The final instalment of Auckland Museum's Fazioli International Piano Recital Series featured Nikolai Demidenko, a familiar concerto

soloist with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra of late. Liszt's ingenious transcription of Bach's great G minor Fantasy and Fugue opened the evening. The Fantasy, which can so easily come across as overly fragmented, moved towards its Fugue with singular drive and purpose. In Demidenko's hands, the Fazioli piano lent the Fantasy a special resonance, the Fugue a luminescent clarity. Bach's Italian Concerto had gusto aplenty in its outer movements; the Finale, in particular, was a headlong rush of energy. Demidenko's personal signature could be heard in its subtly blurred chords, as it had been in the singing melody of the slow movement. Liszt's Variations on a theme from Bach's Cantata Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagenshowed Demidenko's skill in catching the architectural span of the piece - there was always a sense of line, even when harmonies were at their most dense. At one point we were enchanted by the "personal harp" that the pianist finds in this instrument and, later on, bewitched by the breath-catching chorale entry,molto pianissimo. Schumann's Piano Sonatas are infrequently heard in concert and, to many, his early F sharp minor work is the most problematic. Heath Lees' finely-turned programme notes made much of Schumann's alter egos of the fiery Florestan and dreamy Eusebius and Demidenko caught the multi-faceted spirits of both. The rhetoric of the Introduction was compulsive, drawing one into the obsessive fandango of the Allegro vivace, which Demidenko set in a brilliant array of colours. The Aria was the ultimate in Schumanesque intimacy, with yearning tenor lines; adrenalin surged through most of the remaining pages until the Finale was a showcase for the pianist's unsparing virtuosity. Demidenko has given us Scarlatti encores before and, on Saturday, two Sonatas by the Italian composer were sleek, streamlined and contemporary in sound. As a third encore, Sgambati's transcription of Gluck's Orfeo's song was a diaphanous delight. And, to cap off a successful season, Rodney Wilson, the Museum's director, announced the Fazioli Series will be back next year, bringing us Martin Roscoe and Alexander Melnik

2013
Demidenko brings out best of Beethoven, Rachmaninov and Schubert pieces in Auckland Museum series.

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Demidenko's virtuosity unleashed the almost frightening power of Schubert's hurtling octaves and obsessive dotted rhythms. The second of Auckland Museum's Fazioli International Recital series had Nikolai Demidenko sweeping us away with memorable pianism and musicianship.

There was nothing random in the Russian's choice of Beethoven, Rachmaninov and Schubert; this was the musical equivalent of a carefully curated exhibition or a thoughtfully compiled anthology of writings. Beethoven's Opus 126 Bagatelles deal out defiant contrasts of mood and style but Demidenko savoured them as if he was their improvising composer. The understated opening Bagatelle beguiled, but the fourth was a staunch march, with the last airing a wry country dance between serene rumble and furious E flat major scales. On Thursday, Demidenko had triumphed in Rachmaninov with Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra; tonight he did so again with the composer's Variations on a theme of Corelli. We had a glimpse of the sad-eyed Sergei in Corelli's theme, but were formally introduced in the sinuous textures of the first variation. Choosing the less fussy alternative in the nineteenth variation, Demidenko sustained the dramatic crescendo of the final pages until Rachmaninov's final, pensive Nocturne. After interval, two Schubert Sonatas, in A major and minor, reminded us of that composer's fondness for exploring the yin and yang of these tonal opposites. The 1819 A major Sonata extended the lilt of its opening Allegro into storming octaves and signed off with an effervescent Rondo; in between, an expressive Andante was a model of telling simplicity. The A minor Sonata, written four years later, pursued darker elements, with an opening theme that almost had a Russian feel to it. Demidenko's virtuosity unleashed the almost frightening power of Schubert's hurtling octaves and obsessive dotted rhythms; yet, when song was required, it was as sweet as could be imagined. Concerned that his first encore, an exquisite Medtner Fairy Tale, might be too sad for us, he opted for the "positive and light" with the last of Schubert'sKlavierstucke. This opened with a wild exuberance that Beethoven would have appreciated but, in the middle section, with a shift to five flats, Demidenko could not resist revealing darker and more mysterious beauties.