Concert Review | Nicolas Namoradze: A Thousand Clear Mirrors

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Stepping in at the last minute for the great Sergei Babayan who had to cancel his concert at the Bach Festival due to a merciless flu, Georgian pianist Nicolas Namoradze faced a daunting task.

On the evening of Thursday, November 30, 2023, a packed Bourgie Hall awaited with uncertainty, torn between the disappointment of missing a recurrent headliner of the festival and the curiosity of hearing his replacement. Accustomed to the pearly sound, dynamic richness, extraordinary expressive range, and intellectual depth of Babayan—a pianist who pours his entire self into his performance—the listeners wondered what kind of show they were about to witness.

“It’s never easy to replace someone,” admits Mr. Namoradze. “When you prepare for your own concert, you know the audience is familiar with your playing and your sound. They came to hear you. But in this case, it takes time to establish a connection with an audience that expected something very different,” emphasizes the 2018 Honens Competition winner.

Indeed, the beginning of the concert seemed like a musical reconnaissance, a tentative engagement from both sides. Starting with his own composition, “Memoirs of the Georgian Song” by Rachmaninov, Namoradze revealed himself as a subtle craftsman of sonic gradation. Exploring the colours of the piano’s highest register, various atonal motifs intersect and repeat, concealing the vague contours of a melody in the central regions of the piano. An intriguing piece that hints at a uniquely creative mind and a distinct pianistic personality.

The first of the two J.S. Bach works on the program, “The Art of Fugue BWV 1080: Counterpoint VI,” was a real test for the pianist playing for an audience familiar with Bach interpretations by Babayan, Schiff, and other luminaries who had been guests at the festival in recent years. Namoradze plays Bach with a special sensitivity to colours, subtle dynamic gradations, and purely pianistic sounds. He doesn’t seem concerned with adhering to the codes of historical interpretation with regards to phrasing, articulation, voice transparency, or pedal usage, choosing instead to explore a more impressionistic palette.

This approach lends itself well to Ligeti’s Study No. 11. His playing is skillfully adapted to the luminous sonority and harmonic and melodic sophistication of the Hungarian master. A wonderful interpretation, with a sensitive touch and the detachment needed to outline the contours of modern musical architecture. Possessing an exceptional analytical mind, Namoradze selects every sound he produces with impeccable taste and care. An unusually refined pianist who does not let himself be carried away by emotion, Namoradze reminds one of something Heinrich Neuhaus said about Sviatoslav Richter: the ability to grasp the work in whole as well as in its finest details. Another surprising characteristic of the New York-based Georgian artist: he sits perfectly upright, almost immobile. A posture reminiscent of Vladimir Horowitz—without the emotional and neurotic explosion resulting in an outburst of dB. Namoradze’s playing is perfectly controlled: his performance is clear, shimmering with a thousand sonic reflections emerging from his overflowing imagination.

The French Suite No. 1 in D minor is performed with astonishing flexibility, revealing the warmth of the pianist for the first time. The real surprise, however, is that under Namoradze’s fingers, the suite does not seem composed of Baroque dances but rather beautiful pastiches, almost like miniature watercolours. His approach is modern, pianistic, refined in many ways, yet without acknowledging the stylistic sensitivity one might have expected. A slight disappointment, leaving a confused impression.

It is finally in his own transcription of the adagio from Sergei Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony that Namoradze truly opens his heart. Nobility, elegance, taste, refinements: all his splendid qualities are now engaged with great warmth and emotion coming from a more intimate and personal place. The connection gradually builds with the audience, and the pianist now seems more at ease.

In the last Schubert piano sonata, constituting the second part of the concert, Nicolas Namoradze reveals himself as the perfect interpreter. All the qualities that were made out through an impenetrable curtain now unfold in a splendid mosaic. Namoradze possesses the perfectly balanced sensitivity to express Schubert’s sweetness, the intellectual rigour to grasp the wisdom and premature introspection of the young composer, and the deep musicality to gauge the delicate relationship between innocence and death, themes prevalent in his late works. In an outstanding interpretation of the Sonata in B-flat major, Namoradze tells a captivating story for nearly 40 minutes. A gifted narrator, he effortlessly navigates the most intricate labyrinths characteristic of the development sections in Schubert’s late sonatas. Who would have suspected that he was in Amsterdam less than 48 hours ago, landing in New York on Wednesday evening?

By the end of the concert, the pianist whom we first admired from afar, more than we loved, has become the pianist we love to admire. Finally understood and appreciated for his true worth, the audience acclaimed Namoradze at the still resounding final chords of his magnificent Schubert. No doubt invigorated by the fantastic reception he received, Namoradze embarked on a series of encores, taking the audience—and himself—to dizzying pianistic heights. A peerless poet in Scriabin’s Study Op. 42 No. 4, Namoradze completely unleashes himself in the Russian composer’s Second sonata. A sumptuous pianist, a sound philosopher, and a researcher in neuropsychology—the brilliant young Juilliard professor is a unique artist, playing with a balanced restraint, surprising intellectual and emotional honesty, as well as exquisite taste and finesse. A welcome discovery for the Montreal. With gratitude and compliments to the Bach Festival for its judicious choice.