A review of the concert on December 17, 2003 by Lyn Bronson.

Pianist Alexander Tselyakov appeared in recital last night at the Petit Trianon in San Jose. This event was sponsored by Steinway Society, the Bay Area. Mr. Tselyakov announced from the stage during his encores that he will be appearing at Carnegie Hall on January 20.

The program was an interesting one consisting entirely of Russian composers. We heard Tchaikovsky’s Variations in F Major, Scriabin’s Deux Poemes, Album Leaf and Etude in D# Minor, several shorter pieces by Rachmaninoff in addition to the Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Minor, and finally to end the program: Shchedrin’s Sonata No. 1.

Performing at the Petit Trianon, a hall with a capacity of approximately 300, is an intimate affair. Although the audience numbered about 260 people, it is significant, however, that Mr. Tselyakov treated the occasion as though he were playing for 2600 people at Carnegie Hall. Climaxes were so overpowering that several people early in the concert right after the Scriabin D# Minor Etude moved from the front row to the rear of the hall.

The house piano is a very fine Steinway B, and although we have to admire its many sterling qualities, it obviously lacks the full, resonant bass that a nine-foot Steinway D can provide. Mr. Tselyakov was therefore strutting his stuff in a Buick, while he actually needed a Cadillac.

These two aspects of the concert, Mr. Tselyakov’s constant overplaying, and the utilization of a smaller piano than was needed for the occasion, served to diminish the impact of his considerable talents. There is no question that he is the complete pianist and musician. His technical equipment is formidable, and his tonal palette is capable of an enormously wide range of dynamics and shadings.

Thus, when you are as much of a master of your craft as Alexander Tselyakov is, the choices you make are very significant indeed. Those of us who admire the great pianists of the past are constantly struck with the fact that artists of the stature of Rachmaninoff, Moisewitsch, Lhevinne, and Gieseking produced big lush, gorgeous sounds, but they never banged, and they never produced an ugly sound.

That Mr. Tselyakov can produce a restrained loveliness was occasionally in evidence. There were some exquisite moments in the development section of the first movement of the Rachmaninoff Sonata, in the Scriabin Album Leaf, and in two of the Rachmaninoff smaller pieces (the Prelude in G Major and the Elegy).

And the Scriabin Etude in D# Minor was fabulous, for in this etude, he instinctively knew when to scale back the dynamics to set up for the succeeding climaxes, and he shaped the phrases as well as anybody alive today. I don’t believe I have ever heard a better performance of this work.
Where we were really disappointed was in the exquisite slow movement of the Rachmaninoff Sonata. Here his cantabile was forced, and he insisted on pounding out inner notes that he considered more significant than the primary melodic line. This destroyed the integrity, and ultimately the charm, of this wonderful movement.

The Shchedrin Sonata that closed the concert received a magnificent performance with precise rhythmic thrust and a wonderful momentum that carried it through from beginning to end. However, it was overplayed and contained climaxes that were pounded out mercilessly.

Mr. Tselyakov speaking from the stage during his encores (a Scarlatti Sonata, Flight of the Bumblebee and Chopin “Revolutionary” Etude) told us that he was donating the proceeds of the evening’s concert to the Red Cross as a contribution to the victims of the September 11th tragedy.

After this concert was over, I was wondering in my mind whether this is the same program that he will perform at Carnegie Hall for a larger audience on a nine-foot Steinway concert grand might be a much greater success.

Having a curious nature, at home I accessed the Carnegie Hall web page, and discovered that Mr. Tselyakov is not playing on January 20th in the large hall at Carnegie (now called Isaac Stern Hall), but rather in the smaller Carnegie Recital Hall (now called Weil Concert Hall).