MUSIKA VIVA! Journal December 2003 Sofia, Bulgaria



The Perfect German Sound

By Tomislav Vitchev

I can claim quietly that the concert of Andreas Henkel, a young piano player from Dresden, was one of the most important music events of the year. Only few could listen to him on 27^th November in the "Bulgaria" hall. Henkel presented works by Bach and Liszt, and in reverence to the Bulgarian public he included a piece of Pantcho Wladigeroff. I will not discuss the pieces in detail, but I will try briefly to analyze his performance. What has always impressed me in the German pianists is their touch. Henkel has the authentic German touch, that we know from Kempff, Gieseking and Backhaus. I always admired the German way of drawing out sounds - it's reserved, sometimes cool, but always precise and perfect. There is still a secret remaining in the German touch, which in Bulgaria, unfortunately, is not yet "deciphered" by our pianists.
When I listen to Bach, interpreted by Henkel, I can find myself in this epoch - with the corresponding feelings, emotions and thoughts. Not casually Andreas Henkel recorded a CD only with Bach-works - this composer is one of the most difficult to interpret and few pianists have left a trace with his works in the music industry. During our talk after the concert Andreas Henkel told me that his decision to enter into the advanced world of his favorite composer Bach was a very difficult one. The forms, painted by the artist, were surprising - with very gentle contrasts from pianissimo until fortissimo, very far away from the standard interpretation. Here in Bulgaria we got used to our ways (for example Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue" is played like "that"!), but Andreas Henkel convinced the public, that Bach is not only black-white. I was also impressed by the performance of the  Liszt where, in contrast with the more reserved Bach-part, other interesting traits of the German pianist came out - his liveliness, his humor and his incredible virtuosity. Two encores followed, only just enough to reward the demanding public.
Finally I want to thank Andreas Henkel, that he made it possible between his many other concerts in Europe, to come on his expenses to Sofia, kindly supported only by the "Ellion Arts" foundation of Zdravka Samsonova. A future project of Henkel's is another performance planned for next year in Bulgaria - the performance of Tschaikovsky's 2^nd piano concerto with the Sofia Philharmonic orchestra. We shall wait for this with bated breath.

Translated from the German translation of Nadeshda Savova.