“Voice beyond words”, International Piano Magazine, Octobre 2022
Russian-born pianist Irina Lankova has long made her home in Europe, where she brings the traditions of deep expression and singing piano tone to a wide range of repertoire. She tells Michael Johnson about her new recording that matches Scriabin with Chopin
When pianist Irina Lankova arrived in Europe in 1997 she was already an advocate of the golden tone and deep expression she had learned at Moscow’s Gnessin Academy. She carried with her a diploma rated ‘with highest distinction’.
Lankova emigrated to Belgium at the age of 18 to continue her piano studies, entering the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in the class of professor and pianist Evgeny Mogilevsky. Her career is now in another growth phase after devoting time during the pandemic lockdowns to recording two more albums.
Lankova’s current schedule is super-charged with prestigious venues for her solo recitals. She played at the Salle Cortot in Paris on 8 April, followed by her Carnegie Hall debut at the Weill Recital Hall on 13 May. In October she will play at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and then at the Esprit du Piano festival in Bordeaux. Meanwhile she tours Europe to promote her current album, Elégie, her personal selection of emotional pieces by Rachmaninov, Schubert/Liszt and Bach. Each piece has an intimate and deep meaning and holds a special meaning for her.
In downtime, if any, she is preparing a new album that will pair Scriabin with Chopin. Due for release late next year, her programme will combine the ‘finesse, the sensuality and the exaltation’ of these two musical worlds. Chatting with her by phone from Bordeaux, I probed for an example of this crossover. She found the connection in the ‘extremely refined music’ both of them produced. She says she was attracted by the exaltation of the soul, differently expressed.
‘When playing Scriabin’s Fantasie in B Minor Op 28, certain passages give me the same feeling, the same exaltation, that one finds in Chopin, like his first Ballade.’ This forthcoming CD represents her preference for her personal choices. ‘I am not interested in recording this or that opus just for a catalogue listing,’ she says. All of her previous six CDs are selected for their personal resonances.
Along with her interprétations, she opens with a short presentation of the music and where it came from. She does not try to explain it – “the music speaks for itself”, she says. Her aim is to give some keys to enhancing listening and creating an unconventional experience where everyone feels welcomed.
And yet she can take the audience to the depths of emotion. ‘It is not unusual for audience members to leave in tears. I also cry, at least internally, when I play.’ Public performance has become second nature to her. She is aware that pressures for perfection can be problematic, sometimes exaggerated by ‘perfect’ recordings. ‘Music can be very demanding but we don’t have to destroy ourselves to bring it to the world.’
She knows whereof she speaks. A few years ago she suffered a blackout while playing a recital. She was recovering from a personal trauma that left her vulnerable. ‘I was not in the right place,’ she recalls. For some time afterward she was unable to play from memory. But her aim was to rediscover her confidence and do away with the score in public. Through therapy, hypnosis and support of friends and family she has returned to playing by heart. ‘Now I feel free again and I love it.’
The liner notes in some of her CDs reveal her view of the world. In her 2006 collection of Scriabin pieces, she quotes the composer as saying he sought ‘in the mystic sphere’ a response the question of the meaning of life, and chose art and music as the ultimate element to transform the world and his relation to it. ‘This is the choice I too have made,’ she concludes.
International Piano Magazine, Michael Johnson October 2022