Yoav Levanon, Amazing Prodigy Pianist

For the first time in France, the 16-year-old Israeli pianist made a strong impression at the “Piano aux Jacobins” festival in Toulouse

There are countless young pianists who have made their debut in France through the “Piano aux Jacobins” festival in Toulouse, whose 41st  edition, in a reduced format, due to the Covid19, is held this year until the 23rd of September. At his young age, Yoav Levanonis is already an excellent pianist. At 16, the Israeli musician is a ‘meteor’ from all points of view. With the pale complexion of a guru, a long face with long hair, a pseudo-romantic look, a chain wallet and a waistcoat, this young man, who lives in Tel Aviv, somehow resembles the image of a Chopin. But it is with Mendelssohn and his “Variations sérieuses”, op. 54, that he opens his bold program, executed in front of a sparse audience due to the social distancing rules.

The young Israeli started playing at the age of 3. He took the stage a year later, winning, the following year, the National Piano Competition in Israel, and making his debut with the Israel Chamber Orchestra when he was 7. Like the Russian Evgeny Kissin, he has never made his career dependent on international competitions. In 2019, he was the youngest pianist to ever perform in a recital at the Verbier Festival. His international career was just started.

We understand that nothing, from the selection of the themes, is left to chance. Levanon indeed delivers an almost informal mixture of sounds, as if they were coming are coming out of a state of limbo, not yet organized as music. It is only with the first variation that the theme will begin to become music. Based on an exceptional left hand, the play becomes incredibly rich. The Israeli pianist possesses a thundering energy at playing the piano that resonates, spinning under the starry dome of the choir as if he tries to blend into a torrential vertigo, to join some cosmic vibration. More than a proper Mendelssohn, he is a great Mendelssohn.

At the topmost edge

The young man has not even shown the slightest smile, not even in the corner of his eyes. The imperturbable face, the upright posture, the frail figure with the long bare hands contradict any effort. His concentration is so intense that we are almost afraid to disturb him by clapping. Between each piece, this pianist performs long rituals that do not make the audience smile either. Very carefully, Yoav Levanon wipes his face, his hands, and knuckles, finger by finger, with a large white handkerchief which he folds meticulously before placing it on top of the piano, that he, then, picks up and puts down several times. Nothing like those magical handkerchiefs that musicians furtively use to wipe their foreheads, as if they were ashamed that music also passes through their bodies. This is more likely a proper full make-up removal or a long and unpredictable cat grooming.

Also the stool is subject to multiple adjustments. Before a long silence in the initial blocks, seated in profile, Yoav Levanon gathers his vital forces to face Schumann’s “The great Fantasy”, op. 17, which he takes straight to the edge, chiseling the colors, sculpting the dynamics, making large sound swarms resonate with an epic tale of the bard. His fingers sometimes touch the strings, like playing the cello.

The concert continues with Chopin and his short “Prélude”, op. 45. Sense of the line and exquisite mastery of the rubato, while playing Liszt's fearsome Sonata in B minor, one of the highest achievements for pianists. Bent over the keyboard, like an alchemist leaning over his retort, Yoav Levanon will deliver a Dantesque descending scale in the bass part. What follows is a dazzling display of tact and fury, of virtuosity and exhilaration, of a supreme fluidity of coordination, and even more of a breathtaking expression of execution.

Thank you for playing the fugue not as a demonstration of counterpoint, for preserving it from the usual crescendo; for not having adorned the recitative parts with sentimentality, for having dared to play these vertiginous descents of octaves à la Horowitz. Hats off. Thank you also for the three encores. The first of Scriabin’s “Feuillets d’album”, op. 45, which greatly calms the performance, Chopin’s “l’Étude no. 10”, op. 25, and especially the incredible clarity and prodigality of sound in Liszt’s “Campanella”, which made the heady bells resound for a long time in the warmth of the evening,

¶ Concert available on Francemusique.fr

¶ Yoav Levanon at the Louis-Vuitton Foundation, Paris 16th. December 11 at 8:30 p.m. Tel: 01-40-69- 96-00. Fondationlouisvuitton.fr

Marie-Aude Roux (Toulouse, special correspondent)