Kern performance keeps it all in the family
On Saturday, Olga Kern will perform the music of a longtime family friend.
The Russian-born pianist will play Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the New Mexico Philharmonic at Popejoy Hall. Guest conductor Grant Cooper will lead the orchestra through the concerto, as well as Symphony No. 1 by Albuquerque composer Colin Davis (written in honor of Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday) and George Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody.
Notoriously difficult, the “Rach 3” is considered one of the most challenging piano concertos in the classical music repertoire.
“If you would look at the scores, you would look at how many notes,” Kern said in a telephone interview from New York. “It’s all black.
“It’s very difficult to read the score, let alone learn it,” she added.
Kern learned the piece at 16 in just two weeks. At 17, she took it to the Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition, where she won first place.
“I asked my mom why everybody was crying about this piece,” Kern said. “She said, ‘When I was pregnant with you, I was playing this piece.’ It’s like it’s in my blood.”
The family connection links back to a Kern relative.
“My great-grandmother was
a soprano singer,” she said. “She was performing with Rachmaninoff. We have the programs for these concerts. There is every city, every date she performed with him. It’s very special. It’s like this genius composer was a member of my family.”
Kern hasn’t played the piece in Albuquerque in more than 10 years.
“Every time I play it, I find something different in it,” she said. “It’s always fresh to me. It’s very physical; it’s very emotional. It takes everything out of me. I can feel his spirit when I perform.”
The pianist jump-started her American career in 2001 when she won the gold medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. She was the first female winner in 30 years. In 2016, she launched the Olga Kern International Piano Competition in Albuquerque.
Kern became an American citizen two years ago.
“I’ve lived here for 18 years; I’ve lived in New York for 16 years,” she said. “My son is a New Yorker. It is my second home. I’m proud to be an American.”
The Rachmaninoff concerto starred in the 1996 film “Shine,” with Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush as a schizophrenic piano prodigy who could express himself only through music.