Leonid Kogan, the Greatest
Vera Kolb | Kenosha, WI | 11/23/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The most memorable music event in my life, etched deeply in my memory, is the concert of Leonid Kogan which I have heard when I was a very young pre- or teenager growing up in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Here I was, sitting on the balcony, when Maestro Kogan showed up on the stage. His face was very serious, and his body made a unity with his violin. There were no distracting movements of any sort - his face or his body --while he was playing. The music was unbelievably beautiful. It was quite modern and largely unfamiliar to me. Kogan was a missionary from the out-of-this world musical cosmic space who has introduced me to complex music. In those days I was into the romantic composers, and the fast-finger virtuoso music like Paganini's. Kogan played the music which, although unfamiliar, was immensely attractive to me. I was focused on every note and was getting more and more excited as he played. His playing was cool, devoid of any showmanship, and yet had a tremendous emotional impact. He has opened my music horizons for me, and I will be grateful to him forever. After the concert I clapped to distraction, and I remember that I was the last one to leave the concert hall.
I have relived this great event as I listened to this CD in which Kogan plays Prokofiev and Bach. Prokofiev never sounded better, and this is the first time I really can say that I truly loved Prokofiev in my heart, other than, as before, mostly in my brain. I especially liked the Andante movement of the sonata. The texture of Kogan's music, incredibly elaborate dynamics, proper choice of vibrato, several layers of expressiveness, no harshness of the tone ever, are all attributes of the true essence of music which he spun in a masterly fashion. His performance left me as breathless and moved now as it did many years ago.
The Bach I loved. I have other recordings which have Bach's sonatas for violin, but what Kogan did with Bach puts him way above all other performances. Firstly, he does bring Bach's message extremely delicately. Secondly, as Bach has no rests, there is a great danger of becoming monotonous. Not Kogan! He creates subtle accents when necessary, has delicate but highly appropriate dynamics, lots of lyricism, all done in an elegant, understated manner. It does help if one plays the violin, since one can appreciate the mastery of his double stops, bowing in which you cannot hear the bow change, and no jerking attacks of the bow. This is a truly masterful performance.
I was pleasantly surprised, or should I say shocked, when I heard the Allegro assai movement of the Bach, which is one of my favorite practice pieces. I did not like the interpretations of the recordings of other performers which I have, since they clashed with my own. Kogan's interpretation was identical to what I had in mind! I am now wondering if I have heard Kogan play this piece on Radio Belgrade, and this is how I got my interpretation. Yes, we have listened lots of Leonid Kogan and David Oistrakh, his contemporary.
I take this opportunity to publicly apologize to a former student of mine, who was in the course "Freshman Seminar in Science", which I taught many years ago. I have asked the students to write an essay about the greatest scientific discovery that they know about. This young man wrote that it was a discovery of the CD. I was appalled. This student did not distinguish the science from technology. What happen to Newton, whose laws I have covered in my lectures? Well, now I must say that I agree, at least partially, with the student. The apples would still be falling from the trees, even if Newton did not formulate his gravity law. But, without the discovery of the CD, I would not be able to relive the greatness of Leonid Kogan in such an easy and convenient way.
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Track Listings (8) - Disc #1