Discography

Paderewski Concert Works

Winner of the 2012 “Fryderyk” Award by the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry

Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.17

Polish Fantasy in G-sharp minor, Op.19

The Orchestra of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic in Białystok, Marcin Nałęcz-Niesiołowski

DUX Recording DUX0733 (Recorded November 2010, Białystok Philharmonic Hall, Poland, released 2011)

Reviews

Paderewski Piano Concerto

BBC Music Magazine

Paderewski’s superb Piano Concerto, almost in the league of Grieg and Tchaikovsky, and the sparkling Polish Fantasy receive fiery treatment here. Kenner is excellent /CM/

Paderewski: Piano Concerto; Polish Fantasy

American Record Guide

Absolutely inspired collaboration between a master artist of the keyboard and a great orchestra

Kevin Kenner is a 48-year-old pianist born in southern California who took top prize at the 1990 International Chopin Competition in Warsaw and also studied with Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Conservatory before achieving worldwide renown. Marcin Nalecz-Niesiolowski was born in the Polish seaport of Gdynia and has led the Orchestra of the Padlasie Opera and Philharmonic (as it is known today) as well as its predecessor, the Bialystok Philharmonic, with consummate dedication and mastery going back to 1997. Together they have given us a pairing of the Piano Concerto and Polish Fantasy of Ignacy Jan Paderewski that must surely rank at or very near the top of a daunting array. The notes tell us that while in Warsaw Kenner saw first hand the fervor of the Polish people with the rise of Solidarność and soon became almost a Pole by adoption. But you really don’t need to read the notes to appreciate that: it is evident in every phrase, every pregnant pause, every step of the pungent Polish dances that color both of these flavorsome and robust repasts.And what a wonderful concerto this is! Steeped in Polish folk culture, this is no lamentation of a subjugated people but an effusive outpouring of song, spurred on by pointed dance rhythms — the mazurka, kujawiak and krakowiak — that set the soul on fire and compel all who hear them — be they Poles or not — to shove aside their chars and join willy-nilly in the revels. It’s not a flashy piece in the manner of Liszt; yet it’s by no means a piece for beginners either.

The Fantasy is more flamboyant, a highly spiced tribute to the homeland he loved. Listening to Kenner I soon set aside as irrelevant any attempt at detailed comparison. I hardly needed to take any notes at all, so wonderfully idiomatic and rhythmically adroit is this fine pianist. Just as both pieces stand as Paderewski’s nationalist homage, so seamlessly does this Californian master of the keyboard mesh with the Polish musicians that it might easily be seen for what it really is: Kenner’s homage to the tireless energy and spirit of the Polish people.

Just a few scattered observations that I retrieved from my scribbled scrawls: what a light touch this man Kenner has, what clean fingering in passages that would have a lesser man struggling to stay afoot — for example the sweeping arc around 4:10 into the finale of the concerto — or 16 minutes into the Fantasy. How effortlessly he tosses it all off without ever compromising tone or accuracy. What luscious tone and deeply felt sentiment Kenner finds in the rapt ‘Romanza’ of the concerto, and what raffish wit he displays in that final dance starting 13 minutes into the Fantasy. This is no carbon copy concerto and Fantasy churned out to fill a void in Dux’s catalog: this is an absolutely inspired collaboration between a master artist of the keyboard and a great orchestra and conductor who clearly revere Paderewski and everything this noble and stirring music stands for. Listen to the way the music swells with pride at the close of the concerto, rising to its full height as soloist and orchestra join in a gesture of Solidarność of their own. You don’t have to be a Pole to feel this music in your very heart and soul. And even if you already have both of these pieces well represented on your shelf, you’ll want to hear this, for it is truly splendid in every way and a credit to Dux’s growing repertory of Polish masterworks.

I won’t even waste our Editor’s time and yours going down the long list of other available recordings (look at Nov/Dec 2002), but I would especially recommend Ewa Kupiec (Sept/Oct 1999) and Thomas Tirino (Newport: July/Aug 1992); and I’d also add the most recent entry by Piotr Paleczny with Jerzy Maksymiuk and the Sinfonia Varsovia (May/June 1994). You might also want to include Earl Wild’s mad escapade with Arthur Fiedler (Ivory; Nov/Dec 2007) as a sort of “guilty pleasure”, brash and brazen but exhilarating in its own madcap way. These are the cream of the crop.

Kenner has you on the edge of your seat

Classic FM, London

Kenner has you on the edge of your seat

Chopin Resonances

Kevin Kenner explores Chopin and Beyond, selected as ‘Editor’s Choice’ by Gramophone

Balakirev Nocturne No 2

Crumb Makrokosmos, Vol 2 – Dream Images

Debussy Etude – No. 11

Bill Evans The Peace Piece

Paderewski Nocturne, Op 16 No 4

Scriabin Etude, Op 8 No 12

Szymanowski Mazurka, Op 50 No 2

Chopin Berceuse. Etude, Op 25 No 1.

Chopin Fantasie-Impromptu

Chopin Prelude, Op 28 No 14

Chopin Mazurka – Op 7 No 2a

Chopin Mazurka – Op 17 No 2

Chopin Mazurka – Op 56 No 2.

Reviews

Chopin Resonances

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/ , Bryce Morrison

A record to fascinate even the most blasé listener

This is Chopin presented with a difference. For here Kevin Kenner follows a reeling path, moving effortlessly from Chopin through related composers (Scriabin, Szymanowski, etc.) to Bill Evans (who I once had the rare privilege of hearing in the hallucinatory and narcotic atmosphere of a Dallas nightclub) and George Crumb. To crown everything, all the performances by this American but European-based multi-prize-winning pianist are of unwavering mastery and musicianship, with towering but never forced strength and a rubato and nuance both personal and telling. He is exceptionally glittering and stylish in Chopin’s Fantasie-Impromptu (later making a ghostly reappearance in Crumb’s Dream Images) and offers a tantalising glimpse of Balakirev’s extensive but little-recorded repertoire in his Second Nocturne, music enriched with the composer’s elegant and conversational brilliance.

One mystery remains. Kenner’s own fine essay makes no mention of a lavish arrangement of Chopin’s Mazurka, Op.7 No.2. This is sufficiently piquant and startling to raise eyebrows and I was reminded of Moisewitsch’s mischievous delight in teasing his audience with one delectable but unannounced encore after another. Everything is beautifully recorded on a light-toned instrument quite without alien heaviness or texture. This is a record to fascinate even the most blasé listener and I can scarcely wait to hear this superb and enterprising artist in further recordings.

Chopin Resonances

http://www.musicalpointers.co.uk/reviews , Peter Grahame Woolf

Exceptional, counting amongst the most subtle and expressive piano playing enjoyed in several years

Kevin Kenner is an American multi-prize-winning pianist, piano professor at the Royal College of Music in London, but new to me though already boasting a substantial discography.

Musical Pointers tends to avoid CD titles, but this one is spot on, completely appropriate. Kenner’s selection, and its ordering, celebrates the transmission of Chopin’s particular traits in works of numerous subsequent composers, sometimes deliberate and obvious (Crumb), mostly transformed in a variety of personal ways. Kenner, clearly a thinker amongst pianists, places them deliberately in “a seamless flow of musical ideas transcending composer, time and place”.

This works superbly.

The performances? They are quite exceptional, counting amongst the most subtle and expressive piano playing enjoyed in several years. A disc which we have played through twice with increased admiration.

And a bonus discovery; like our Daniel Grimwood [cf. Chopin on Erard], Kevin Kenner doubles as a keen fortepianist, and has contributed to the recording of all Chopin’s piano music on fortepiano; hear him in the Ab Impromptu on an 1848 Pleyel.

Piazzoforte

Kevin Kenner and the Piazzoforte Quintet perform Piazzolla Concert Tangos

Winner of the 2006 “Fryderyk” Award by the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry

Michelangelo 70 (arr. Bernard Chmielarz)

Tres piezas para orquestra de camara (arr. Jose Bragato)

Milonga, Muerte and Resurrección del Angel

Oblivion (arr. G. Frankowski)

Revolucionario (arr. G. Frankowski)

Bonus Track: Teledisc of Piazzoforte Project (Video)

Reviews

Piazzoforte — Astor Piazzolla

http://muzyka.gery.pl , Tomasz Byczek

In one word, one can listen to this without end

Performed with bravura, thoughtful, full of inner tension, captivting,,, It would be possible to add yet many other epithets. Words about the CD Piazzoforte put together by the ensemble of the same name, whose director is double bassist Grzegorz Frankowski, and prize winning star of the 1990 International Chopin Competition, pianist Kevin Kenner.

The disc comprises works of the Argentinean composer Astor Piazzolla – master of the tango (or in the words of Piazzolla, “El tango Nuevo” – combining Jewish, jazz, habanera and other rhythmic and melodic musical elements) in arrangements for chamber ensemble of strings and piano. This is not the first meeting of these musicians with the music of Piazzolla – Grzegorz Frankowski was founder of the group Cuarteto Polaco, the first professional music group in Poland to present the works of Piazzolla.

The album opens with the work “Michelangelo 70” – rhythms of the habanera, sharp, powerful sounds of the violin, a melody which rises to a short suspension and ends full of energy. “Tres piezas para orquestra de camara” opens the “Preludium” with the violin’s magical cantilena, which revels in its lyricism. Opening the second movement “Divertimento”, the piano leads a dance gliding through rhythms and melodies. The “Fuga 9”, concluding the cycle, is the real show of these musicians. There is no way to stay in one’s seat (especially at the end of the work). The three-movement “Concierto del Angel” opens in slow tempo with the “Milonga del Angel”, full of nostalgia, lyricism. In complete contrast is the fiery second movement “La muerte del Angel” with its bravura finale. “La resurrección del Angel” with an ingenuous solo piano cadenza. The disc finishes with the most lyrical „Oblivion” and Frankowski’s own arrangement of the volatile „Revolucionario”.

The music recorded on this disc is full of passion. It is heard in every trill, in every sharp pull of the bow, in each plucking of the bass string, in each entrance of the piano. This disc did not appear by accident, but his the result of an authentic musical enchantment, whereby, as Frankowski says, „there is no way to remain indifferent”.

In one word, one can listen to this without end.

Chopin Scherzos

Nocturne in B major, Op.62, No.1

Scherzo No.1 in B minor, Op.30

Scherzo No.2 in B-flat minor, Op.31

Scherzo No.3 in C-sharp minor, Op.39

Scherzo No.4 in E major, Op.54

4 Mazurkas, Op.67

Polonaise in F-sharp minor, Op.44

Polonaise in A-flat major, Op.53

Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op.45

DUX Recording DUX0504 (Recorded 1997 London, Henry Wood Hall, Released 2004)

Reviews

David Saemann comments on Kevin Kenner’s Chopin Scherzos

Fanfare Magazine, David Saemann

…This is a set of the scherzos that is greatly persuasive on repeated hearings

The next disc to be recorded was the one with the scherzos. It was made at Henry Wood Hall in London in 1997, and was produced by the redoubtable Stephen Frost. Kenner’s scherzos really fulfill the meaning of “scherzo,” or “jest.” In the rapid passages, there is a devil-may-care insouciance that puts me in mind of the marvelously virtuosic readings of Philippe Entremont. The contrasting slow sections are another story, though, as Kenner allows himself considerable latitude for emotion and pathos. From a technical standpoint, the Fourth Scherzo is perhaps the most remarkable, with Kenner sustaining fast tempos at softer, beautifully regulated dynamics. Altogether, this is a set of the scherzos that is greatly persuasive on repeated hearings. Kenner’s mazurkas are lithe and gracious, truly “cannons buried under flowers”—as Robert Schumann is quoted in the program notes. The op. 44 Polonaise rumbles along with panache and devilry. As for the “Heroic” Polonaise, Kenner sustains the melodic line beautifully. I almost could hear the dulcet tones of Perry Como singing along with it—in the Tin Pan Alley version, Till the End of Time. Since I like Perry Como, that’s intended as a compliment. After all, Chopin’s melodies should “sing.” The op. 45 Prelude moves as naturally as by osmosis, and the program ends with an evanescent performance of a nocturne, in a Beechamesque touch.

Chopin Preludes

Kevin Kenner’s debut studio recording. BBC Music Magazine’s Adrian Jack acclaimed it as one of the best recordings of the Chopin Preludes.

Chopin Preludes, Op.28

Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante, Op.22

Nocturne Op.27, No.2

Waltz in E minor

Polish Polygram ACD 014

(recorded 1995, Warsaw, released 1995)

Reissued 2009 by DUX Recording DUX0632

Reviews

Colin Clarke comments on Kevin Kenner’s Chopin Preludes

Fanfare Magazine, Colin Clarke

Kevin Kenner’s Chopin exudes that rare combination of warmth and intelligence

Kenner’s reading of the preludes succeeds, it seems to me, because he manages to honor the integrity and character of each prelude but still retain the cumulative sense that leads to that tremendous, final, D-Minor Prelude. … Kevin Kenner’s Chopin exudes that rare combination of warmth and intelligence. In the accompanying interview, Kenner and I discussed the difficult tightrope of conveying the individual character of each prelude while simultaneously giving the feeling of a line that runs through the set, leading to the final, huge D Minor. There are significant highlights en route, of course, and sometimes surprising ones; never, for example, have I heard a more perfectly delivered, shadowy E♭ Minor (No. 14). The ensuing, famous D♭-Prelude (the so-called “Raindrop”) emerges all the more poignant thereafter. Poignancy is a recurrent factor here, experienced perhaps most weepingly in the ever-quieter answering phrases of the brief C Minor, No. 20. Rare, too, is the interior feel of the B♭ that follows. True, there is tremendous competition out there (Pollini and Argerich spring immediately to mind), but this remains a wonderful reading. Perhaps more impressive than anything in the preludes, however, is the way Kenner spins a seemingly never ending cantabile line in the Andante spianato (the robust Grande Polonaise brillante that follows is entirely convincing in its portrayal of national spirit). The Nocturne, op. 27/2, acts as a splendid underlining of Kenner’s affinity for Chopin’s melodic persona. The final, posthumously published E-Minor Waltz acts more as an encore than anything else.

David Saemann comments on Kevin Kenner’s Chopin Preludes

Fanfare Magazine, David Saemann

…One of the important Chopin pianists of our time

This is my first encounter with the playing of Kevin Kenner. Based on these three CDs, I would have to say that he is one of the important Chopin pianists of our time. Winner of the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1990, Kenner plays Chopin with such distinction that his interpretations can be mentioned in the same breath as those of such previous winners as Maurizio Pollini, Martha Argerich, and Garrick Ohlsson. I had the luxury of listening to 10 other recordings of the preludes for this review, and Kenner’s achievement belongs alongside any one of them.

What makes Kenner’s Chopin so special? Sir Colin Davis once said of Berlioz’s music that you never can tell which way the thoroughbred horse will jump. The same is true of Chopin as interpreted by Kenner. At times the pianist is a poet, telling a story with grace and style. At other times, Kenner is a great actor, inhabiting a work so fully that he reveals the composer’s many moods without artifice. As a technician, Kenner is both solid and at times brilliant. His tone is rich and full at all dynamic levels. His fortissimos are never clangorous; his chords always are exquisitely voiced. Cherkassky and de Larrocha may possess a more distinctive tone in Chopin, but Kenner’s tone serves the music just as well. His command of form always is balanced against the need for expression. No matter what the expressive gesture, Kenner’s feeling for Chopin’s musical architecture remains keenly apparent. In sum, Kevin Kenner is a complete artist, both sensitive and inquisitive, and he asserts his artistry quite comprehensively across these three discs.

The disc with the preludes is the earliest of these recordings, made in Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall in 1995. The program notes quote Robert Schumann’s baffled response to the publication of the preludes in 1839: “These are sketches, outlines of études, or if one prefers, ruins, remains, a colorful and chaotic mixture.” Schumann’s reaction indicates the new territory for Romanticism that Chopin had staked out. Like Schubert’s Winterreise , Chopin’s preludes are a radical statement of the Romantic ethos. Kenner seems to feel this, and the dominant mode of his interpretation is, as in the Schubert, tragedy. His tempos are relatively slow but they never drag, filled as they are with the richest expression. From the rocking rhythm of the First Prelude onward, we feel that we are having a special experience. In the longest preludes, Nos. 13, 15, and 17, Kenner subtly modifies the tempo to keep the melodic line alive. The “Raindrop,” No. 15, receives a performance notable for its tragic impulse, rather than the sentimental melancholy with which it often is presented. The final prelude, No. 24, is devastating, and the left hand for once is fully integrated into the work’s drama. Even in the briefest preludes, Kenner achieves a full characterization instead of a modicum of noise. All the other works on this disc are equally successful. The Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise in particular receives a vivacious reading, full of color, idiomatic rhythms, and at times breathtakingly hushed playing.

Ravel Piano Works

Prelude

Miroirs

Valses nobles et sentimentales

La Valse

Pavane pour une Infante defunte

Omagatoki Co. Ltd. OMCC-1008 (recorded 2001, London, released 2001 in Japan)

Reissued 2007 by DUX Recording DUX0558

Reviews

Colin Clarke on Kevin Kenner’s Ravel

Fanfare Magazine, Colin Clarke

…A tremendous voyage of variegated color

…This disc reveals another side to Kenner, one that is able to catch the myriad glistenings of Ravel. Kenner opts for a cleanly articulated approach that is entirely apt. Miroirs becomes a tremendous voyage of variegated color; the juxtaposition of Ravel’s exploration of the waltz ( Valses nobles et sentimentales against La Valse ) is inspired, and the Ravel/Kenner La Valse is a magnificent adventure. The disc ends with the balm of the Pavane.

CDs: Ravel

Scherzo Magazine (Spain), Santiago Martin Bermudez

It is a quintessence of a remarkable musician’s style. Deserves maximum interest.

Kenner plays Ravel

Bartosz Luboń, HiFi Muzyka

Kenner controls the instrument perfectly, still never flaunts his virtuosity – to such extent that while listening to every piece we forget about the pianist’s presence and we only absorb the music.

Schumann Piano Works

Kevin Kenner plays the piano works of Robert Schumann

Davidsbündlertänze, Op.6

Fantasie in C major, Op.17

Arabesque, Op.18

Dux Recording DUX0557 (Recorded June 2006, Warsaw National Philharmonic Hall, released 2007)

Reviews

Colin Clarke comments on Kevin Kenner’s Schumann

Fanfare Magazine, Colin Clarke

…Kenner’s grasp of the Fantasy is superb, culminating in a truly spellbinding finale

Wonderful to see the Schumann Davidbündlertänze on the all-Schumann disc. This sequence of 18 “characteristic pieces” seems woefully underrepresented, especially in the concert hall, a shame as it is delightful and beautifully constructed. Tomasz Jez’s booklet notes are exemplary in their appreciation of this wonderful set. Disc placement plays its part too. We hear the op. 6 first, before the much more famous op. 17 Fantasy, and the one complements the other perfectly. Kenner’s grasp of the latter piece is superb, culminating in a truly spellbinding finale (“Langsam getragen. Durchweg leise zu halten”).

Kevin Kenner: Schumann Davidsbündlertänze, Op.18 … on DUX

Fanfare Magazine, Steven E. Ritter

…Pianism of the highest order…wins me over time and time again

Kevin Kenner is a pianist I had never heard of before, but a quick search of the Web proves him to have garnered some impressive accolades, especially in Europe. He has a good number of CDs under his belt, none of which seem to have made it to Fanfare yet (until now) for reasons I cannot fathom, for this is pianism of the highest order. While there are some things I disagree with interpretatively, Kenner plays with such clarity and perfect delineation of line that he wins me over time and time again.

The League of David Dances was praised highly by me in Paolo Giacometti’s excellent performance ( Fanfare 33:1), and I have always retained a high regard for Wilhelm Kempff’s recording as well. I think, after several hearings, that Kenner matches those two lustrous readings. Of course with any popular Schumann work the recordings are legion and it is very difficult to justify even attempting to select one best, but critically that is my job so there you have it. With the Fantasy it is even worse as the work is so popular and so well played by so many pianists. Richter holds court with this one fairly substantially, but so do Brendel and many others, the piece surprisingly vulnerable to a lot of interpretative nuances. But even though Kenner takes a few liberties with the score, he is able to carve a deeply moving sculpture out of Schumann’s opus, especially the final shimmering, moving last movement, where the hidden esoteric counterpoint in the work, often overlooked even by the greats, is thrust forward into a brilliant profile. The Arabesque is one of my favorite pieces, and Horowitz has always ruled the roost for me, but Kenner gets just about everything right, eclipsing Giacometti’s also very fine reading that now sounds a little too careful to me.

Schumann’s Fantasy Pieces features the alternating egos of Florestan and Eusebius, and the composer himself, having split from Clara, was undergoing some serious soul-searching that might have found its way into this series of very introspective and simultaneously chip-on-the-shoulder vignettes. Kenner guages them beautifully, offering Schumann a reprieve from his consternation and making this music reflective of the human condition in general and not just the lone problems of one man. Chopin is a specialty of Kenner if the press releases and number of recordings are to be believed; this one Fantasy whets my appetite for more, though I cannot say it ranks with the best I have heard—currently I favor Kissin on RCA.

The Beethoven here is the most wayward of the bunch—Kenner has a lot of proving to do in order to convince me of his Beethoven credentials. Part of the difficulty may lie in the concept of this album, Fantasy . The “Moonlight” Sonata is still a sonata first, with only a hint of fantasy as a constitutive element that helps to ascertain the favor and feeling of the work. But a true fantasy it is not, and Kenner tends to play up the wrong aspects of the score.

But one bad apple doesn’t spoil the whole bag, and I am very happy to have discovered a pianist with so many gifts and fresh opinions to offer, and who also has the advantage of displaying his many gifts for a record company like Dux that has seen fit to provide him some sensational sound. Both discs decidedly recommended.

Schumann Davidsbündlertänze

HiFi Muzyka, Hanna & Andrzej Milewscy

Kevin Kenner feels perfectly with a lapidary form of Davidbündlertänze. He plays with elegance and bravura at the same time, spinning a lively, fascinating story from individual links of the cycle.

Chopin Impromptus

Performance on an 1848 Pleyel piano. Received a 5-star rating by France’s “Diapason”

Prelude, Op.45

Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op.66

Scherzo No.3 in C-sharp minor, Op.39

Impromptu in F-sharp major, Op.36

Nocturne in B major, Op.32, No.1

Nocturne in A-flat major, Op.32, No.2

Impromptu in A-flat, Op.29

Polonaise in C minor, Op.40, No.2

Prelude in A-flat, WN 44

Impromptu in G-flat major, Op.51

Reviews

Colin Clarke comments on Kevin Kenner’s Chopin Impromptus

Fanfare Magazine, Colin Clarke

The recording is fabulous…a most satisfying listening experience

…The other recent disc features Kenner on an 1848 Pleyel piano (built at the Royal Fortepiano Factory in Paris with an English-type mechanism) and features works written from 1832 to 1842. It begins with one of his two recordings here of the op. 45 Prelude. None of its poignant power is lost via informed historical performance; now, however, the power is underscored by a brittle feeling that seems to imply vulnerability. The recording is fabulous, too, with the instrument never losing tonal depth in the upper registers. The intelligent programming leads to a most satisfying listening experience. The Pleyel’s action seems to suit the fluid Fantasy-Impromptu. Listeners used to the more sonorous tone of a modern concert grand may find that the op. 39 Scherzo loses some of its power, especially in the louder chordal passages. It is all gain, though, in the beautifully ululating op. 36 Impromptu and the op. 32 Nocturnes. Kenner makes us wish the brief (:41) Presto con leggierezza lasted longer; he is all fantasy in the impromptus. Finally, a gift of the op. 59 Mazurkas, delivered with impeccable style and flair. The disc of scherzos and other works for solo piano, DUX 0504, enables us to hear the op. 39 Scherzo and the op. 45 Prelude on a modern instrument. Kenner adjusts his reading perfectly. The modern instrument results in a loss of the brittle undercurrent referred to above, but seems to add a depth to the statement. Fascinating to compare the two performances, each as valid as the other. The scherzos speak of heroic things. Kenner is undaunted by any technical challenges, and so it is that the leaps of op. 31 sound as fearless, and as risky, as they might be in a concert hall. There is no sense of hesitancy about the B Minor, op. 20, either. Time and time again, though, it is in the smaller gems that Kenner impresses; here, despite the overt patriotism of the two polonaises, it is the op. 67 Mazurkas that, shining and glistening, remain most set in the memory afterward.

Classical CD Reviews: Chopin Four Impromptus

Audiophile, Gary Lemco

American virtuoso Kevin Kenner contributes thirteen pieces towards The National Edition of Fryderyk Chopin’s Complete Works

Performing on an instrument typical of Chopin’s own era, an 1848 Pleyel built at the Royal Fortepiano Factory in Paris, American virtuoso Kevin Kenner (b. 1963) contributes thirteen pieces towards The National Edition of Fryderyk Chopin’s Complete Works. The earliest of the pieces are two: the C-sharp Minor Fantasie-Impromptu, Op. 66 and the slight Preludium in A-flat Major (Presto con leggeriezza), from 1834. The late pieces, G-flat Impromptu (1842) and Three Mazurkas, Op. 59 (1845) reveal the artistic and harmonic growth of this most idiosyncratically original of all the Romantic pianist-composers.

Kenner, whom I recently reviewed for his recital in San Jose, CA, enjoys exploring the stylistic permutations in Chopin, and this strong recital taped in Warsaw (17-19 March 2009) demonstrates the power and flexibility of Chopin’s own instrument, given its range of 82 keys. The soft delicacy of timbre that infuses the opening C-sharp Minor Prelude and the second of the impromptus, the F-sharp Major, Op. 36, more than suggest a combination of poetry and power accessible to the temperamental Polish nationalist who embraced the Parisian cosmos as his own. Many of the works incorporate not only brilliant roulades and instrumental flourishes that approximate the vocal bel canto style, but exploit a variation principle Chopin found congenial for chromatic experimentation. That very sense of improvised harmony comes forth well in the F-sharp Major and G-flat Impromptus, each of which applies Chopin’s audacious harmony to an idiosyncratic variation technique.

The light action of the 1848 instrument still carries an emotional clout and formidable resonance, as in the Polonaise in c Minor, Op. 40, No. 2, its C Minor authority rife with dark menace. The familiar Fantasie-Impromptu cascades in robust fioritura, elegant in its middle section that may have us chasing rainbows. The brilliant Prelude in A-flat (1834) flutters by in silken arpeggios. The two Op. 32 Nocturnes convey salon nostalgia and bel canto arioso at once, especially the B Major’s invocation of Les Sylphides. The monumental C-sharp Minor Scherzo perhaps rings less forcefully than it does on the modern grand piano, but its alteration of declamatory chords and fiery runs proves engaging as it had at Kenner’s San Jose concert, which specifically featured the complete set of Scherzi. The late set of three Mazurkas, Op. 59 celebrate the composer’s national soul ever more authentically in this instrumental guise, the passing metric subtleties lingering between waltz and aristocratic or peasant dance. Intimate and explosive simultaneously, these purely rhythmic kernels seem always poised for both militant gallantry and earthy dalliance.

Chopin Ballades

Ballade No.1 in G minor, Op.23

Ballade No.2 in F major, Op.38

Ballade No.3 in A-flat major, Op.47

Ballade No.4 in F minor, Op.52

Barcarolle, Op.60

Nocturne in C-sharp minor, O.p. (Lento con gran espressione)

DUX Recording DUX0521 (Recorded 2004, Bydgoszcz, Poland, Philharmonic Hall, released 2005)

Reviews

Colin Clarke comments on Kevin Kenner’s Chopin Ballades

Fanfare Magazine, Colin Clarke

…One of the most purely beautiful accounts I have heard

…The structure and shape of the ballades is tricky, as the pianist must convey in the lyrical passages that the music is on the simmer, liable to explode at any moment. This Kenner achieves, and it is doubly impressive as his rubato can be daring in its elasticity. Perhaps it is Kenner’s own excitement at pushing forward his own boundaries that we, the listeners, respond to. The First Ballade exemplifies Kenner’s approach perfectly. Jewel-like articulation at speed rubs against reflective moments where he seems to be thinking out loud; even in the traditionally relentlessly hair-raising coda, this friction exists. Again, the Second Ballade has moments of heartbreaking innigkeit . Perhaps here the more overtly virtuosic sections could explode just a little more, but the reading fascinates throughout. Perhaps Kenner does not quite keep the tension throughout the Third Ballade, but the Fourth is one of the most purely beautiful accounts I have heard.

David Saemann comments on Kevin Kenner’s Chopin Ballades

Fanfare Magazine, David Saemann

…No one with an interest in the state of Chopin performance today can afford to be unaware of Kevin Kenner

The ballades CD was the last of these three to be recorded, in 2005 at the Pomeranian Philharmonic Concert Hall. It is the CD with the best sound, clear and full, although the other discs certainly are very good. You really can appreciate the beauty of Kenner’s tone on this CD. In the softer sections of the ballades, Kenner doesn’t appear to play the melodies as much as he caresses them. This is storytelling of a highly elevated nature, which I think is what Chopin had in mind in creating the extra-literary ballad. Each ballade here is a miniature drama. One can imagine them being played as the accompaniment to a silent film, yet who can say what the images of that film might be? In truth, Kenner is a greater performer and actor in interpreting this music than a visual performance of any actor could pretend to be. Even though Kenner seems to play the ballades with considerable freedom, he never makes a dramatic misstep. I simply love this performance. The last ballade left me nearly in tears the first time I heard it. In the Barcarolle, Kenner makes much of the Italianate substance of the melody, yet we are always aware through the harmony (exquisitely accentuated with the pedal) that this is Polish music. It’s a Polish barcarolle. Once again, Kenner ends his recital with a delicate performance of a nocturne. The only down side to this CD is its short playing time.

When confronted with artistry of this caliber, comparisons are invidious. Just to put my cards on the table, I will mention that I like Daniel Barenboim in the preludes, Marta Deyanova in the scherzos, and Evgeny Kissin in the ballades, although a full evaluation of the discography for these works is beyond the scope of this review. I note from Kevin Kenner’s Web site that he has recorded Chopin on a period instrument for the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Poland, a CD I am eager to hear. For the time being, I’ll content myself with saying that no one with an interest in the state of Chopin performance today can afford to be unaware of Kevin Kenner. Enthusiastically recommended.

Fantasy

An exploration of different composers’ employment of the Fantasy

Beethoven Sonata quasi una fantasia, Op.27, No.2 (Moonlight)

Schumann Fantasiestücke, Op.12

Chopin Fantaisie in F minor, Op.49

DUX Recording DUX0633 (Recorded May 2008 Opole, Poland, Philharmonic Hall, released 2009)

Reviews

Colin Clarke comments on Kevin Kenner’s ‘Fantasy’

Fanfare Magazine, Colin Clarke

…This is Kenner at his best

…The elusive op. 49 Chopin Fantasy finds Kenner in top form, its melancholy perfectly projected, as is its power. Lines seem improvised; this is Kenner at his best. The Schumann Phantasiestücke is given a performance characterized by molten, liquid legato. The innigkeit here is thoroughly that of Schumann. If Kenner does not have the incendiary streak of Argerich (live, EMI 57101), his grasp of Schumann’s elusive world is never in doubt. The Beethoven effortlessly provides a trajectory from reflective to virtuoso (and even to fierce utterances in the finale).

Kevin Kenner: Schumann Davidsbündlertänze, Op.18 … on DUX

Fanfare Magazine, Steven E. Ritter

…Pianism of the highest order…wins me over time and time again

Review: Fantasy

http://www.musicweb-international.com , Kevin Sutton

A fine discovery… delivered with great finesse

The idea of the Fantasy – Fantasie, Fantasia, Phantasy … pick your preferred spelling – has been around for a few hundred years. And why not? What would be more tempting to a composer than to let his or her imagination run free, unrestrained by the rules of form? Works by some of the earliest keyboard composers in the early sixteenth century bear the title. The romantic composers had a field day with the genre, producing some magnificent and original works.

Beethoven’s two sonatas Op. 27, which bear the name “quasi una fantasia”, make use of this musical free-wheeling in their opening movements. The “Moonlight” so named by the poet Heinrich Rellstab when he commented that the first movement reminded him of the moonlight over Lake Lucerne, opens with what in other hands could have been a monotonous chord progression of broken triads, followed by a rather out of character and jaunty second movement. It ends with a c-sharp minor thunderstorm by which a pianist could easily sprain a wrist.

Robert Schumann’s collection of miniatures is intentionally programmatic, each with whimsical titles. Rapid-fire shifts of emotion mark these gems that can at one moment lull the listener into reveries and at the next send him bolting out of his easy-chair.

Chopin gives us a work on a far grander scale, a composition that runs the gamut of emotions from serenity to broad rushes of emotional turbulence.

It is all delivered with great finesse by the American pianist Kevin Kenner, heretofore unknown to me, but who seems to have established a fine working relationship with the Polish Dux label. A musician of excellent pedigree, Mr. Kenner plays with great technical authority and with a fine sensitivity to structure, form, tonal shading and expression. Perfectly able to exhibit technical brilliance, Mr. Kenner chooses to disguise his prowess in subtleties rather than to blast us with unseemly keyboard pyrotechnics. His playing of the much over-recorded Beethoven sonata is governed with impeccable taste. Even the flashy finale is rendered with much elegance, with careful attention to inner voices, and with special care to make the perpetual arpeggios come across with clarity and precision.

His Schumann can be positively dreamy where allowed; powerful and authoritative where appropriate. The contrast between Evening with its serene melody and Soaring with its jet engine power is so pronounced that the shift between movements can be startling.

Finally, Mr. Kenner delivers a beautifully restrained account of Chopin’s Op. 49. It is so easy to romp through Chopin’s music just to show off, and somewhat rare to find a player who has discovered the poetry in the music. Kenner is just such a musician, and he is able, through carefully crafted phrasing and a fine singing melodic line to bring off this music in such a way as to never belie its technical sand traps.

As always, the highest compliment I can pay to a recording is that it left me wanting to hear more from the artist. This is just such a disc. Kevin Kenner is a fine discovery; one that I hope will come to even more international attention in the future.

12th Int’l Chopin Competition Live

Kevin Kenner’s live performance of the 2nd Round of the 1990 Chopin Competition

Nocturne in C minor, Op.48, No.1

Ballade No.4 in F minor, Op.52

Etudes Op.25, No.5 and Op.10, No.12

6 Preludes, Op.28, Nos.13-18

Waltz in A-flat major, Op.42

Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante

Classicord Productions for the Chopin Society (Warsaw, October 1990, National Philharmonic Hall)

Reviews

Polish National Radio Program II, Warsaw, Jan Popis

Kenner achieves the highest level of transcendence…He is a mystic. He comes to us with a message which he reads as a verse from the Bible. He shares with us what he understands from his reading of the ‘Holy Writ’ created by the hand of the composer. These are magnificent and wise readings of Chopin’s score.

Kevin Kenner’s individuality dominates. He states here his own exposition. His musical sensitivity envelopes everything that Chopin said in Op.11 (Concerto No.1). He grasps everything at the highest level of understanding. This is not a case of performing well or even very well on the piano. One must have an inner power even as Kenner has, who in his artistic vision reaches transcendental regions.

Chopin Piano Concertos No.1 and No.2

(DVD with Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Antoni Wit)

Reviews

Kevin Kenner Left the Audience Dreaming

Neue Rhein-Zeitung, Duesseldorf, Antje Olivier

A review of Kevin Kenner’s live performance of the E minor Concerto

The way in which he performed Chopin’s Concerto set standards, standards which have not been heard in many years…. A Chopin style that sounds so musically definitive that all other standards are forgotten….No one else can match his crystal-clear jeu perle and his pianissimo..