Mese: Maggio 2015

Did you get to see Alex on streaming ………this is how it went …………not available  on you tube  unfortunately although a recording might become available.

Ashkenazy was  presented with the RCM’S Honours – together with Kiri Te Kanawa – by Prince Charles on Thursday morning .

In the evening  and Friday 13 he conducted the RCM Orchestra with Alex Ullman – Berlioz Benvenuto Cellini/Chopin Concerto n.2/ Debussy Apres Midi and La Mer .

” What a great evening of music making .Sitting in front of the log fire in Italy enjoying all these wonderful young musicians loving every minute of Ashkenazy’s evident joy at the sounds they were able to find together.

Alex Ullman looks and plays like a young God I have said that before and never has it been more evident.( I mean of course the way he sits at the piano as though he were born with a keyboard in his lap).

Has the entry into the last movement ever been played so naturally? – Not since Ashkenazy himself I bet….and what an encore so effortless and with such poetic contrasts. (op 10 n.5 Black Keys Study  )- he played Chopin Nocturne op 55 n.2 the first night.

A young mans Chopin – a poet – with age he may take more time and savour the poetry even more like his great idol Artur Rubinstein .

Magnificent Debussy from the orchestra such sense of line and colour …………………..

Please oh please let us have more of this.”

Alex played Rachmaninoff n.1 last May and by great demand is invited to close our(Keyboard Charitable Trust) Rachmaninoff  Cycle (with the Orchestra Regionale Marchegiana in Pesaro-Teatro Rossini/Ancona/Fabriano 6/8/9 May ) with Tschaikowsky n 1 ! Jason Gillham will play Rackhmaninoff n. 4 ( Vitaly Pisarenko has played n.2/3 and Marcos Madrigal Paganini ). What a line up !

All best wishes Christopher

Nice important crowd even if we were expecting many more- had a good talk to the Rai 5 man – a great friend  and collegue of Norma Gentileschi ex correspondent for the Pope at the RAI.Tried to persuade Angelo (Bozzolino director of the new film about the S.Cecilia Orchestra and films on Liszt and Chopin) to release the hour and a half interview he recorded in the theatre of Charles Rosen …I don’t think  he realises the importance of that document – a very small and rather insignificant part, compared to what he actually said , was actually used in the film.  I told them both you should not play down to the public but get them to look up…..just what Alex did last night.Q.E.D.

As Sol Hurok said ” if they do not want to come you cannot stop them”

They will not know what they missed.From  the intoxicating sounds rarely heard on the Ghione stage these days to  the Pugliese delights prepared  just for us by Roberta,my wonderful theatre manager,  afterwards.

Remarkable concert and that was only a part of the evening.

A real Knight in armour coming to the rescue of a Damsel in distress ……..Alex ended up in Mac Donalds at 4.30 am much to the delight of the rif raff whose company he rather enjoyed ……he did not want to disturb me late at night and waited until 8am to come back home!I bet they were not used to seeing a young knight dressed in dinner jacket and all at any time of the day or night!

A real gentle    man.

His stallion was a taxi and his sword had no effect on a rather irate hotel manager …. hence he sought refuge in Mac Donalds as a lot of people do around train stations, I believe!

The best Chopin 4th ballade …….at least that’s what he made you believe ……amazingly subtle Beethoven …none of the Gould nonsense ………..and even Bill (Nabore director of the Piano Academy in Como) had to admit the phenomenal control of colour in the Debussy.

I had to clap very loudly to get him to get back to the order of programme that he had asked me to announce .  We almost had another Pablo- Osvald situation on our hands ………….

The ectatic performance of Chopin’s E flat nocturne op 55 reminded one of the ” star” in Scriabin and what subtle counter melodies ” old style” . The “Blackkey” study thrown off like a little tone poem and finally  everyone very moved not only by the dedication to “his friend Pluto” but by a Funeral March that must be without equal.Pluto was my dog that Alex helped me to nurse in these few days whilst he was a guest in my country home, giving recitals on the Radio RAI3 in Rome on Friday  and in Viterbo University on Saturday.

He looks and plays like a young God ……thats what I thought a year ago and I stick by it even if our other great talents a green with envy ……a talent like this is very rare indeed.Spent the day after the concert looking at the video that I made of his performance – a real lesson of his own making and then the Monseigeon Richter video that neither of us had seen for too long.In between Rubinsteins Chopin n.2 several times in preparation for his own performance in a few months time.Very interesting the link between Lechetitsky- Schnabel …………….Matthay to his present day teachers William Fong,Fleischer ,Mc Donald – they all taught in the same way ………to listen and as Dame Fanny would say ” to mould” something they don’t do any more …….she is right but here is one that still does.

All best Chris P.S. did not mean to write so much now …..but the amazing talent of this real young artist is irresistable……………

Magnificent concert at Bocconi on Thursday – Alex already booked for next year –

Vitaly played as he always  does …..it would be hard to believe that during the third piece of the Fantasy pieces by Rachmaninoff at the beginning of the concert he saw the door of the green room open and then saw, via the glass windows at the side of this beautiful modern hall,someone walk off with what looked like – and was – his bag.At the end of the Rachmaninoff we saw Vitaly tear off stage and the hall tecnician came to tell me that Vitaly had run out of the hall …by the time I had got outside Vitaly was already playing the ” Moonlight”.

In the interval we heard from Vitaly that his bag with all his documents/computer/telephone and 800 euros had been stolen .We all tore outside in the hope that the bag would have been thrown away minus the money but at least we would find the precious  documents – that for a Russian are like gold dust.

No luck.

Vitaly insisted on playing the second half: Prokofiev 6  – Luckily one of the War Sonatas and he certainly let them have it – never has that sonata been played with such a vengeance- magnificent.

He even insisted on playing an encore whilst the police were waiting for him.

Bach Siloti – he played it for me – but then Vitaly is not only a wonderful pianist but a very special human being.

We spent the night in the questura – Roberto Cominati ( who was expecting to dine with us after- he won Busoni in 1993 and is a great pal of Mr Furcht)took us and there we stayed until 2.30 after which we went back to the Hotel to sleep  …at least thats what I did but Vitaly told me after that he returned to the University to look everywhere for his documents.

Having done everything possible – Vitaly wanted to wait until Monday to see if the documents would turn up before returning to Milan to the consulate where he must find two russian citizens who would testify  for him in order to get a document to return to Moscow on Wednesday.

Luckily  he was going on to Petrushansky in Imola – who is also a great friend of Robert Furcht- and he insisted that Vitaly go there as planned – which he did yesterday- I returned to Rome and am trying to obtain information that may be helpful to Vitaly on Monday/Tuesday to get back to Moscow and then the re activate his student visa for then UK without having to pay 300/400 gb and wait 3 months.

Vitaly rang after his four hour lesson with Petrushansky on Rachmaninoff op 39 that he already plays incredibly well.

I told him to eat something not touch any alcohol and go to bed.

He must have done that as both  Petrushansky and I  tried to ring to find out how he was ….no reply….good sign that he is getting ready for the real battle at the consulate on Monday/Tuesday.

Such a nice man Petrushansky he rang me early this morning for Vitalys new number ( we did that in Milan Station yesterday with my document because he has none!).He like us all  have come under  Vitalys spell.

The question now is how can we make this easier for him ………………..The Bocconi have activated their insurance ….which is fine as they are responsable …….but it is the burocracy that needs to be dealt with.

We are just hoping that the documents might turn up before Monday.

Anyone who has any ideas please contact Sarah ………….Vitalys new number is 0039 344 1796499Best to contact him on messenger or E mail …..a friend in Imola has already lent him a computer …but then he has so many friends – he is that sort of guy….very special.

Tonight was quite grotesque …….

The Mozart Ok.

Some beautiful moments mixed with some rather ordinary rather rhythmic playing.

Like his Bach- Mozart could just about take it .

Chopin is another thing ………..rubato reduced to dotted rhythms like the baroque French Overture Style …..the opening of the first Ballade!The opening of the fourth was so wayward as was the third it made you quite sea sick.

Then he throws his left hand onto the keyboard and the right way in the air and he is off………..fifth gear all the way…….like the clunk of a steam engine about to make a run.

The most awful moment was the last quiet chord before the coda of the fourth – fortissimo with an added octave in the bass!

And off we went full speed to the most grotesquely awful ending imaginable .

I could not get out fast enough –bumped into Giuliano Ferrara (,famous television political reporter and editor of Il Foglio) we were the only two seeking escape.

“Ghastly” I blurted out in English- “Absolutely” he replied and remembered I had last seen him at Barenboims Ring Cycle at the Proms-

Oh Danny boy what have you done!

To say the codas of the first second and fourth were like Czerny would be an insult to Beethovens pupil but I think you get the idea .

The public loved it like lambs to the slaughter …………

Rondo alla Turca as an encore – heard on the car radio escaping as fast as possible- made you realise this is Tom and Gerry ……..the boy has never grown up and was having a ball at Chopin’s expense

Lang Lang murdering Chopin ‘s 4 Ballades to 3000 people and who knows how many with TV live and streaming.

Standing ovation they told us over the radio.

Behzod Abduraimov’s not perfect but wonderful performance in comparison at the Filarmonica, the day before, to 30 people just shows what power the mass media has today.

Appearances are everything apparently …

Oh Krystian Zimerman- Murray Perahia where are you.Give us another chance!

Concerti,the  F.O.R.M. closes on a high note. Il Resto del Carlino Friday 8th May 2015  Ivana Baldassarri

The beautiful thing about culture is its capacity to link andharmonise thought,emotion,projects and happenings even at a distanceof time;it is the golden thread ,the inscrutable link that bringstogether genius and simple man in the difficult tasting of life .Themusic,one knows,is one of those magic carpets that allows one tomanage, with dignity,dreams and wishes and it is for this that wePesaresi  are grateful to the Concert Society and all its members forestablishing between us and the music a strong and faithfulrelationship via the splendid concert seasons that have existed at theTeatro Rossini for the past 55 years.

The closing concert of the 2014/2015 season brought together at theRossini theatre not only the Orchestra Regionale delle Marche that hasbecome the pride of our region,but two internationally famous youngartists.The Anglo- Australian Jayson Gillham and the englishmanAlexander Ullman performing two great composers Rachmaninoff andTchaikowsky,that join together  the 18th and 19th centuries thanks totheir capacity to link virtuosity with emotion .

Great and spectacular the performances as always  superbly  directedby ” our”Federico Mondelci at the helm of the FORM.

The first part Rachmaninoff’s fourth Piano Concerto in G minor op 40.Acontraversiall musician, superb and seductive craftsman,  capable ofuniting Moscow with Hollywood,arousing enthusiasm.Interpreted with powerful virtuosity and pecision by JaysonGillham,who showed he could mix the romantic eloquence with thedazzling aggressivness of the ending ,touching the  late romanticrhetoric with a learned sensibility of someone who knows how toennoble the score with passion and depth of feeling.

In the second part the Concerto for piano and orchestra n.1 in B flatminor op 23 by Petr Illic Tchaikowsky,versatile and varied,alwaysdominated by a fluctuating tension between innocence anddespair,gracefulness and delusion,poet of innermost emotions uptofrenzy,that the young pianist  Alexander Ullman interpreted with allthe necessary qualities for Tchaikowsky ,which are,for example,thestrength that the opening chords require ,the retreating into intimatefeelings and ornate virtuosity ;astonishing the frasing and thefearless way he threw himself into the most difficult passages.

Unending applause by a moved and grateful public,multiplied with eachencore ,  high wire virtuosity from  the two young curly hairedsolists , that no evening suit  could hide .The concerto was made possible thanks to the contribution of the Bancadell’Adriatic

Il Nuovo 17th May 2015  Fulvio La Rosa

Mondelci on the podium qith the pianists Gillham and Ullman

Conclusion of the 55th Concert Season

A great musical event – the fifteenth- brought to a happy ending on the 6th May to the 2014/2015 concert season .

The 55th organised by the Ufficial Concert Authority in Pesaro, a season of all respect.

On the occasion of the last concert of the season we would ,in fact, like to remember the Complete Rachmaninov Concerto Cycle,

The Young Cherubini Orchestra directed by Riccardo Muti,the famous pianist Grigory Sokolov ,without forgetting a select group of outstanding

young pianists,from Albanese to Gloria Campaner and violinists from Amalia Hall to Stephen Milenkovich.

Not forgetting the frequent presence of the Filarmonica Marchegiana.A group that holds a real place of honour in the musical  life  our Region ,

and on this occasion directed by Maestro Federico Mondelci,a complete musician,who never fails to astonish also as a conductor( precise,elegant and thrilling).

On stage were two formidable,young pianists,impeccably dressed in tails,already on the way to  brilliant international careers:Jayson Gillham

and  Alexander Ullman- soloists from the Keyboard Charitable Trust in London.

The two artists ,tackling and dominating two very difficult scores known already from the hands of famous pianists of the past:the Fourth Concerto in G minor

op 40 by Sergej Rachmaninov (1873- 1943)- the least known of the four,was first performed in Pesaro on the 22nd April 2001 by Fabio Bidini.

A concerto full of heartbreaking melodies out of which the composer constructs a rapport between soloist and orchestra until that secondary moment;

the score ” seems to bring together the most revolutionary aspirations of the Russian School of that period ,like the driving vitality of Stravinskij and Prokofiev”.

Gillham amazed us with his ability to delve into every nuance,bringing to the fore not only the poetic cantabile but also the dynamic virtuosity in the score.

The other work ,entrusted to pianist Alexander Ullman,was the famous Concerto n.1 in B flat minor op 23 by Petril’ic Cajkovskij (1840-1893).

Unmistakable for its overpowering opening with the horn and powerful chords from the piano.A concerto that has seen amongst its great interpreters,

the legendary Arthur Rubinstein,the genial Sviatoslav Richter and the eccentric Alexis Weissenberg but that all the most famous pianists have in their

repertoire.

As a reminder it was first performed in Pesaro by Luisa De Sabbata on the 3rd June 1945 in a city where the 8th British Army troups were still present.

This concerto,the true link between the Russian Soul and Western Civilisation is perhaps the most well known and most performed.

Ullman followed in the best interpretative tradition,flaunting mastery and absolute security( astonishing  the sequence of octaves,the acrobatic arpeggios performed with the most daring virtuosity) and ending in reply to a standing ovation with two studies by Liszt- Paganini and Rachmaninov.

Mondelci directed wisely,communicating yet again his joy of making music to the public that was present at this joyful farewell given by these three  great artists.

The audience carrying the joy of this  success even outside the theatre ,almost wanting to savour again the atmosphere of so many great performances.

The season drawn to a joyous ending but not without a touch of nostalgia ….great music will be sure not to be late in making its presence felt again next season.