the way complex pieces like this sound focused and exciting in the hands of the best musicians, it’s the intellectual aspect of musicality that connects the brain to the ears. Everything worked in his playing, he held onto the line and form throughout the striding ‘Mässig’ movement, and showed a real understanding of Schumann’s interpolation of the theme from Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata. The Fantasie can be a highly poetic piece, but Poll played it with an expression of earthy emotions, which was both appropriate to the music and refreshing to hear. In this most difficult piece on his program, he revealed an excellent breadth and focus, and superb musicality.

 

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