A remarkable reappearance at the Parco della Musica of Alessandro Taverna . He brought all the lightness and crystalline clarity of his beloved Venice to illuminate Prokofiev’s third concerto. A performance of refined musicianship with Eliot Gardiner at the helm, that was a true chamber music performance of extraordinary clarity with moments of ravishing beauty and savage abandonment.
Always with the architectural line in mind with an orchestra that was happy to be part of such intimate music making.
I was at Taverna’s Wigmore Hall debut promoted by the Keyboard Trust and his mentor Noretta Conci some years ago. A first half of Bach and Mendelssohn but a second of the breathtaking virtuosity of crystalline clarity and mastery that I was reminded of today when Alessandro was given centre stage by orchestra and conductor to play an encore: Max Reger Fugue from his Telemann Variations where his mastery and breathtaking virtuosity brought him a well earned ovation.
Bruce Liu in Florence with playing of refined brilliance and poetic beauty . A programme that is the stuff that dreams are made of. Bruce was sharing his dream with us as he drew the audience into his world, rather than projecting it out to ours.
The extraordinary whispered ‘moto perpetuo’ was anything but the fanfare of Ligeti’s title. A fairytale played with velvet gloves on a quite extraordinary jeux perlé of astonishing whispered clarity. Leading without a break into Beethoven’s ‘Moonlit ‘ sonata . A whispered undulation of notes on which a melodic line emerged in a movement that never rose above mezzo forte. But for those that listened carefully Bruce shared a multitude of emotions with slight inflections or rhythmic interruptions of subtlety, as everything was understated and never underlined . Even the melody in the bass as the movement draws to a close was simply revealed in golden hues . Very similar to the end of the Fantaisie Impromptu that Bruce played as an encore. An ‘Allegretto’ all grace and lightness adding more weight to the thumb notes on the repeats like jewels sparkling from deep within . A trio with very dark bass notes delayed to give it even more of a demonic character, before this cloud passed and grace and lightness were allowed to reign once again. A ‘Presto agitato’ of volcanic energy as seen from afar, with a crystalline clarity and even elegance, rather than the more usual invasive intrusion into this ‘moonlit’ landscape.
Many of the works that Bruce shared with us today pivoted around the calm and purity of the key of C. Thus after a Beethoven in C sharp minor, the first of Chopin’s two nocturnes op 27 in the same key.
It is one of Chopin’s most mysterious, but also most disturbing of Nocturnes. A real tone poem in just a few pages with its delicate and poetical opening which Bruce played with refined delicacy and aristocratic rubato . A gradual turbulence that Bruce did not allow to disturb this magic ‘ engloutie’ landscape, but was dispatched in an instant with an octave cadenza of declarative insistence. Dissolving almost immediately into Bruce’s magic world once again. It was in this world that the D flat nocturne was overheard with the glistening beauty of one of Chopin’s most perfect belcanto melodies. Bruce shaped it with exquisite finesse and refined phrasing allowing the music to speak with a voice of sublime beauty. Cascades of notes were like jewels overspilling from an outpouring of passionate intensity before retreating to a coda of intimacy and timeless beauty. One could almost hear the audience gasp as Bruce, the poet of the keyboard, shared such whispered intimacy with us.
A spell that was immediately dispelled as Ravel’s ‘Jesters song at sunrise’ was recounted with crystalline clarity and astonishing spiky brilliance, as the lovers separated at dawn with passionate, palpitating intensity. Ravel combines the flavour of Andalusian folk music with Lisztian pianistic acrobatics, such as double glissandi and extremely fast repeated notes. They may look simple on the page, but making sure each semiquaver note triplet is heard is the mark of a true virtuoso (and the sign of a well-functioning piano action). The four bar fragment marked “Plus lent” is jarring in its palpitating simplicity after such spiky agitation. Ravel alternates the slow and dreamy fragments with sections that grow more and more agitated until the original mood returns. Equally capricious is the close with its dissonant harmonies and with Ravel’s rich palette of sounds. It was here that Bruce could let us savour his extraordinary pianistic mastery, as the Jester’s mask slipped to reveal the passion and fire that Bruce had kept hidden for too long.
After the interval Bruce chose Debussy’s Rêverie to bring us back into the world that he had chosen to share with the public in this magic city that is the ‘museum of the world.’ A work that Debussy wrote when he was 28 for a magazine run by his friend and although he did not think much of it a critic of the day described it as ‘a very pleasant sounding piece with a somewhat simple but certain melodic charm’. Debussy himself was more self critical when fifteen years later he was to say :’ Vous avez tort de faire paraître la “Rêverie”… C’était une chose sans importance faite très vite pour rendre service à Hartmann ; en deux mots : c’est mauvais ‘. Bruce played it with shimmering beauty, streams of golden sounds of flowing simplicity which suited the mood of the recital where Debussy ‘s Rêverie and Mompou’s ‘Au Clair de la lune’ were to be the framework surrounding one of Beethoven’s most dynamic Sonatas.
The ‘Waldstein’ Sonata fits Delius’s description of Beethoven as being ‘all scales and arpeggios’. It is a ‘tour de force ‘ for any pianist and is really in two dynamically driven movements, the second being a ‘Rondò’ prefaced by an Adagio molto introduction. The slow movement that Beethoven had intended was published as the ‘Andante favori’, a separate work that could stand on its own and had no place in the framework of his op 53 Sonata. Suddenly Bruce was awoken from his poetic dream world as he imbued the opening with quicksilver energy. Careful not to disturb the architectural shape of this ‘Allegro con brio’ where the second subject was allowed to flow on this wave of energy that had been unleashed. Bruce playing with the electric stimulus of a Rudolf Serkin there was always a glowing sheen to all he did, only rarely allowing himself to play with the vehemence of an irascible and impatient composer. The ‘Adagio molto’ was again part of Bruce’s dream world with an exquisite palette of sounds, that although not orchestral were the ideal preparation for the music box opening of the Rondò. The alternating episodes of ever more dynamic drive and Beethovenian energy in this movement that was unleashed with masterly playing of driving intensity, that is suddenly uncorked by a coda at breakneck speed of music box perfection. Bruce rising to the challenge with intensity rather than volume as the octave glissandi he was able to play without licking his fingers as Serkin used to do, but allowing them to glide over the keys with masterly ease. The final few bars was where Bruce let his passion and dynamism take over from his poetical dream world, as his masterly virtuosity was shamelessly revealed.
There was a subtle beauty to Mompou’s magic sound world of ‘Au Clair de la lune’ that was rudely interrupted by Liszt’s declamation of Spanish Intent. The Rhapsodie espagnole has long been a show piece for virtuosi of the Golden Age of the piano, Busoni even transcribed it for piano and string orchestra. Bruce played it with the astonishing mastery of extraordinary jeux perlé playing of the exquisite finesse of a Levine or Levitski, There was also lurking in the wings the breathtaking virtuosity of Horowitzian wizardry that brought this magic hour or so to an end.
Ever generous Bruce ,who admitted backstage that he was a bit tired, having had to battle to come to terms with a theatre of rather dry acoustic for the piano. It was a battle that he had won though, as the audience could testify not wanting to not let this Poet of the Keyboard escape just yet.
Siloti’s magical Prelude in B minor was a wonderful piece after the circus like acrobatics of Liszt. Bach’s wondrous melody appearing in the midst of perfectly placed washes of sound made the audience want to enjoy this world just one more time. Chopin’s Fantaisie Impromptu was an ideal choice , where Bruce’s undulating jeux perlé was imbued with passionate radiance. A central belcanto of refined beauty and good taste and the gentle re entry of Chopin’s seamless strands of golden sounds brought this memorable concert to a fittingly poetic conclusion.
‘I have a dream’ one that Bruce so generously shared with us today.
artistic director Andrea Lucchesini with Richard Berkeley Dennis from Warsaw
An 80th birthday tribute to Luca Lombardi at the Goethe Institute with the illustrious beginning of Roberto Prosseda’s journey of exploration into Piano Italiano
The project opens Piano Italiano , directed by Roberto Prosseda, conceived in 2025 to represent the excellence of Italian piano throughout the country, and represents a collective tribute to one of the most significant figures of contemporary music.
The concert featured Roberto Prosseda, performing some piano compositions by Luca Lombardi, flanked by two young emerging pianists Matteo Carnuccio and Filippo Tenisci, entrusted with the premiere of numerous musical tributes written especially for the occasion by composers from different countries: Samuel Adler, Francesco Antonioni, Tzvi Avni, Josef Bardanashvili, Matteo D’Amico, Giordano De Nisi, Fabrizio De Rossi Re, Peter Michael Hamel, Marcello Panni, Yuval Shaked, Stefano Taglietti, Roberta Vacca.
Luca Lombardi
The concert was introduced by Sandro Cappelletto and Matthias Theodor Vogt.
The program alternated important piano works by Lombardi, including Wiederkehr, Mendelssohn im jüdischen Museum Berlin , with a series of pieces composed as a tribute to the Maestro by contemporary international authors.These new compositions – for piano with two, three or four hands – constitute a mosaic of styles and poetics that testify to the vast network of artistic relationships built by Lombardi during his long career.
These new compositions – for piano with two, three or four hands – constitute a mosaic of styles and poetics that testify to the vast network of artistic relationships built by Lombardi during his long career.
At the end of the concert, on March 27 and 28 there was a conference “Quo vadis, commitment? Trends and ideas of music from the 60s to today” – A symposium in honour of Luca Lombardi’s eightieth birthday. This is a project realised in collaboration between the German Historical Institute of Rome, the Seminary of Musicology of the University of Heidelberg, the “La Sapienza” University of Rome and the Goethe-Institut of Rome.The concert of March 27 also was the official opening of the “Piano Italiano” 2026 festival, organised by the Mendelssohn Association, under the artistic direction of Roberto Prosseda.
This is the second edition of this season, dedicated to Italian piano music in all 20 concerts, which are distributed in different Italian cities and regions throughout 2026.
“I am really happy to announce the second edition of Piano Italiano” – comments Roberto Prosseda – “on the occasion of a very special event: on March 27 we celebrate one of the greatest living composers, Luca Lombardi, to whom I am also bound by a deep friendship for more than twenty years, and which will be celebrated with a real musical party: 12 composers have written new piano songs in his honour, and we will all listen to them in their first performance, alongside Luca Lombardi’s main piano works. This is the spirit of “Piano Italiano”: promoting quality Italian piano music, with particular attention to the most authentic and less commercial artistic voices, and at the same time giving space to new generations of pianists and composers, as also happens in this concert, thanks to the presence of the young talents Filippo Tenisci and Matteo Carnuccio”.
The Italian Piano season will continue with concerts at the Palazzo delle Cultures in Velletri, in Asolo at the Auditorium San Gottardo, then Rovigo, Turin, Florence and other Italian cities. Among the pianists who will perform this year, always in programs focussed on the Italian piano repertoire, will be Maurizio Baglini, Bruno Canino, Alberto Chines, Emanuele Delucchi, Massimiliano Génot, Benedetto Lupo, Alessandro Marangoni, Ruben Micieli, Marco Scolastra.
A room with a view shared with a recital by the young Alessio Tonelli as part of his Keyboard Trust prize awarded by Vitaly Pisarenko ( an emeritus KT artist ) at the Recondite Armonie competition in his home town of Grosseto. A programme he had already played with great success a few months ago at the Tuscia University in Viterbo .
Here I include my review of the concert together with the superb live stream recording that Prof Franco Ricci has been offering young musicians for the past 25 years.
A career that is beginning to take flight as he finishes his masters at Perugia Conservatory with Mariangela Vacatello.
Beethoven op 109 Sonata , the first of his final trilogy, was played with fluidity and extraordinary musical maturity.The Brahms early Scherzo op 4 written in the midst of his Sonatas op 1 op 2 and op 5 which Schumann described as ‘veiled symphonies’. It was give a performance of orchestral colour where this 1890 Bechstein could reveal all the Daguerreotype colours that lie hidden within its noble framework, revealed only to those that delve deeply into its depths. Chopin’s Third Ballade played with youthful simplicity, untainted by the so called Chopin tradition as Alessio allowed its pastoral beauty to unfold with elegance and nobility.
Simon Gammell OBE director of the British Institute
Concluding with Liszt’s depiction of Dante’s ‘Inferno’, where this young man could unleash all the diabolical wizardry that had sparked the imagination of the greatest pianist the world has ever known. Not only pyrotechnics but the poetic musings of ravishment and seduction for which Liszt was also renowned on and off stage! An encore restored order with Chopin’s so called ‘Ocean’ study . ‘Waves’ of sound spread over the entire keyboard played with youthful mastery and refined intensity .
A wine tasting followed from the cellars of the sponsor the ‘Tenuta Bossi of Marchesi Gondi’, before I adjourned to my favourite wine bar in Via de’ Serragli to hear fascinating stories told by the extraordinary Florentines who are still so proud to be part of the Museum of the World.
I was happy to hear from Alessio of a career that is beginning to take wing . Thanks also to another emeritus Keyboard Trust artist, Gala Chistiakova and her husband Diego Benocci, who are bringing such cultural awareness to their home town of Grosseto .
Alessio with Linda Alberti (centre right) and Charles and Caroline Pridgeon who have generously offered hospitality to visiting artists of the KT
As Alessio told me : ‘ Now I am attending a semester Erasmus at the Royal Conservatory of Liege in Belgium with the Belgian pianist Florian Noack (from February till July). I will play in China in the city of Nanping as a cultural collaboration between Nanping and my hometown city , Grosseto. (We will be 3 musician from Grosseto playing 1 recital each and then 3 musician from Nanping will come to play in Grosseto as well). In may I will also play a recital in Terni for a concert series dedicated to young pianists. (The week right after I return from China); In July I will play in Anghiari with the Sinfonia Smith Square Orchestra under the conductor Alessandro Crudele as part of my prize as the winner of the M.Giubilei international piano competition (section dedicated to pianist up to 25 years old).’
Hats off to Simon Gammell and his team who have created, in collaboration with the Keyboard Trust, a window where extraordinary young talent can flourish and be displayed . A ‘ Room with a View’ indeed’
Alessio on his way back to Grosseto with his parents
L.V.Beethoven: Sonata n. 30 op. 109
I.-Vivace, ma non troppo – Adagio espressivo
II.-Prestissimo
III.-Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung.
[Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo]
J.Brahms: Scherzo Op.4
F.Chopin: Ballade n. 3 Op.47
F.Liszt: Après une lecture du Dante – Fantasia quasi Sonata
In the series of brilliant young pianists brought to the Library by our partners The Keyboard Trust, we are delighted to present a local prodigy, Alessio Tonelli from Grosseto. Alessio is currently pursuing his masters at the Perugia Conservatory and has won top prizes at several major piano competitions.
His performance at a prestigious concert in Viterbo in January was described as ‘Masterly playing of intelligence and beauty’
I have heard Nicolas play over a number of years in the annual masterclasses of Alberto Portugheis at Steinway Hall in London.Also for the Thomas Harris International Foundation competition founded by the much missed Judy Harris in memory of her son. Re reading my impressions then and now it was always the absolute clarity of Nicolas’s playing that was so remarkable. He has now matured over the past six years playing with ever more intelligence and technical maturity without loosing the clarity and beauty of his playing . Two major works on the programme showing immediately the credentials of a musician of ‘class’ to quote Dr Mather today. To sustain two such important works one after the other is a challenge to any musician, because the concentration and contemplation go hand in hand with memory and technical preparation. There was hardly a note out of place today because Nicolas is a musician who listens to himself and is so absorbed in the music that there are never any moments of distraction or unnecessary bravado.
The Chopin Sonata is a masterpiece of construction of great originality, so much so that Schumann even described it as ‘four of Chopin’s maddest children all under the same roof’ , and went on the describe the last movement that ‘seems more like a mockery than any sort of music’. When Mendelssohn was asked for an opinion , he commented, “Oh, I abhor it”. Nicolas played it today very simply with great clarity, keeping the same tempo throughout the first movement that gave it an architectural strength , as the bass introduction is used in the development with masterly effect. There is always a question of whether one should repeat the exposition of the sonata , and if so where to? Nicolas decided ,as many great musician do, to ignore the repeat in favour of going straight into the development. Playing of dynamic drive and extraordinary clarity due to his very careful use of the sustaining pedal. Playing with a kaleidoscope of sounds but if he allowed his hands to delve even deeper into the keys with limpet like adhesion it would add even more warmth and sumptuous richness. Finding an even truer finger legato, like an organist, always with the same very careful use of the pedal. But this was very musicianly playing and the second subject was played with disarming beauty of great sentiment but never sentimentality. The ‘Scherzo’ was played unusually gracefully as it had a real sense of dance rather than the solidity of a study in lesser hands. The Trio was played with rare beauty and Nicolas’s ability to allow the left hand counterpoints to sing with clarity added another dimension of contrast to this beautiful bel canto. The whispered coda with just two whispered chords in the left hand over a long held chord allowed us to appreciate the relentless beauty of the ‘Funeral March’ that was on the horizon. As Nicolas explained in his introduction, the ‘Funeral March’ was composer first, and the rest of the Sonata was constructed with many of the same bricks as this remarkable movement. Even here Schumann could not appreciate the originality of Chopin’s genius, remarking that the Marche funèbre ‘has something repulsive about it’ , and that ‘an adagio in its place, perhaps in D-flat, would have had a far more beautiful effect’. Nicolas played it with fervent conviction where delving deeper into the keys would have added even more weight to his beautiful playing. The Trio, actually in D flat, was played with just the beauty that Schumann had missed. Nicolas played it with remarkable control and aristocratic good taste with a refined beauty that made the return of the march even more harrowing. Nicolas brought absolute clarity to the whirlwind of notes of the ‘Finale’ where maybe a little more pedal would have given an undulating shape to this extraordinary ‘wind passing over the graves’. A performance by a mature musician untainted by the so called ‘tradition’ as he showed us Chopin’s often criticised mastery of architectural construction that lives hand in hand with the poetic beauty of a genius.
The Sonata in C minor is the first of Schubert’s final trilogy written in the last year of his short life. It is the most Beethovenian and choosing the key of C minor is also a declaration of dramatic intent and intensity. It has long been the Sonata favoured by great Russian virtuosi and it was Richter who was to astonish us with his performances in the 70’s of a Schubert of so many conflicting emotions. I remember the last movement, who could ever forget, Richter creating a whirlwind of breathtaking dynamism after an ‘Adagio’ of poignant penetration and an opening ‘Allegro’ like Beethoven’s 5th. Nicolas’s was not a performance of extremes, but a musicianly account of what he described as his favourite work. It was played with scrupulous attention to the composers indications and with dynamic drive and poignant poetic beauty. Again choosing not to repeat the exposition he entered the development where Schubert mixes a mystery of dark beauty of disturbing character. The chilling beauty of the left hand murmuring with whispered menace only to be replied by a bel canto of radiant beauty. Chromatic scales starting as a whisper and building into a massive crescendo, beautifully judged by Nicolas as the opening declaration was heard again with even more energy. He brought a poignant beauty to the ‘Adagio’ with a beautifully chiselled melodic line as it built in intensity of orchestral colouring only to reveal a coda of whispered significance.The Minuetto that follows was played with simplicity and buoyancy with a playful character that was the bridge between two movements of such conflicting emotions . The ‘Allegro’ was brilliantly played with a relentless drive until the cloud passes and one of those miraculous melodies of Schubert is suddenly revealed in a blaze of light and which Nicolas played with radiance and loving beauty. Of course there is no stopping this cauldron that is always in the background waiting to erupt and which Nicolas played with dynamic drive a brilliance. Another masterly account from a musician of ‘class’.
Belgo-British pianist Nicolas Absalom is a prize winner of international piano competitions and has been invited to festivals including the “Klevischer Klaviersommer” (DE) festival, the “NiederRheinLande Festival”, the “International Young Talents Festival” in Cannes, the „Fremtidens Lyd“ Stvens in Denmark as well as the “Passion:SPIEL” festival for contemporary music organised by the German National Theatre „DNT“.
Nicolas regularly performs recitals in Europe and has appeared in venues such as the „Berliner Philharmonie“, the „Museu Pau Casals“ in El Vendrell, the „Palau de la Música Catalana“, as well as the “Studio 4” Flagey in Brussels. He has collaborated with orchestras such as the „Sinfonieorchester of the University of Music“ in Dresden, the “Siegfried Camerata”, the „Music of the Spheres Ensemble” and the „Jenaer Philharmonie“. Currently Nicolas is pursuing his Master‘s degree in piano solo performance at the Berlin University of the Arts in the class of Prof. Björn Lehmann. Most recently he was offered a place on the Artist Diploma in performance course at the Royal College of Music for 26/27 year. He has also had the privilege of working with pianists such as Janina Fialkowska, Kevin Kenner, Klaus Hellwig, Alberto Portugheis and Hortense Cartier-Bresson to name a few.
Nicolas is also an avid chamber musician which has led him to work with musicians such as members of the Jerusalem, Artemis and Fauré Quartets. Another focal point in his education is historically informed performance where he specialises in Fortepiano (Hammerflügel).
Ignas Maknickas returns to London after five years at the Royal Academy where his talent was allowed to grow and blossom . There is something very special about the Lithuanian school of playing with its great fluidity and natural beauty that was exemplified by Ignas today .
Playing of ravishing beauty on a wave of sounds that he produced with loving natural caressing movements as he relished the glistening beauty that he was producing .
Ignas is a poet of the piano and above all a dreamer. He is living his dream having returned to his homeland to set up home and start a life with his beautiful princess . No struggles with the difficulties of competing for a place in the piano world . The world he already holds in his hands with his love for his homeland but above all for music.
His charm and romantic good looks immediately revealed an innocent disarming simplicity as he presented the programme to the audience assembled by YCAT. It is a window to show off talented young musicians to an audience shopping for great talent to play in music clubs all over the UK .
I had heard Ignas at the Royal Academy some years ago in one of their first piano festivals organised by the indomitable Joanna McGregor. Ignas was paired with another fresher Alim Beisembayev in a performance of Mozart Double Concerto of youthful freshness and mastery . Both have proven their talent and have gone on to great things. Alim winner of the Leeds , establishing himself on the world stage, and Ignas living his dream which will grow and enrich his life and that of others as his career advances.
There was no worry about that with Ignas today as he rarely played loudly, because he drew us in to share his dream with us. Of course Ignas is a fine musician with a kaleidoscopic palette of sounds, but it is the contrasts and sense of balance of the sounds not necessarily the volume that counts. There is the Matthay room at the Royal Academy and the busts of two of Uncle Tobs (Tobias Matthay) most famous Dames en situ on the staircase. Myra and Moura must look on in dismay at some of the volume of sounds that escape from the practice rooms to the staircase . Matthay taught his students that in every key there is an infinite variety of sounds. The way of producing them got all mixed up in theory but the simple truth is that those that listen to themselves and search for the sounds will find a way to produce them. Look at Casals and Segovia on their instruments who both had to find a way to drive in an alien landscape . Richter when he first was allowed to visit the west was more astonishing for his control of sound especially between piano and mezzo forte than his dynamic and even demonic temperament
Ignas showed us today that music can still be shared and an intimacy can be created uniting an audience of strangers into a communion of sounds that unite rather than annihilate the listener !
Many of these works that he played today I have heard him play before, but with playing of such poetic creativity each work is like hearing it for the first time. ‘Kindersenen’ was full of magic sounds from ‘the people of foreign lands’ to the ‘pleading child ‘ of disarming simplicity. What ‘joie de vivre’ on the ‘Hobbyhorse’ that he played with a charm that warmed the heart as did the ravishing beauty of the ‘child falling asleep’. A ‘poet speaking’ with such serious eloquence but then on a cloud of pedalled sounds reappearing with a heartrending coda. Four Preludes by a fellow Lithuanian Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis ( oh for the Wangs or Wongs!) which was a mellifluous outpouring of simple folk melodies of popular appeal, not deep and searching, but beautiful dreams in a sound world that was very much that of Ignas. Even the works of Chopin he had excluded the showpiece of op 34 n.1 , opting for the disarming beauty of n. 2 which he combined with Chopin’s Cat, who today was obviously on some sort of high! The two Nocturnes op 27 are two of Chopin’s most radiant and beautiful creations . The first in C sharp minor is a miniature tone poem where clouds accumulate and a storm is brewing but like a ‘Ship on the ocean’ it is short lived and the thankfulness for it being over was one of those moments of magic that Ignas played with knowing beauty. The whispered beauty of the D flat nocturne showed Ignas’s mastery of balance where the melodic line was not played with chiselled beauty but was revealed with its soul intact as the magical changing harmonies beneath were like whispers following the melody in the dark.
Chopin’s Barcarolle I have not heard Ignas play before but it is Chopin’s greatest masterpiece written towards the end of a life that had never seen Venice, but perhaps could envisage it with even more magic with his genial soul. It is one long song which of course Ignas chose to finish his dream programme with today. There was magic in the air and Ignas even risked a passionate involvement that he had saved for this very special performance when his youthful fire and passion were just waiting to be ignited.
One encore from an audience in a trance from such visions of beauty. I imagine it was another of those beautiful simple preludes by Joe Smith or such like!!!.
Krzysztof Jabłoński at the Chopin Society with a programme of Chopin lollipops which unexpectedly turned into the visiting card of a great pianist. These, like Sir Thomas Beecham’s Lollipops were jewels in the crown of a supreme stylist.
Playing of great weight with simplicity and humility giving new life to these well known works. From the very first notes it was obvious that we were in the presence of a master. A limpet like touch, reminiscent of Gilels , where the fingers could delve deep into the keys and extract sounds that were always beautiful and fully rounded. A palette of sounds that could make the music speak without affectation or any self awareness.
The Nocturne in C sharp minor op. post, he may have pedalled over the rests at the beginning but he played with such beauty giving an architectural shape and subtle meaning to even these opening chords. A belcanto of glowing warmth and beauty was played with a masterly sense of balance where the melodic line was never overpowered by the bass accompaniment but was allowed to float on a shimmering wave of richly harmonic sounds.
The Fantasie -Impromptu op 66 was played with a sense of style that permitted a knowing freedom.That which Chopin himself described as the roots firmly planted in the ground but the branches above allowed to sway in the wind. A whirlwind of golden sounds,where streams of undulating notes were allowed to breathe, bathed in sumptuously rich sounds. Dissolving into the beauty of the central episode which was played with the freedom of a singer, where ornaments opened with timeless beauty and poignant significance.
In fact all through the recital nothing was just thrown off, but all was shaped under an umbrella of sound, where Jablonski could be free to shape the music with aristocratic simplicity, where every note had a meaning in a musical conversation of searing significance.
The ‘Raindrop’ prelude op 28 n.15 was played with a glowing belcanto, with an emotional strength that was never sentimental but had a sense of line and direction. Leading into the lament of nostalgic yearning of the central section which built to an emotional peak of burning intensity. The disarming simplicity of the return of the opening was played with even more radiance and whispered beauty.
The B flat minor Scherzo showed Jablonski’s masterly musicianship, where the first note usually played as a launching pad was here quite simply the anchor of the chords that followed in the treble. All through this performance so many bad habits handed down from the Chopin tradition were ignored in favour of a musician who could look deeply into what Chopin had actually indicated in the score. Of course there was radiance and beauty but also strength and aristocratic nobility. A central episode of whispered chords as the music gradually took wing with the mastery of exhilaration and excitement. A coda that had something of orchestral colour, where waves of sound, not just notes, built up to the final explosion of emotional power and excitement.
The C minor Nocturne op 48 n. 1 was played with timeless wonder, where the melodic line glowed over the giant steps that were accompanying it. Chords that seemed to appear from within as they built in intensity and volume without ever having a hard edge.The octaves inbetween the chords were like vibrations taking us on a journey step by step until reaching the peak of the mountain and the explosion of joyous exhilaration. The same sound allowed to die away where the melody emerged riding on waves of passionate urgency in this the longest of the nocturnes. Chopin had created a tone poem of a whole landscape opening and closing in a whisper, encompassing a whole world of emotions depicted with poetic genius.
Charles Grant presenting Lady Rose Cholmondeley’s book to Jablonski
The ‘Revolutionary’ study op 10 n. 12, was played almost without accents as notes just poured from Jablonski’s fingers without ever hitting the keys. Leaning deep into the notes and extracting rich beautiful sounds of burning intensity.The left hand waves of notes were an undulating mass of sounds like water boiling in a cauldron at a hundred degrees . An extraordinary mastery where each finger became a chain of horizontal sounds that were shaped with ever more intensity. Chopin marking forte and then echoed piano was played in context ,as a real musician, with his eye on the overall shape.It was always under this cloud of sound that was a protective shield against any prickly thorns that might have escaped. An extraordinary amalgam of sounds where the music was allowed to evolve without any pyrotechnics of vertical aversity.
‘Revolutionary’ indeed , as these well known master works were recreated as new. Simplicity and aristocratic good taste were allied to a natural technical mastery of fingers of steel but wrists and arms of rubber, allowing Jablonski to swim with wings of song.
Nowhere more was this evident than in the Polonaise ‘Héroique’ op 53, a work that Arthur Rubinstein made very much his own. Jablonski brought a similar aristocratic nobility and strength, and of course I am in no way comparing it to Rubinstein which in many ways was a broader, more monumental performance that will never be forgotten. But Jablonski brought a freshness without any rhetoric to a work of burning significance for the Polish Nation. Even the gentle unwinding after the cavalry march was played with an inner strength and sense of direction that lead so naturally into the final exhortation and poignant ending of this very ‘heroic’ Polonaise. The coda was of a final brilliance and breathtaking audacity where even the rests before the final chords had the same burning intensity as their surrounds .They were the final declaration of intent as only the of greatest of musicians are inspired, not by mere virtuosity, but by poetic sensibility.
After the interval another selection of newly minted masterpieces were seen through the eye of this eclectic master musician.
The Prelude in E minor op 28 n. 4 is a harrowing and deeply felt tale . Jablonski’s control of the left hand chords revealed his masterly control of sound as he could underline various notes within them with the precision and artistry of a string quartet. The melodic line soared with passionate intensity until a burning silence and the three final chords played with jewel like character.
This was playing that reminded me ever more of Guiomar Novaes, who I never had the chance to hear in public, but have never forgotten the impact her playing made on me with the recordings that I found as a boy for just fifty pence. The simple beauty of Lipatti or Gelber, maintaining a simplicity and rich beauty of sound but leaving room for a personality of extraordinary intelligence and poetic sensibility.
The study op 10 n. 3 ‘How deep is your heart’ revealed the heart of a great artist who did not need to wallow or exaggerate with sickly sentimentality. It was played in two as Chopin wrote and a tempo that could accommodate the central episode without having to divide the study into separate parts . It was one glorious outpouring of the poignant sentiment that was within the very notes and not just applied to the surface. These were real sentiments of heartrending nostalgia and warmth for a homeland that Chopin was to abandon at eighteen and never to see again until after his untimely death at only 39. Jablonski played the central episode with limpet like virtuosity building almost unnoticed to the climax before the deep bass turn on a shimmering cooling wave of sounds heralded the return of ‘how sweet is your heart’ played with even more whispered poignant beauty.
The Waltz in C sharp minor op 64 n. 2 was played with simplicity as Jablonski’s jeux perlé was of such subtle flexibility that there was no need to bring out inner harmonies or find interesting variants within, as the simple elegance and radiant beauty of Chopin’s own voice was all that was necessary.
Two late nocturnes op 72 n.1 and op 62 n. 2 were played with a poetic beauty of inner strength and masterly shape.
Op 72 in particular showed a sense of balance that could allow the melodic line to grow in strength always supported by undulating sounds. Jablonski was not afraid to give a nobility and strength of passionate intensity to the belcanto because it contrasted with the whispered coda of pure magic. His Sokolovian stature allowing his right hand to play the last note deep in the bass, not wanting to disturb the constant wave of sounds created with his left hand.
The ‘Nocturne’ in E major op 62 n. 2 is one of Chopin’s last and most poetic creations. Like the ‘Barcarolle’ it is an outpouring of song from beginning to end. Distilled sounds of timeless beauty etched in chiselled marble with wondrous counterpoints that are strands of gold and silver under a melodic line of seamless beauty. A coda of breathtaking poignancy was a moment to cherish in a recital of extraordinary originality for its utter simplicity.
These are all works that have been covered in grime and dust for too long. Like the frescos of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel that so shocked the world when this masterpiece was restored to its original glory.
The Waltz op 34 n. 2 unlike it partner n. 1 is a gasping whispered lament where the bass melody is a soul in anguish relieved only by the glowing beauty of refined elegance of the contrasting belcanto voice.
Jablonski brought astonishing rich sounds of pyrotechnics to the ‘octave’ study op 25 where these were just undulating sounds of quite astonishing controlled intensity. The beautiful long central episode was played with a legato and sense of line where the study was not divided into two but was one glorious whole under the roof of sound created by a master musician who also happens to be a master technician. A technical mastery at the service of the composer and not a meaningless demonstration of personal prowess or showmanship.
Yisha Xue of the National Liberal Club Asia Circle Birthday celebrations for Lady Rose Inna Faliks head of piano UCLA
The first Ballade is probably the most frequently distorted masterpiece in the repertoire. Chopin has written in the score ( like Liszt at the opening of this B minor Sonata) all that is required and if the rests, rhythm and dynamics are respected it can reproduce the masterpiece that Chopin actually wrote! Jablonski produced an outpouring of whispered beauty contrasting with passionate intensity where one world grew out of the other giving an overall shape to this unique form that Chopin had created. A tone poem of great originality, contrasting brilliance with beauty in a continuous outpouring of genial invention.
Jablonski’s creamy rich sounds and refined elegance created a spell of absolute magic in the ‘Andante spianato.’ His seamless legato and timeless unfolding of the flowering ornaments were of quite ravishing beauty and contrasted with the rude awakening of the Grande Polonaise op 22. Nobility and grandeur were very much in evidence even if slightly over pedalled to allow the crystalline clarity that a teenage Chopin would have astonished his audiences with. However an exciting and exhilarating ending to a recital where the refined Sunday afternoon audience hosted by Lady Rose Cholmondely (whose birthday would be celebrated over tea and cake) and Gillian Newman, knew instinctively when to interrupt the performances with applause.
Only bursting with spontaneous applause after the B flat minor Scherzo or the G minor Ballade but otherwise they were accomplices to an outpouring of poetic playing of masterly communication.
What to play as an encore after a programme of encores? Jablonski had just the answer with a ‘canon covered in flowers’. Chopin’s Mazurkas are 59 miniature masterpieces that were to depict Chopin’s short life and the yearning of an exile for his homeland.
‘Alex Trigg (Advanced Postgraduate Diploma course) performs on Wednesday 18th March at 1315 at The Temple Church, London.
The concert was awarded by our friends at The Keyboard Charitable Trust, and we are very grateful for their continued support of our organ students.
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’
Alexander Trigg – Quiet assurance at Temple Church
by Angela Ransley
The three composers in today’s recital, Elgar, Howells and Franck span almost two centuries: when Cesar Franck was born in 1822, Beethoven was still alive. Howells died in 1983, the world of the internet, space travel and minimalism. Both English composers came from the territory of the Three Choirs Festival in the west of England, and despite humble circumstances received support from its rich heritage, allowing both to achieve distinction. Elgar was knighted and appointed Master of the King’s Music in 1924; Howells became Professor of Organ at the Royal College of Music and was made a Companion of Honour.
Cesar Franck came from Belgium but was based in Paris after his ambitious father changed his nationality so that his two prodigies – Cesar and his brother Joseph – could enter the Paris Conservatoire. Pere Franck destined Cesar as a pianist and drove him inexorably until a rift between them opened up the possibility of the organ. A major influence was the new symphonic instrument of Aristide Cavaille-Coll, which Cesar demonstrated throughout France. His long tenure at Eglise St Clothilde and Professorship of Organ at the Paris Conservatoire secured his lasting reputation.
QUIET ASSURANCE AT TEMPLE CHURCH a review by Angela Ransley
The Keyboard Trust was founded in 1991 and has expanded from a family- run organisation to concerts in 11 countries. It is indebted to Temple church
for its generous offer of an annual recital since 2004 with today’s established artists such as Callum Alger and William Fox having received their support. I asked Alex what this means to an artist embracing the music profession of today: I am enormously grateful for the support of The Keyboard Trust, who were not only kind and generous hosts, but also an enthusiastic and supportive audience. This was my first collaboration with the Trust; I was delighted for the opportunity to work with an organisation which does such valuable work supporting young musicians like myself. Alex’s full comments are in the link below.
From the left: ANGELA RANSLEY, ALEX TRIGG and Keyboard Trust CEO SARAH BIGGS
Alex with Sir Geoffrey Nice chairman pro tempore of the Keyboard Trust
ANGELA RANSLEY is a pianist and writer on musical subjects and Director of the Harmony School of Pianoforte. She holds an organ post in Surrey
Alex’s full comments :
HOW YOU FOUND THE ORGAN AND THE VENUE
It was a treat and a privilege for me to play such a fine instrument in a space with as rich a musical history as Temple Church. The organ was perfectly suited to the English repertoire in my programme, with so much colour to be found in the solo and swell divisions especially.
HOW THE KEYBOARD TRUST SUPPORT HELPS YOU
I am enormously grateful for the support of The Keyboard Trust, who were not only kind and generous hosts, but also an enthusiastic and supportive audience. This was my first collaboration with the Trust; I was delighted for the opportunity to work with an organisation which does such valuable work supporting young musicians like myself.
WHAT YOU CONSIDER TO BE THE CHALLENGES OF A YOUNG ARTIST IN 2026
I would say social media and the internet present some of the greatest challenges to young people today, not just for artists but for everybody. With thousands of influencers, performers and other personalities presenting their ‘best selves’ to the world online, it’s all too easy to compare ourselves to these polished acts, which often lack the human element of imperfection. As musicians it’s vital that we strive for self-improvement, but our expectations of ourselves need to be healthy and realistic. The work of The Keyboard Trust is so valuable as it offers young musicians the opportunity to gain performing experience in ‘real-world’ settings with supportive audiences.
Another chance to be astonished and seduced in London by the playing of this young pianist, still in his twenties having taken the world by storm ten years ago in Warsaw when he was the youngest competitor ever to win a top prize in the Chopin Competition
It is playing of such excitement and exhilaration that Horowitz or Cziffra come to mind .
‘X certificate’ stuff as the sheer animal excitement from his obvious joy of seducing the piano is communicated with astonishing feats of virtuosity and heart on sleeve sentiments that seduce the public.
But Tony is not only a showman but a poet of the keyboard with sounds of jewel like beauty that he allows to glisten and glow with a kaleidoscope of colours that are rarely heard in the concert hall these days .
This is old style playing when communication and personality could seduce audiences as indeed Liszt himself did. In the Paris salons of the eighteen hundreds refined ladies of the aristocracy would be reduced to a screaming mob ready to snatch any souvenir from their idol.
The nearest we got to this in our time was Horowitz who on arriving in Paris in the 30’s was described by a critic as the greatest pianist alive or dead!
Artur Rubinstein was not amused, but there was room for both pianists. One looking back to the times of the romantic virtuosi like Liszt or Thalberg and the other looking forward to the modern day pianism of Lipatti or Pollini where the pianist was the humble servant of the composer. As the princess Belgiojoso very diplomatically exclaimed in the famous duel between Liszt and Thalberg. ‘Thalberg is a great pianist but Liszt in unique’. Honour was saved !
‘Je joue, je sens , je trasmet’, was the raison d’etre of a humble servant of the composer.
It is a high wire act where those that can climb up onto the high wire can easily fall to one side as a showman or to the other as an intellectual, both though creating excitement , but one like good wine matures with age and the other that thrills the palette but after a while becomes rather flat and predictable .
I remember Shura Cherkassky telling me of his visits to Horowitz’s New York home, and with the recent death of Jorge Bolet they both exclaimed that they were the last two left of a past age.
No one knew the scores better than Horowitz but he was also from the Golden age when virtuosi could exert a power over their audience much as the Beatles or Rolling stones could do in the stadium.
All this to say that for all the wonders that Tony showed us last night the highlight for me were the simple Preludes op 16 by Scriabin. Playing of such freedom and with exquisite sounds of jewel like beauty . A sense of line and architectural understanding that could show us the moment of creation with the ink still wet on the page. Tony became Scriabin in one of those magic moments of recreation that are so rare in this play safe CD perfection age that can lead to performances as Gilels said, like canned instead of fresh food.
Tony has the courage to climb on the high wire and in Chopin adding deep bass notes and double octaves where Chopin was happy with scales and his piano had less notes. If the four scherzi had overstepped the border between animal excitement and scrupulous attention to the score , Tony had a personal vision of these works that might shock rather than inform as he sometimes feels more animal exhilaration rather than respect for the composers precise indications. But it communicated a vision of poetic artistry with a mastery of colour and balance that I am sure he will distill with less youthful exhilaration into interpretations of extraordinary depth. There were so many wonderful moments to cherish such as the simple Christmas Carol that Chopin quotes in the central part of the B minor Scherzo .It reminded me of the weight and beauty that Cherkassky could bring with his chiselled Belcanto of subtle innuendo.
I remember Fou Ts’ong playing in my series in Rome the day after Pogorelich had played the four scherzi .
I explained to Ts’ong that he had the same sort of freedom with the score as Cherkassky which might not be to his eclectic taste. After the concert Ts’ong, in his inimitable way, exclaimed :’ but Shura loves the piano, this man hates it !’
Greeting Lisa Peacock who had promoted his first concert last season in her Discovery Series at Leighton House
Tony’s love for the piano shines through all he does and if his youthful mastery excites him as much as many of the audience he will pare it down with maturity and these performances will become interpretations to cherish . I remember John Barbirolli defending the passion of the young Jacqueline Du Pre saying if you do not play with passion in your youth what do you pare off in maturity ! Jacqueline lived just long enough to show us,before her career was so cruelly interrupted by illness at only 28.
Tony’s playing of Scriabin was quite extraordinary as this was the world of perfumed sounds of multicolour . A decadence of seething passion and an undercurrent of burning intensity like a cauldron coming to the boil . A volcano with the red hot lava spreading over the entire landscape . It was this, the neurotic obsessive work of Scriabin that spoke to the youthful Tony more than the refined aristocratic poetry of Chopin.
Two Liszt Petrarch Sonnets were played after Scriabin, with the same kaleidoscope of colours and a knowing freedom of ravishing beauty. The first of Liszt’s two legends was given a masterly performance where showmanship and poetry were combined with the fervent conviction of a true believer .
Yisha Xue presenting her young protégée to Tony Bobby Chen and Ashley Fripp two of many distinguished musicians coming to support Tony in London Ashley had studied with Eliso Virsaladze in Florence with Tony where I too first met them both
What can one say of Tony’s Mephisto where showmanship and astonishing virtuosity combined with poetic understanding giving an architectural shape but including the exhilaration and excitement as only Horowitz or Cziffra could have done. A scintillating encore , one of Rubinstein’s favourites , the A flat waltz op 34 n 1 was a refined and brilliant way to finish before greeting old and new friends backstage anxious to thank this great young artist who had so generously shared his passion for music with us in the new born Bechstein Hall
with Concert Manager Lisa Peacock and Yisha Xue of the Asia circle of the National Liberal Club indefatigable promoters of young musicians
Hailed by CBC Music as one of Canada’s finest young musicians, pianist Tony Yike Yang first rose to international acclaim at the age of 16 after becoming the youngest-ever laureate in the history of the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, winning the 5th prize in 2015. Additionally, Yang has also won prizes at the Van Cliburn, Gina Bachauer, Hilton Head, Cooper, and the Bosendorfer & Yamaha USASU International Piano Competitions.
As a soloist, Yang has performed internationally in venues such as Koerner Hall in Toronto, Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Severance Hall in Cleveland, Carnegie’s Weill Hall, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, Seoul Arts Center, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Osaka Symphony Hall, Rockport Music, Esplanade Singapore, and the Millennium Amphitheatre in Dubai.
Yang has also performed for royalty and dignitaries such as Her Royal Highness Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, Queen Mathilde of Belgium, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Polish President Andrzej Duda, among others.
Concerto highlights include appearances with the Cleveland Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, Orchestre Métropolitain, Ontario Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony, Toronto Sinfonietta, Jakarta Sinfonietta, Edmonton Symphony, Saskatoon Symphony, Changsha Symphony, and the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra.
Born in Chongqing and raised in Toronto, Yang is a recent graduate of Harvard University where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. He is Artist-in-Residence at the Ingesund Piano Center in Sweden and at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and in the past, was a fellow at the Oberlin-Lake Como International Piano Academy. Currently pursuing his Master of Music at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover under Prof. Arie Vardi, Tony is named as “One To Watch” by Scala Radio UK in 2024.Programme
CHOPIN: Scherzo in B minor, Op. 20
CHOPIN: Scherzo in B-flat minor, Op. 31
CHOPIN: Scherzo in C-sharp minor, Op. 39
CHOPIN: Scherzo in E major, Op. 54
Intermission 30 minutes
SCRIABIN: 5 Preludes, Op. 16
SCRIABIN: Fantasy in B minor, Op. 28
LISZT: Sonetto 47 del Petrarca from “Années de pèlerinage II”, S. 161/4
LISZT: Sonetto 104 del Petrarca from “Années de pèlerinage II”, S. 161/5
LISZT: Légende No. 2 “St. François de Paule marchant sur les flots”, S. 175/2
This was the annual recital of the Keyboard Trust in an over twenty year collaboration between Mariantonietta Squeglia with Noretta Conci and John Leech, the founders, thirty five years ago, of the KT ( the 60th birthday present from John to his adored Noretta) . Next year ‘Incontro con la tastiera’ will celebrate its 50 years of filling the rarified air of Vicenza with music. The refined perfection of Palladio is everywhere to be seen with the Teatro Olimpico the jewel in his crown .
The new Teatro Comunale is a magnificent complex of two theatres and stands proudly just outside the city walls.
It was in the smaller 400 seater hall that Mikhail Kambarov revealed himself to be a true poet of the keyboard with performances that ranged from Mozart to Mussorgsky, including also the refined beauty of two rarities by Schumann and Mendelssohn. Not Felix but his sister Fanny, that Mikhail played with refined poetic beauty and a palette of sounds of glowing radiance . Schumann ‘s much neglected ‘Blumenstück’ op.19 was revealed to be a miniature masterpiece every bit as beautiful as its companion the Arabesque op 18 .
The recital had opened with the early Sonata K 281 by Mozart where Mikhail’s refined brilliance and multicoloured playing gave an operatic life to the charm and grace of the first movement. But it was the tongue in cheek ebullience that he brought to the ‘Rondo’ that revealed the masterly musicianship of this young musician being mentored in Weimar by an Emeritus KT artist Michail Lifits, past winner of the Busoni Competition.
A first movement ‘Allegro’ was played with delicacy and brilliance that did not deny charm and grace. A jewel like precision of beauty and clarity of remarkable fluidity. An ‘Andante amoroso’ of disarming simplicity with a palette of subtle shading that illuminated the sedate seriousness of the constant poetic dialogue. A ‘Rondò’ – Allegro of beguiling good humour as the music unwound with impish rhythmic drive of scintillating charm.
The three ‘Songs without words’ not by Felix but by Fanny Mendelssohn, were a revelation in Mikhail’s hands as he shaped the ‘Allegro moderato’ with a knowing freedom of searing beauty. It makes one wonder why we always hear of the genius of the brother but never the sister! Mikhail improvising between pieces to create a beautiful three movement whole with the ‘Andante con espressione’, a poignant outpouring of weight and glowing beauty with a truly inspired coda of breathtaking subtlety, played with exquisite sensibility. A gently flowing melody to the final ‘Larghetto’ of radiance as it duetted with the bass.
Another discovery in this poet’s hands was Schumann’s ‘Flower Piece’. A flower that opened up to reveal a miniature tone poem played with a rare sense of fantasy and beguiling flexibility. If Eusebius was admiring the petals , it was Florestan that commented too on the flowers with authority and a sense of line that gave great shape to this unjustly neglected masterpiece. Mikhail revealed every bloom of this beautiful flower, ending with a whisper as Eusebius was astonished too at the beauty that Schumann could reveal with so few notes.
Mikhail with the presenter of the concert Alessia BartolomucciThe director of the Banca Delle Terre Venete Marco Zarantonello, sponsor of the concerts
Nowhere more was this apparent than in his poetic performance of Mussorgsky’s ‘Pictures’.
From the very first notes usually played with brutal indifference, in Mikhail’s hands they became a promenade of leisurely serenity and beauty. Each of the ‘pictures’ that Mussorgsky had composed in just three weeks, were inspired by a memorial exhibition for his friend, artist Viktor Hartmann, both sharing a common artistic goal: to imbue their work with a distinctly Russian character.
Mariantonietta Sgueglia with the President of Incontro Enrico Hüllweck
What greater declamation of peace and joy could there be than the imagined ‘Great Gate of Kiev’ in these years of painful conflict. Mikhail who cannot return home and has not been able to see his family for many years, imbued it with a resonance and richness where the tolling bells rang out in searing defiance .
Eleven pictures that Mikhail imbued with knowing beauty as each one was a miniature tone poem with a kaleidoscope of characters and emotions, revealing even more intensely a true Poet of the Keyboard. The first picture ‘Gnomus ‘ was played with mystery with a mastery of pedal that could create a vision of a terrifying landscape of violent contrasts with trills that were like the screams of Munch. A walk on tip toe to the ‘engloutie’ of the ‘Old castle’ that was seen through a poetic mist of subtle delicacy with a ravishing palette of colours as it disappeared from sight completely submerged in magic. The Venetians know something of that! What fun the ‘kids’ had in the Tuileries with Misha’s agile fingers of featherlight ‘fingerfertigkeit’. Contrasting with the lumbering ‘Bydlo’ where Mikhail’s mastery of balance as the music became full but never hard and Bydlo was allowed to wend his way into the invisible distance. Elated by such poetic depictions an etherial gait of barely heard footsteps were awakened by the vision of the brilliantly busy ‘chicks’ hatched by Mikhail with extraordinary good humour. Goldberg burst onto the scene with great authority which Mikhail enriched with the silences between notes of burning significance. Schmuyle became a whimpering servant that Mikhail played with the knowing resonance of a master of the pedal. Listening to the blistering reverberations in the Catacombe leading into the heavenly sounds of paradise. Rudely interrupted now by the strident sounds of a quickened pace as Baba Yaga grappled with fate adding enormous sonorities and dynamic drive . What a marvel was the central episode where Mikhail gave great character to the distant vision of the witch until it burst onto the scene again with incumbent violence . And now the crowning glory was the vision an oasis of peace:The Great Gate of Kiev. An extraordinary explosion of luminosity and fervent prayer. Mikhail revealing the people on their knees by taking away the glowing radiance of the Gateway , revealing a moment of poignant intimacy by masterly use of the pedal and touch. Gradually the bells start to cry out with luminous bass notes of great reverberation creating a mist on which pealing bells are heard before the final triumphant declaration played with sounds of reverberating beauty, never hard or brittle, but with the luminosity of looking upwards into the stars . A masterly performance of a poet rather than a warrior , one that could show us the real significance behind the notes and not just the steely sheen of confrontation.
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 