ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary

And now a final concert before having to leave for the airport. Fazioli presenting a young Portuguese pianist of Ukrainian descent much lauded recently by Martha Argerich : Máximo Klyetsun. Two sets of variations by Schumann and Rachmaninov. When I suggested to Máximo that he make some cuts because we all had to catch the afternoon bus to our various airports. I may leave out some repeats but I would never cut the posthumous studies as they are the most beautiful of them all. I even suggested that I should cough during the Rachmaninov Corelli Variations, as the composer famously said that when someone coughed in the audience he would leave out one or two variations and had never been able to play all twenty together!

Well this young pianist who recently was praised in the International Competition in Vigo by Martha Argerich proceeded to show us in sound why he would not cut the Schumann Variations. Five posthumous variations that were added after Schumann’s death and are sometimes inserted separately in-between the published variations or in this case all five played after the third (Butterfly ) variation. After his playing of exquisite delicacy and beauty Jeremy Nicholas turned to me and said that this was the most beautiful playing he had heard in Cremona. It was a performance of such strength and delicacy with a technical control and mastery that seemed to known difficulties. But it was the musical shape and sense of colour that was of a mature artist and not of a young man of barely twenty. The opening theme played with aristocratic control with an extraordinary palette of sounds. The first variation played with a whispered rhythmic drive of demonic insinuation on which he floated the legato theme , allowing the staccato and legato to move inexorably forward to the passionate outpouring of the second variation. A sense of balance where the duet between the outer voices was accompanied by pulsating, harmonically vibrating sounds . The so called ‘Butterfly’ study was played with fleeting lightness with the tenor melody of voluptuous refined elegance. The five posthumous studies that followed were played with a poetic fantasy and radiant beauty. A rare sense of imagination that allowed these afterthoughts to reach into realms with golden strands of sounds arriving deep into the soul. The swirling magical sounds of the first .The disarming simplicity of the second that is transformed into a nightmarish moment of anxiety.The majestic third contrasting with the poignant simplicity and glistening beauty of the fourth. But it was the fifth where the heavens truly opened as Máximo played with a chiselled beauty of purity and disarming simplicity.The magic spell broken by the strident chords of the third variation played with impish good humour and remarkable control of sound as the chords took flight with featherlight ease. A passionate intensity and sense of melodic line to the outpouring of the fifth only to be interrupted by the driving movement to the sixth. The seventh that Agosti likened to a Gothic Cathedral for its noble structure, was played with an architectural shape of knowing musicianship. An extraordinary technical mastery in the Mendelssohnian flight of notes in the ninth study with playing of fearless ease and masterly control. Imposing brilliance to the eighth variation was interrupted by the beauty of the ninth of a Chopin like bel canto. It was played with a sense of balance that allowed the melodic line to be revealed floating on a wave of vibrating harmonies. The Finale bursting onto the scene with dynamic drive and pulsating brilliance.Exhilaration and excitement added to moments of glistening beauty as Máximo moved inexorably to the final bars that he played with passionate authority and masterly control.

I was just able to hear the Rachmaninov Corelli Variations before running to catch my awaiting chariot to fly me back to reality. A glowing beauty to the theme of ‘La Folia’ ,that Rachmaninov attributed to Corelli, was the basis of variations for his and many other composers. A work where Máximo’s palette of colour and technical mastery combined in a performance that he managed to shape into an extraordinary architectural whole. Perhaps on occasion taking liberties, that he certainly did not allow himself in Schumann, but that still allowed him to convey the architectural shape with a continual forward movement of variations of subtle beauty, technical intricacy and passionate immediacy. But it was the final appearance of the theme after a tumultuous climax that Máximo played with the same disarming simplicity that Bach was to bequeath to us with his Goldberg Variations which are the shining genial example for us all.

As I ran for the door I could hear the thunder and lightening of the encore of Liszt’s Sixth Hungarian Rhapsody. Playing of mastery and power allied to a beguiling style of teasing brilliance. It was this Liszt that obviously brought such glowing praise from the Queen of Pianists, Martha Argerich.

Máximo too now running to the airport in his concert suit and patent shoes – not the usual garb for the customers of Ryan Air !

Nelson Goerner returns to the Wigmore Hall with a programme in ‘C’ .Bob Dylan claimed the key of C ‘to be the key of strength, but also the key of regret’.Many masses and settings of the Te Deum in the Classical era were in C major. Mozart and Haydn wrote most of their masses in C major. Gounod stated that “only God composes in C major”. Six of his own masses are written in C.

The Toccata in C minor by Bach, the Schumann Fantasie in C major and finally the Schubert Sonata in C minor and an encore in C sharp minor!

The Toccata in C minor was played with crystalline clarity and driving rhythms with the improvised opening given a shape and direction of great authority and an Adagio of disarming simplicity. The toccata bursting onto the scene with insistence and teasing importance with Nelson allowing the theme to be shadowed with an echo effect of hypnotic forward drive.

The Schumann Fantasie was played with authority with great lines of nobility and grandeur as this was a performance of Beethovenian solidity but just missed the sense of colour and imagination that Schumann describes in his preface by Schlegel.

‘Resounding through all the notes In the earth’s colourful dream There sounds a faint long-drawn note For the one who listens in secret’. Schumann had written to his betrothed Clara ‘The first movement may well be the most passionate I have ever composed – a deep lament for you‘ .He even quotes from Beethoven’s ‘An die ferne Geliebte’ in the coda of the first movement ( and at the end in the first edition ) ‘Accept then these songs beloved, which I sang for you alone.’The faint long drawn out note is the opening G in the bass that creates a wash of sounds on which Schumann can float his heartfelt message with passionate outpourings and whispered asides. Andras Schiff in this very hall had shown us a first movement bathed in pedal for this reason ). Nelson played with an extraordinary sense of balance and aristocratic musicianship but just missed moments to cherish that were to come later with his exquisite playing of a simple Chopin Nocturne also in C ( sharp minor ). Masterly playing from a musician who leaves nothing to chance but plays with quite extraodinary mastery. Even the final note of the Adagio that interrupts the romantic effusions ,in the first movement, that so often is missing at the end of the phrase was timed to perfection and played with whispered sounds but missing a sense of glowing fluidity. Masterly playing of the ‘Im Legendenton’ played with contrast between passionate Beethovenian intensity and whispered floating waves of sound.And the whispered ending played with enviable control but lacking the sense of improvised discovery.

Masterly playing of the second movement with a coda where Nelson relied on the left hand as an anchor to the treacherous leaps that he played with extraordinary accuracy and mastery. A long silence between this movement and the last just allowed us to savour the wonderful change of colours and character as Nelson allowed the music to unwind with poetic beauty but always with an architectural sense of line.

This was a masterly performance of aristocratic musicianship and extraordinary technical refinement but for me missed a sense of magic to cherish. There was enormous admiration for a master, but I felt excluded from this magical world and that I was an observer of a magnificent monument but from the window of a passing train where the atmosphere and the air could not be savoured to the full.

Schubert in C minor is of course Beethoven’s key and this is the most Beethovenian of all Schubert’s sonatas . Opening with burning authority and vehemence followed by an agitated cauldron of sounds with moments of magical mellifluous outpourings that Nelson played with beauty and radiance. His use of the sustaining pedal was masterly and his finger legato exemplary but the magical gossamer sounds like in Schumann were missing for me . Here though was a master, playing with burning conviction and even the mellifluous outpourings were imbued with a sense of urgency and dynamic drive.The development in particular showed an absolute mastery of balance as the ghostly chromatic scales created the atmosphere of fear and trepidation before bursting again into the open. The ‘Adagio’ was played with simple beauty where Nelson allowed the melodic line to unfold with simplicity building to dramatic outbursts with the heart rending return of the theme embellished with beguiling innocence. A ‘Menuetto’ that was played with Beethovenian charm with a Trio played with orchestral colouring. The ‘Allegro’ just burst from his fingers with a menacing buoyancy and irresistible drive. What fun he had with the question and answer of the central episode before the miraculous apparition of one of Schubert’s unexpected magical outpourings a true glimpse of the paradise that was awaiting too soon . A monumental performance from a master musician where the spirit of Beethoven was joined by that of Schubert in a marriage made in heaven.

We were now ready to be seduced and ravished as Nelson after many calls back to the stage decided to share a moment of ‘Godliness’ with us. A performance of the C sharp minor Chopin Nocturne that I have only heard similar in this very hall by his look alike Shura Cherkassky. The clouds had passed and the heavens opened as we caught a glimpse of the paradise that has alluded us up until now.

Shura was a great admirer of the young Goerner and they shared the same agent,Christa Phelps, who brought him to us in Rome in 1998 and 2002 when Shura was indeed in Paradise !

Nelson Goerner at the Wigmore Hall The magic world of Albeniz revealed in all its glory

Nelson Goerner at the Wigmore Hall Supreme mastery of a Golden Age reborn

Alexander Ullman the supreme stylist at the National Liberal Club. The only pianist to have won the International Liszt Competitions in Budapest aged 20 and Utrecht aged 25 .Now in his early thirties making an all to rare appearance in London with works by Liszt and Chopin but also the works of Grieg from his latest CD.

An eclectic programme for Alex’s long awaited return to London . An unexpected telephone call from his friend and fellow student at Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, Ben Westlake, with an invitation to play for the Kettner society of which he is co artistic director with Cristian Sandrin. Alex cruising around Greece was able to catch a plane and arrive in the morning of the concert to please his friend and judging from the packed hall not only him!

A chance to hear the last book – the 10th – of Grieg’s much neglected Lyric Pieces. Rarely heard in concert since Gilels programmed a handfull of the 66 miniature tone poems in his concerts.

Hans von Bülow had described Grieg as ‘The Chopin of the North’ because like Chopin’s Mazurkas he could capture the spirit of his homeland with just a few strokes of his brush, creating miniature tone poems of extraordinary poetic evocation. Is it a coincidence that Grieg penned 66 Lyric pieces as Chopin too penned almost the same number of Mazurkas? Schumann described them as ‘canons covered in flowers’. I know from Janina Fialkowska that Rubinstein loved the lyric pieces, which she too programmes regularly, and of course Rubinstein’s performances of the concerto reached sublime heights of poetic beauty. Alex too has played the Grieg concerto in BRNO with great success recently, where he substituted an indisposed Elisabeth Leonskaja .

Today he arrived in London happy to share with his friend a programme of unashamed romanticism showing us what it means to be naturally gifted, as he had spent the last two weeks almost without a piano! Alex after his youthful studies at the Purcell School with William Fong won a scholarship to go to Curtis in Philadelphia to study for four years with Leon Fleisher, only returning afterwards to the Royal College in London to complete his studies with Dmitri Alexeev. In the meantime he had won the Liszt competition in Budapest at the age of only 20. I heard him for the first time in Sermoneta in Italy when he played in Eliso Virsaladze’s class, and I was so bowled over by the very Paganini Study he played today, that I dared ask Madame Virsaladze what nationality he was. English like you , she barked ! Alex had been prepared for Fleisher’s precious lessons by Robert Mc Donald and it was he, through hours of grilling with all the Chopin Studies and works like the Hammerklavier Sonata that gave him the technical preparation that allows for such freedom of expression now!

The seven Lyric Pieces were played with extraordinary sensitivity and a palette of sounds from the nostalgia of ‘ Once upon a time’ , ‘Peace in the Woods’, ‘Gone’ with ‘Summer’s Eve’ that despite busy passages could be a picture of the aging Grieg and his wife looking at the sun setting on the fjord of Troldhaugen. There was the mischievous ‘Puck’ and the lively ‘Norwegian Dance’, finishing with the exquisite ‘Remembrances’ that recalls the sublime ‘Arietta’ that opens the very first Lyric Piece of book one, written almost forty years earlier.

As a contrast Alex offered one of the most loved pieces by Liszt. His Liebestraum n 3 in A flat, played with an improvised beauty as though discovering this well known work for the first time. Subtle rubato and the flexibility of a singer, as the music flowed with whispered beauty bursting into a passionate outpouring of heartrending intensity. Cadenza’s that in Alex’s hands became washes of golden sounds like a halo glowing with radiance and glistening beauty. Alex has the gift of making the music sound freshly minted, as there is no rhetoric but just the music that is allowed to unfold, in the hands of this poet of the keyboard, with refreshing simplicity and mastery.

From the Grieg of concentrated whispered emotions to Alex’s own transcription of the orchestral Peer Gynt Suite n. 1 op 46. Here Alex was able to produce the sounds of a complete orchestra with a sense of balance and use of the pedal with the beauty of the ‘Morning Mood’ spread over the entire keyboard, followed by the intense depth of sound of ‘The Death of Ǎse’ and the spirited ‘Anitra’s Dance’ leading to the transcendental antics ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King ‘.

Contrasting now with Liszt’s Paganini Study n. 6 with the famous theme that Rachmaninov and many others were to use for a basis for their variations. It was the first piece I had heard Alex play fifteen years ago in Italy and it just highlighted his poetic invention, transcendental command and innate sense of showmanship. The opening theme was, even here, beautifully phrased as it was allowed to breathe and not just be played like a mechanical study. A palette of colours from variations that were mere whispers of glowing beauty and others of spritely fingerfertigkeit tantalisingly played with impish good humour. But it was the grandeur and breathtaking daring that he imbued in the final variation with a sumptuous sound born deep in the bass that allowed the whole piano to vibrate with passionate intensity.

This had been preceded by Liszt’s ‘Nuages gris’ where the genius of Liszt was looking to the future and was ‘A master of freedom’ according to his disciple Busoni. Arguably, Liszt was the first composer to establish the augmented triad as a truly independent sonority, to consider its implications for modern dissonance treatment and to ponder its meaning for the future course of tonality. The restless, unresolved dissonances of Nuages gris, the isolated figures, the sense of alienation—these have a clear affinity with the somewhat later expressionism of the Viennese composers Mahler and Schoenberg that indicated what was happening and what would happen in European music. Sound, with the assistance of symmetry, would take over, harmony would be absorbed into colour and lose its cadential function. A very short piece of whispered sounds played with remarkable control and extraordinary range of subtle colouring. It is interesting to note that a scene at the morgue in Kubrick’s last film ‘Eyes wide shut’ is accompanied by ‘Nuages gris‘!

It was Liszt who had encouraged Grieg to write a concerto and when Grieg presented it to him Liszt famously sightread the entire score. Rachmaninov had used the Grieg Concerto as a model for his own First Concerto and the Grieg concerto like the Tchaikovsky B flat minor concerto are the evergreen concertos even for people who do not usually listen to classical music. Of course it was made even more famous by Morecambe and Wise with Andre Previn. https://youtu.be/uMPEUcVyJsc?si=97GQOFaBN7N7XQA

It was this study that Rubinstein was to surprise his audience with at his very last performance at the Wigmore Hall in 1976. He was partially blind and could not see out of the corners of his eyes but had agreed to accept William Lyne’s invitation to play, in order to try to stop the developers from moving in. His last piece was Chopin’s B flat minor Scherzo that he had played all his life, but now the treacherous leaps were not possible. He stopped and proceded to play a series of Chopin Studies that we had never heard him play before. ‘The Bees’ was the first followed by op 10 n. 4. and at the end of the concert he made a speech saying he had started his career in the Wigmore Hall in May 1912 and was happy to finish it here in May 1976, but please do not let them demolish this beautiful temple of music Afterwards the public were invited to go back stage, and suddenly Rubinstein asked for silence: ‘ I may be blind, but not too blind to know a beautiful lady when she is standing next to me’. It was Lauren Bacall!

Alex played the Fourth Ballade with a masterly architectural understanding allowing the music to unfold on the wave of a series of variations of ever more passionate intensity.The climax was played with undulating waves of sound in the left hand and a melodic line of intoxicating exhilaration. Chords thrown off with fearless abandon as he plunged into the coda with a technical mastery that was breathtaking in its fearless burning drive. Whatever the difficulties Alex shaped the music with masterly control and sumptuous chameleonic sounds bringing this ‘pinnacle of the romantic piano repertoire’ to a sumptuous close. The Polonaise – Fantaise is one of Chopin’s last works where his mastery of form could combine the Polonaise with a free form of poetic beauty. Alex played the opening chords with imperious authority allowing them to vibrate with one circular movement of the arm as the reverberations were visible as well as audible, and where he was revealed as a true painter in sound. There was a whispered intensity of the Polonaise after the opening and the heartrending outpouring of mellifluous beauty of the central episode. An aristocratic control of the build up to the final climax, played with passion and fearless abandon as it dissolved with dying gasps to the final glowing A flat shining on high, the true undying symbol of a Genius.

Just one encore, of course by Grieg. What more appropriate than Grieg’s song ‘I love you’ especially as Alex had seduced every one of us with a mastery and style that will long be remembered. A hall that had seen the last concert of Rachmaninov, brought by his great friend and club member Benno Moiseiwitch, before leaving Europe for the very last time in 1939.

Alexander Ullman – The Supreme Stylist at the Wigmore Hall

Martin Bartlett may have kept the best to last with a dream performance of ‘The Man I Love’ as a tribute to Gershwin on his birthday .

But it was much more than that as this is a man who loves the piano, sharing with us an infectious ‘joie de vivre’ and a ravishing palette of sounds. A sense of balance of a true magician of the piano allied to a showmanship and a delight in taking the audience by surprise. I am reminded of the much missed Cherkassky whose concerts were a voyage of discovery together. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DZFumJqMprEA&ved=2ahUKEwiD4JySt5GXAxUHa0EAHYOqBMQQtwJ6BAgaEAI&usg=AOvVaw2w0eABqgPEUBrpsWYN4K3x

I remember Fou Ts’ong in Rome listening to a clamorously famous pianist and I dared make a comparison between him and Cherkassky. Ts’ong always spot on shrieked but Shura loves the piano, this man hates it!

It is a love where every note, every strand is coaxed out of the keys with a caressing movement and with a Cheshire Cat delight at the beauty of the jewels he could unlock from this box of hammers and strings !

The concert had begun with the Busoni transcription of Bach’s ‘ Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme’ a work that has long been in Martin’s repertoire. Today with the Chopin Society Steinway tuned to perfection, it was full of subtle colours where counterpoints shone like light on a prism as their rays filled the Chorale with a colour and ravishing sounds that seemed to come from within. A gradual crescendo leading to the final triumphant outpouring of a true believer with inner voices that never disturbed the main line but enhanced it and filled it with glorious sounds of sumptuous richness. Martin visibly enjoying this voyage of discovery as he lingered over certain notes or emphasised others, but never allowing the natural flow of the music to be disturbed. We were on a great wave of undulating sounds never hard or ungrateful but like water flowing and inviting.

The Sicilano in Wilhelm Kempff’s magical arrangement of Bach’s Flute Sonata in E flat created even more magic, as Martin with an extraordinary mastery of balance and sound could allow the gentle flowing accompaniment to seem as though it was always present as the melody was played with glowing radiance and subtle shading. I had last heard it played by Idil Biret ,a student of Kempff. When my wife directed ‘Whose afraid of Virginia Wolff’ she chose Idil’s performance as the closing moments of the play when the couple suddenly are able admit that their child was dead. A work for me of poignant significance that Martin played with refined good taste and masterly control, no tears but a smile of recognition re-lived with an artist who loves it as much as I do.

Martin admitted that the Handel Chaconne was a relatively new discovery and addition to his repertoire, and had become one of his favourite pieces. I have heard it played in Rome by Annie Fischer and Fou Ts’ong ,but today I heard a work completely reborn. An ornamentation of such mastery that I had to know who was the genius who could embellish such a well known work with such style and astonishing showmanship. Martin is never the most modest of people and he readily admitted that the embellishments were his own! Such an ornate opening where the Chaconne is stated before the string of ever more elaborate variations over the same bass. An opening I hardly recognised but was totally won over by the beauty and ‘fingerfertigkeit’ of such mastery that the theme could be enveloped by such a web of beautiful gold and silver strands. Building to the climax that Handel intended but with variations that were varied by Martin with such beguiling insinuation I was completely enraptured by such mastery. Like a tornado passing over the keys with featherlight jeux perlé but also great bass notes, which may have been out of style, but who cares when the architectural shape and respect for the composer’s original thoughts are transmitted with such immediacy and urgency. An electric shock on this sumptuous voyage of discovery that Martin was enjoying every bit as much as his audience.

Mozart Sonata K 331 was the final work before the interval and it was here that Schnabel’s famous remark of Mozart being too difficult for adults but too easy for children was upper most in my thoughts. As Martin said in his very entertaining introduction, Mozart for him is opera. There are the characters, the story, the panorama all depicted in sound by Mozart. It was exactly this that Martin could so miraculously portray also with great personality allowing Mozart’s notes to speak as eloquently as the human voice. Slight inflections, unobtrusive flexibility of tempo but above all a glowing radiance and beauty to the sound. Has the theme of the first movement ever been played more beautifully, as he allowed the music to breathe as only a Schwarzkopf could do with very slight inflections and colours of impish mischievousness and teasing beauty. An occasional embellishment did not disturb as it can do in lesser hands these days of blind authenticity, but enhanced the meaning of music that became a conversation. The beautiful fourth variation where the left hand floats above the right in a question and answer of whispered beauty.The Adagio played with heartrending radiance before the final Allegro bursting into life with operatic high jinx. A ‘Menuetto’ almost too pompous but with a ‘Trio’ of a beguiling question and answer. A ‘Rondo Alla Turca’ that Lang Lang admits was the inspiration for him as a child from the Walt Disney films of Mickey Mouse, and he plays it brilliantly at tempo record. But Martin today revealed another ‘Rondo Alla Turca’ every bit as exciting because played at a leisurely ‘Allegretto’ and varying the acciaccatura’s as is historically valid. There was no need for speed as it was the beguiling insinuation and tongue in cheek enticement that made this so irresistible. Even the ‘chorus’ when there would be drums beaten on historic instruments Martin played with refined good taste and a tonal range that never outstepped the world in which he had entrapped us. A remarkable performance that I would gladly have re lived a second time ……but it was time for a break .

Martin of course was not going to hide away in the Green room but like Badura Skoda loved to chat to his public that was sharing the party atmosphere that he was creating.

After the interval the two nocturnes op 27 opened up a magic world and in that moment the colours , pedal effects and poetic touch, I doubt I have heard anything so beautiful since Cherkassky or Rubinstein. But always a man of surprise Martin pulled out of his hat a little ‘Romance without Words’ by Fauré op 17 n.3 that like Elgar’s ‘Salut d’amour ‘ is one of those pieces that remain in the head for long after the performance is over. A sound world of delicacy and glowing beauty that Martin played with exquisite finesse and improvised freedom. It was as though the melody was allowed to flow as Chopin had described the meaning of rubato: like a tree with the roots firmly planted in the ground but the branches allowed to sway with the breeze.

‘Los requiebros’ of Granados was played with extraordinary fluidity and virtuosity but always bathed in a sound world of sumptuous passion and joy. Transcendental difficulties just did not exist for Martin as there was just the message of the music that consumed him and united us to the magic world of a true magician of the keyboard .

‘ The Man I Love’ of course what else as an encore! I think Martin had indeed conquered us all by now and it was time to enjoy tea and cakes made by the indefatigable Gillian Newman’s valiant helpers , as we gathered around Lady Rose to wish her a full recovery from the serious operation she has had to undergo this summer.

Mariam Batsashvili and Martin James Bartlett a dream team of wondrous music making

Martin James Bartlett seduces and charms us all at the Wigmore Hall

A Rose for Martin Bartlett

Four young masters ranging in age from 13 to 17 astonished the public in Belgravia where many outside in the restaurants and cocktail bars that abound in these parts , were intent on enjoying this Indian Summer . But those who wanted to replenish their souls and admire the dedication and talent of four teenagers had sought refuge in the beautiful edifice of St Paul’s in Wilton Place The words of Artur Rubinstein are much better than any others to describe talent .

.https://youtu.be/gex0sOR7XZ0?si=LR1LUG_OvOZnZ559

Congregated under the baton of the eclectic George Hlawiczka and his very fine youthful orchestra that includes many recently graduated top musicians, as we watched astonished as he who greeted us at the door and was seen behind the bar and even moving the piano, stood in front of his orchestra with masterly authority and humanity as he followed each of these young masters with cat like intensity and encouraging warmth .

George is himself also a wonderful violinist so it was no surprise that he conducted his two violin soloists with inside knowledge of subtlety and burning intensity.

Fifteen year old Piehan Francesca He, mentored by Dr Robin Wilson of the Royal Academy and Menuhin School . Menuhin of course was a child prodigy playing with Elgar his own violin concerto as a teenager with the composer anxious only to get to the race course in time, as the young Menuhin in breeches took the world by storm under the baton of conductors such as Bruno Walter and Arturo Toscanini.

Francesca played the Bruch concerto with searing intensity and mastery where every note was played with the weight of an artist of a maturity well over her actual age .

If one thought this was a performance to cherish we were astounded by the thirteen year old Muqi Yuan who played with such assurance and authority that had one closed ones eyes they would have thought this might be a youthful Menuhin or Perlman. Wieniawski’s second concerto , like that of Bruch, is a brilliant showpiece full of romantic ardour and astonishing virtuosity. I was not surprised to discover later in the Green room that she is left handed and as every violinist knows it is the left hand that calls the tune. I remember Ruggiero Ricci playing many times for us in Rome and Uto Ughi would be in the gallery to marvel at the left hand mastery of a violinist who had been a child prodigy at the time of Yehudi Menuhin and Ida Haendel. This was truly an astonishing performance and the jewel in a crown already shining brightly .

After the interval it was the turn of the piano and St Paul’s can boast a king of pianos with a Steinway D, that our valiant conductor moved into position with a little help from his more endowed colleagues, ready for concertos of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky .

Fifteen year old Matt Zhao, a scholar of Westminster School and the Junior Royal Academy, gave a musicianly account of Beethoven’s Third Concerto . A beautifully shaped Largo encompassed by an authoritative Allegro con brio with its brilliant and the dynamic cadenza by the composer himself where Matt was able to transmit the improvised character of an irascible composer . The Rondo third movement was played with infectious ‘joie de vivre’ with a young man who was now evidently enjoying Beethoven’s ebullient virtuosity .

Throwing off Tchaikowsky’s octaves, that Nikolai Rubinstein had declared unplayable , with a velocity and fluidity that would strike fear into most pianists but that David Chen relished with the simple natural mastery that obviously is in his genes. Ravishing beauty too with whispered playing of great projection and glowing beauty .

It was not surprising the ovation that greeted his astonishing final assault on the keyboard.

It reminded me of Sir Thomas Beecham admonishing a young Horowitz saying his orchestral players just could not keep pace with such Lisztian antics.

Well this orchestra did keep up under the eagle eye of the ever attentive George Hlawiczka , concert violinist, , conductor, impresario, barman, cashier, piano remover and general stage manager.

Hats off to a Renaissance man who, to quote Menuhin, with ‘mutual anticipation ‘ can give a platform to such astonishing young talent.

Victor Borge comes to mind on encountering a teenage Evgeny Kissin in a New York restaurant. ‘I saw your reviews from Carnegie Hall Mr Kissin. They make me sick ! ‘

Genius is not always easy to live with !

Alberto Portugheis Premio Sorrento Classica alla Carriera 2026 A prize for his life’s work ‘A piano for peace’

Fulvio Nicolosi flying high in Milan at the Steinway Flagship where he gave a recital of Bach, Clementi, Rossini and Beethoven as part of a long-standing collaboration between Steinway & Sons and the Keyboard Trust.

Just returned from concerts in South America and heading tomorrow for Hamburg where he will embark on a five day tour for the Keyboard Trust.

From the scintillating brilliance of Clementi played with a clarity and a remarkable sense of character and contrast. An imposing authority and a palette of colour that enriched one of the composers over a hundred neglected sonatas . A ‘Largo’ of disarming simplicity bursting into life with an ‘Allegro’ of passionate intensity and a ‘Presto’ of scintillating jeux perlé.

To the improvised mastery of Bach’s D major Toccata where the fleeting changing moods were played with extraordinary depth of detail and an ornamentation that did not disturb but enhanced the flowing drive until the poignant beauty of the fugato leading to the exhilaration and hypnotic insistence of the Toccata . Showing a great sense of style in four of Rossini’s ‘Péchés de vieillesse’, from the salon charm of the ‘Sicilienne ‘ to the hesitant lightweight beguiling insistence of the ‘Marche Slave’ and the beautiful mellifluous outpouring of ‘Les petits pois’. And ending this group of salon pieces with the scintillating ‘Danse Sibérienne.’

Fulvio’s recital ended with Beethoven’s last of his trilogy of op 31. The so called ‘Hunt’ because of the exuberance and excitement of the last movement.

It had opened with the pastoral simplicity of the ‘Allegro’ that just flew from Fulvio’s well oiled fingers with refreshing simplicity and ‘joie de vivre’ . Clarity and sparkling brilliance brought this opening picturesquely to life. A ‘Scherzo’ played with a rhythmic insistence of great character with its cheeky ending thrown off with knowing nonchalance. It was followed by the noble beauty of the ‘Minuet’ which seemed rather fast for its ‘moderato’ marking but contrasted with the ‘Trio’ that Fulvio shaped with grace and beauty. In fact it was to be the theme that Saint-Saëns chose for his Beethoven Variations.

The hunt was on in the last movement ‘Presto con fuoco ‘ that Fulvio played with burning dynamic drive.

The finest performance, though , was kept to last , with a sumptuous encore of Charles Trenet’s ‘April in Paris ‘ in Weissenberg’s beguiling transformation into a piano piece of extraordinarily enticing beauty that Fulvio played with style and simple mastery.

Fulvio Nicolosi at Steinway&Sons for the Keyboard Trust, showing us the Bel Canto of Bellini with Paganinian bravura

The triumph of Rachmaninov with Lugansky and Kochanovsky in Rome .

The first concert of the complete concerto cycle

with a standing ovation from a wildly enthusiastic public.

The Prelude in G sharp minor op 32 n 12 played as an encore , revealed in condensed form, the supreme mastery of Lugansky that we had heard all evening in the first two concerti.

https://youtu.be/53i5zrb2kpk?si=23jDFyBY5M08SZIw

The opening of the second , in particular , was astonishing for its seductive range of sound. From barely whispered chords, each one full of subtle colour, to the final enormous sonority with which the magnificent orchestra led by the dynamically charged Andrea Obiso could join the soloist with their sumptuous Philadelphian sounds of romantic ardour directed by an inspired Stanislav Kochanovsky.

The concert had opened with two early works The Rock written in 1893 and the first Piano Concerto written in 1891.

The Rock, Op. 7 (or The Crag) written in the summer of1893 was dedicated to Nikolai Rimsky- Korsakov . It is prefaced by a poem of Mikhail Lermontov

The golden cloud slept through the night
Upon the breast of the giant-rock

He later admitted, however, to a second musical programme, drawn from a story by Anton Chekov titled “Along the Way”, in which a young girl meets an older man during a stormy, overnight stop at a roadside inn on Christmas Eve. The man shares with her the story of his life, beliefs, and past failures, as a blizzard rages on through the night.

Rachmaninov had great admiration for Tchaikowsky and in a meeting between the two at the home of Rachmaninov’s former teacher Sergei Taneyev the younger composer was given the opportunity to perform his newly completed piece at the piano.  The Rock had a positive effect on Tchaikovsky, who had been unhappy with an earlier performance of a four-hand piano arrangement of his sixth symphony by another young composer, Lev Conus The composer Mikhail Ippolitov – Ivanov described the evening

At the close of the evening Rachmaninov acquainted us with the newly completed symphonic poem, The Crag. […] The poem pleased all very much, especially Pyotr Ilyich [Tchaikovsky], who was enthusiastic over its colorfulness. The performance of The Crag and our discussion of it must have diverted Pyotr Ilyich, for his former good-hearted mood came back to him.

Tchaikovsky asked to be allowed to includeThe Rock in the programme of a forthcoming European concert tour. This was never realized, however, as Tchaikovsky committed suicide later that year.

It is a work for full orchestra with lavish sounds and passionate outbursts. A quite imposing brass section but that the conductor incorporated into the overall architectural line with a masterly sense of line. Moments of typical Rachmaninovian passionate intensity that saw Andrea Obiso driving his colleagues on as he sat up in his chair with an intensity that the conductor with few undemonstrative movements could lead with masterly control and subtle attention to balance.

The first concerto is from 1891, when Rachmaninov was only 17–18. The first two movements were completed while he was still only 17; the third and the orchestration   shortly after he had turned 18. He dedicated the work to Alexander Siloti but revised it thoroughly in 1917.He wrote Natalya Skalon on 26 March 1891, “I am now composing a piano concerto. Two movements are already written; the last movement is not written, but is composed; I shall probably finish the whole concerto by the summer, and then in the summer orchestrate it.” He finished composing and scoring the piece on 6 July and the first movement was premiered on 17 March 1892 at the Moscow Conservatory with the composer as soloist and  Vasily Safonov  conducting. The model for the concerto was the Grieg Piano Concerto  which was a favourite work of his and one with which he had been familiar from Siloti practicing it during the spring and summer of 1890 for future concerts. Rachmaninov adapted the entire musical structure of the outer movements to the Grieg concerto, literally building his music into it. He completely revised the work in 1917 with the experience gained from his second and third concerti: “I have rewritten my First Concerto; it is really good now. All the youthful freshness is there, and yet it plays itself so much more easily. And nobody pays any attention. When I tell them in America that I will play the First Concerto, they do not protest, but I can see by their faces that they would prefer the Second or Third.”

Lugansky brought great romantic flamboyance to the opening with the octaves played with enormous sonority dissolving into one of those heartrending romantic outpourings of unashamed opulence. Lugansky has a strange way of throwing his hands into the air which could be very distracting if it was not for his superb musicianship and a technical perfection that is always made of beautiful sounds. There are never any hard edged metallic sounds but always sumptuous richness and whispered radiance. Of course the centre piece of the first movement is the cadenza that Lugansky played with excitement and exhilaration and at moments reaching the same volume that we had heard from the orchestra who when they entered brought the movement to a scintillating if rather abrupt stop. The Andante was played with subtle colouring from the orchestra inspiring the soloist as he embellished the poignant melodic line with wafts of magic sounds. The last movement just sprang from Lugansky’s fingers with extraordinary brilliance and dynamic drive. A beautiful central episode of question and answer between the soloist and the orchestra was played with quite extraordinary radiance and beauty before erupting into an ending of astonishing brilliance.

It was interesting to read in the very well prepared programme notes that the first performance had taken place in London in 1899 with Evelyn Stuart playing with Henry Wood conducting. The most famous recordings are those by the composer himself but also remarkable performances by Byron Janis and Sviatloslav Richter. Byron Janis, a pupil of Horowitz, who actually never seemed to play any but the third concerto of his great friend Rachmaninov who exclaimed that Horowitz played him well and they would often play two pianos together ! Looking at the very interesting archive of the Santa Cecilia Orchestra the First and Fourth concerti have in fact received very few performances compared to the 2nd or 3rd and Paganini Rhapsody.

The second concerto Lugansky played with sumptuous sounds and passionate intensity. I have never noticed before his way of throwing his arms into the air and hope it is just a momentary phase due to his unbelievable work load. His performance though was impeccable and played with aristocratic good taste never allowing the wondrous melodies to become sentimental, that can so often happen now, where after a visit to the doctor they flowed from his pen like Tchaikovsky’s before him.Knowing when to hold the tempo very firmly in control with the conductor and orchestra extracting the very life blood from every one of the sumptuous notes that Rachmaninov weaves with such intensity. The Andante was played as chamber music with a heartrending interplay between the soloist and the orchestral soloists before combining in passionate outbursts of wondrous beauty. Astonishing pyrotechnics from Lugansky were played with breathtaking audacity and had the audience on their feet at the end as we had all been involved in a performance that will long be remembered in a hall that has seen some very great artists but rarely reaching such enthusiasm.

Nikolai Lugansky Miracles at the Wigmore Hall

Nikolaj Luganskij nasce a Moscow nel 1972 da due ricercatori scientifici. Quando ha cinque anni arrivano, inaspettati, i primi segni di un talento musicale innato. Dice lui stesso «ero semplicemente predestinato ad essere un pianista», riferendosi a un episodio risalente a prima che imparasse anche solo a leggere la musica, quando andò dal vicino, si sedette al pianoforte e suonò una sonata di Beethoven a memoria, imparata solo ascoltandola. Dopodiché inizierà a prendere lezioni dal vicino stesso, Sergej Ipatov, un pianista e compositore.

A sette anni entrerà nella Scuola centrale di musica di Moscow, studiando con Tat’jana Kestner, un’ex allieva di Aleksandr Goldenvejzer. Nel 1985 la Kestner muore, e Luganskij diventa allievo di una sua amica stretta, Tatiana Nikolaeva, con cui studiò per nove anni, durante i quali ascoltarono insieme molta musica. Nel 1988 Nikolaj vinse il primo premio all’All-Union Competition di Tibilisi e la medaglia d’argento all’ottava edizione dell’International Bach Competition di Lipsia.

Nel 1990 vince il secondo premio nella Rachmaninov competition di Mosca. Nel 1992 all’Accademia Estiva Internazionale “Mozarteum” di Salisburgo vince il premio speciale “miglior pianista”. Nell’estate del 1993 subisce, in un incidente, lesioni a un piede e alla schiena, e solo dopo diversi mesi poté continuare la propria attività. Nel novembre dello stesso 1993, Tat’jana Nikolaeva muore durante un recital a San Francisco. Nella sua ultima intervista aveva dichiarato che Luganskij era destinato a essere il prossimo grande pianista russo. È in questo periodo che Luganskij deve decidere se partecipare o no al decimo Concorso Internationale Tchaikowsky, che si sarebbe tenuto nell’estate del 1994, decidendo alla fine di partecipare. Continuò a studiare con Sergei Dorenski, che era stato per qualche tempo l’assistente della Nikolaeva. Nel 1994 vinse il concorso, essendosi però aggiudicato soltanto il secondo premio, mentre il primo non fu assegnato.

Nikolai Lugansky in Rome pays homage to a legend- Maurizio Pollini.

Alberto Portugheis honoured to receive the lifetime achievement award of Sorrento Classica last night for his tireless work for Music and Peace thanks must go to Maestro Paolo Scibilia President and Artistic Director of the Società dei Concert di Sorrento who for years has brought cultural excellence to Sorrento.

A special thanks must go to the Fiorentino family owners of the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria who for years have invited artists to stay in their wonderful Hotel overlooking the Gulf of Napoli and in the very centre of Sorrento

Twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize he is one of the last rappresentatives of the Neapolitan school of piano playing . His childhood training in Buenos Aires , together with his lifelong friend Martha Argerich, was of the school of Vincenzo Scaramuzza. Scaramuzza was born in Crotone on June 19, 1885 and died in Buenos Aires in 1968. He studied at the Academy of Music of San Pietro a Maiella in Naples with Florestano Rossomandi, Alessandro Longo and Beniamino Cesi. Disappointed and annoyed by the excessive bureaucratic rules of the Italian educational system that in his opinion hampered the freedom of expression of a teacher, after only two months teaching in Naples, Scaramuzza decided to leave Italy.In 1907 he moved to Argentina where he really started his career as a teacher at the Santa Cecilia Academy of Music, in Buenos Aires. Then, after marrying one of his students, Sara Bagnati, he founded the “Scaramuzza Academy of Music” in 1912. He devoted himself only to teaching from 1923 onwards. His students include Martha Argerich,Bruno Leonardo Gelber Fausto Zadra,Alberto Portugheis ,Martha Noguera and Enrique Barenboim father of Daniel.

Alberto Portugheis has been sharing his knowledge and music with others for over 75 years with a firm belief that war can and should be avoided and that Music can provide Light over Darkness.

The nomination also mentioned his close association and benchmark recordings of the works of Alberto Ginastera.

It was with Ginastera that he chose to end his recital in the Chiostro di San Francesco before receiving the award from the hands of the artistic director Maestro Paolo Scibilia and Assessore Vincenzo Ercolano. A recital that had heard a crystalline account of Mozart’s Sonata K 330 and passionately involved performances of some of the best loved works of Chopin. But it was Ginastera that stole the show with a scintillating performance of his Three Argentine Dances op 2. Adding by great request his Milonga op 3 . Had there been more time I know he had his arrangement of ‘O Sole Mio’ up his sleeve as a homage to Naples and in particular Sorrento.

A cloister that has seen many great musicians in the past and where I had brought Shura Cherkassky in 1988, a close friend of Alberto, whose photo sits proudly on the wall of fame of the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria, where Alberto was a guest. Shura Cherkassky together with Enrico Caruso, Luciano Pavarotti and Sophia Loren. Other pianists who have played in this magical Cloister include Tatyana Nikolaeva, Rosalyn Tureck, Byron Janis and also a very young Martha Argerich. In the past years Maestro Scibilia has crowned such artists as Oxana Yablonskaya, Marcella Crudeli, Bruno Canino and Leslie Howard.

Oxana Yablonskaya – Sorrento salutes the ‘Queen of the Keyboard’

Sorrento crowns Marcella Crudeli -A lifetime in music

Alberto Portugheis and all that Jazz At 85 the veteran pianist shows us he is still a Kitten on the Keys

Alberto Portugheis,the veteran Renaissance artist, shows us a world where beauty triumphs over evil

Alberto Portugheis Birthday Concert ‘Music is the food of love – Make music not war’

Simonetta Allder writes : ‘ Today is International Peace Day. After giving a memorable concert last night, delecting us with Mozart, Chopin and Ginastera, in the beautiful Chiostro di San Francesco, Sorrento, renowned pianist Alberto Portugheis receives the prestigious “Sorrento Classica alla Carriera” Award in recognition of a long and brilliant career and delivers an appeal calling for universal peace. Thank you, dearest Alberto: you are a fearless tiger at the piano and a gentle dove of peace. Thank you for spreading harmony, the harmony of music and the harmony of a universal brother/sisterhood which is your highest mission in life. With infinite gratitude also to Christopher Axworthy , a true Angel of Music who tirelessly and generously makes these wonderful moments possible’.

If Music be the food of love ..play on -The historic Alberto Portugheis Masterclasses 2023 and updated to 2024

Daniel Lebhardt a star shining brightly amidst the Planets at the Royal Albert Hall today . What a genial impresario Raymond Gubbay is to give the chance to young artists of playing with major orchestras and to 6000 people all blissfully happy to applaud these young rising stars.

Great authority from a pianist raised in the Hungarian School that is based above all on musical values .A technical preparation that is of the natural use of the body and creates beautiful flowing sounds that are never hard or ungrateful. It is this early training that has given Daniel an authority and fluidity that is based on a musical imagination gained from years of study mentored by Pascal Nemirovski. He has become a true interpreter delving deeply into the scores to find the inspiration behind the`well annotated notes. Nowhere was this more evident than in the ‘Adagio sostenuto’ that was played with glowing simplicity as Daniel conversed with the superb players of the Royal Philharmonic. Fearless virtuosity too in the ‘Allegro scherzando’ where Daniel in collaboration with the very fine young conductor, Lee Reynold, could drive the music forward with passionate intensity. A sumptuous ending of aristocratic grandeur and Hollywood style effusions. There had been refined beauty to the opening as Daniel allowed the solo chords to build in intensity until joined by the orchestra in a sumptuous outpouring of sumptuous romantic sounds..

A collaboration between musicians as was later demonstrated by a performance of Holst’s Planets that was a kaleidoscope of chameleonic character and colour. The final notes intoned from the ‘Gods’ by the Bach Choir was a beautiful way to end an afternoon of sumptuous music making from two young musicians on the crest of a wave . I remember Victor Hochauser’s Tchaikovsky nights on Sunday evenings in this hall where the two concerti for violin and piano were to be heard with artist such as Peter Katin, Jerome Rose and Manoug Parikian but from the gallery cannons were fired off at the end of the 1812 overture that today were replaced by a celestial choir.

Daniel Lebhardt a star shining brightly at the Wigmore Hall

Daniel Lebhardt in Perivale ‘Mastery and commanding authority of a musician of class’

Daniel Lebhardt Emperor for the night

Catherina Lee ignites the Fidelio Orchestra under a reborn Raffaello Morales who followed every move of the Tchaikowsky Violin Concerto with a cat and mouse attention to the sublime beauty of the most sumptuously mellifluous of all concertos. Swanning it on a lake of sublime beauty as Catherina moved with the same subtle movements of an ‘Étoile’ as in the unsurpassed ballet scores of this theatrical genius.

But it was The Fidelio Post that moved written by that Renaissance man Raffaello Morales.

At the time of his composing Ullman still did not know that he would die himself in Auschwitz, in the gas chambers part of Crematorium III. Tonight the Fidelio played his Second Symphony which he never wrote. An orchestration made by his friend Bernard Wulff of his seventh sonata for piano, which Ullman completed in 1944. It was left full of annotations on how to orchestrate it, including which instruments to use and is in five movements.

As Ullman state : ‘ I have bloomed in musical growth and not felt myself at all inhibited:we simply did not sit and lament on the shores of the rivers of Babylon that our will for culture was not sufficient to our will to exist.‘

Raffaello has gathered some very fine musicians around him and it was fitting that the concert should start with violin in Ballet shoes to allow an unsuspecting audience to share the harrowing message of Ullman or the Glory and justification of Art with Bach’s greatest work for solo violin.

In Brahm’s words : ‘ On one stave , for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings’

Catherina Lee is one of the most gifted and promising violinists to have emerged from Queensland, Australia. She is described as possessing exceptional musicianship with a unique charm, poignancy, and sensitivity that place her in a league of her own. Leading conductor Marin Alsop recently commented, “I am hugely impressed. Catherina is a beautiful violinist and musician.”

Catherina gave her first public recital at 9, debuting with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra at 13, performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. At 15, she was accepted into the class of renowned violinist and teacher Gerhard Schulz, a former member of the famed Alban Berg Quartet at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Catherina was the first candidate to pass the gruelling requirements of the ‘Solo Profile’ for her master’s degree, graduating with distinction. Subsequently, she was selected to be mentored by Internationally renowned soloist Janine Jansen in Sion, Switzerland.

In 2023, Catherina plans engagements as a soloist and chamber musician at the Oberösterreichische Stiftskonzerte, Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Junge Philharmonie Wien, and Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra. Following Steven Isserlis’s recommendation, Catherina was invited to be a Fellow at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance in Nova Scotia, where she will spend several weeks working and performing with artists Gidon Kremer, Kim Kashkashian and Steven Isserlis.

A commanding and sensitive chamber musician, Catherina has appeared with Steven Isserlis, Kim Kashkashian, Philippe Graffin, Wilfried Strehle, Justus Grimm, Rick Stotijn, David Waterman, Garfield Jackson and Hyungki Joo. Her 2020 collaboration with composer Thomas Larcher on his piece ‘Madhares’ followed with its performance at the Ernen Festival.

As a soloist, she has performed with numerous orchestras throughout Europe and Australia, including Göttinger Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Queensland Symphony, Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, the Vienna Ensemble, Wiener Akademische Philharmoniker, Junge Philharmonie Wien, and Camerata Orphica Festival Orchestra. Her recent solo debut at the Konzerthaus in Vienna was described as an outstanding success.

Her work is supported by masterclasses from several leading musicians, including Steven Isserlis, Serguei Azizian, Ivry Gitlis, Boris Brovtsyn, Ivan Straus, Johannes Meissl, Nikolaj Szeps- Znaider, Michael Frischenschlager, Jean Jacques Kantorow, Ilya Gringolts, Johannes Meissl, Pavel Vernikov, Jennifer Stumm, Reka Szilvay, and Erich Gruenberg.

Catherina plays on a GB Guadagnini, Turin c1771, generously on loan by a private sponsor.

Fidelio Mahler 2 ‘The Resurrection of a Renaissance Man’