Valentina Lisitsa Makes a Solo Debut at the 92nd Street Y
The dynamic Ukrainian-born pianist Valentina Lisitsa fullyacknowledges there was savvy reinvention in the way she jump-started her stalled career to become a YouTube sensation and a touring artist with a prestigious Decca recording contract. The combination of her fluid, impetuous playing and her glamorous persona proved ideal for the Internet. She has over 100,000 YouTube subscribers and has had more than 60 million views.
On Saturday night, Ms. Lisitsa, 43, made her New York solo recital debut in a program that opened the season at the 92nd Street Y. Her performances of works by Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, Chopin and Liszt showed that her success is backed up by enormous talent and technical flair.
Still, Ms. Lisitsa’s determination to stand out also came through in her playing. She opened with a dreamy account of the gentle Prelude in G (Op. 32, No. 5), the first of six Rachmaninoff Preludes on the program. Yet, in the nobly tragic Prelude in B minor (Op. 32, No. 10), the performance became hectic and muddled. And she made the ecstatic Prelude in B flat (Op. 23, No. 2) a superfast and showy mess.
Further reading: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/21/arts/music/valentina-lisitsa-makes-a-solo-debut-at-the-92nd-street-y.html?ref=anthonytommasini
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