After a stunning set at St. George’s Church for last year’s Great Escape, Ukrainian composer and two-time “world’s fastest pianist” Lubomyr Melnyk took to the Komedia stage on Tuesday for two separate sets.
The first found the bearded 67-year old tackling the likes of Parasol, Butterfly and I Love You, all rich in what he called ‘continuous music’ – long passages where the on screen close ups of his whirring hands revealed just how he became a record holder.
But such speed belied the slow, plaintive beauty in his melodies, with Butterfly particularly blossoming out into a crescendo of notes that seemed to come at the audience from all angles.
But it was the sole piece in the second half, Windmill, which many of the hardcore were waiting for.
It did not disappoint. The life cycle of a windmill was stunningly portrayed, from slow summer turns, through what Melnyk described beforehand as “boring windmill nirvana,’ to a violent storm which destroyed the blades.
If that all sounds too metaphysical, it wasn’t. Here was a master of his instrument also gifted with the artistic vision to convey grand ideas to his fans with that medium.
Even if the air conditioning was too loud.
Four Stars.
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