Mese: gennaio 2017

Daniel Lebhardt.at St Mary`s Perivale for Hugh Mathers remarkable series of young virtuosi.

Wonderful to be back to this beautiful church seen from afar in the winter sunshine today.

The opening concert a bit later than usual due to urgent repairs on the delicate roof.

Young hungarian born pianist already at only 23 graduated with honours from the Royal Academy in London where he won the prestigious Sterndale Benett Prize receiving also recognition from YCAT UK and America giving him numerous concert experiences to consolidate his career in music.

Studying from an early age at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest I was very happy to be able to hear this distinguished young musician in Hugh Mather`s extraordinary series.

In three pieces from Brahms op 118 he showed the best of himself with a solid,mature but very sensitive musicianship.

Some beautiful sounds and a sense of line that never led to excess.

A heartfelt interpretation that never dissolved into sentimentality but always the head held nobly on high.

A sense of pulse and rhythmic impulse that led to a very moving interpretation of these deceptively difficult last utterings of Brahms

.

Persuaded by our genial host to present the programme the words used to express what he felt in Brahms were so clearly mirrored in his performances at the keyboard.

Explaining why he preferred the orginal version of Rachmaninovs epic second sonata he proceeded to give a virtuoso performance full of colour and subtle nuances but that somehow did not have the same impact as the famous much truncated”Horowitz” version.

I must say while I appreciate the reason for searching out and presenting the original version which is intellectually admirable but Horowitz was an animal who had a great sense of theatre combined with great musicianship that he is not always credited with.Was it not Rachmaninov ,his best friend ,who said Vovka plays me well!

Daniel gave a very fine full blooded virtuoso performance not missing in subtlety and heartrending romanticism.I just feel that for the actual content it would have benefitted from some cautious cutting and re-editing !

Starting his programme with Beethoven’s “Hunt” Sonata op 31 n.3 I felt as though he had not quite got to grips with the instrument in his quest to find delicacy and almost pastoral cantabile he somehow missed that rhythmic energy and clockwork precision that is so part of Beethoven in this early to middle period.Jaining Kong a few weeks ago in the same master series had shown us exactly how it could be done with masterly,mesmerising accounts of Beethoven Sonatas.

Next Tuesday another great pianist Marcos Madrigal with music of Chopin,Prokofiev and Lecuona a preview of which can be heard on Radio 3 “In Tune” on Thursday as he presents his phenomenal new CD of his compatriot Lecuona .

Marcos is absolutely unique in this music and it was the great conductor Claudio Abbado who recognised his talent and was responsible for helping him leave Cuba to complete his musical studies.

“The Spiders Goulden Web”

Beatrice Rana `s monumental performance of the Goldberg Variations for the BBC at the

Wigmore Hall today .

Total silence from a packed Wigmore Hall in which she bewitched us with the same rapt concentration that this 23 year old shared with us.

So rare to see a pianist listening so intently to every note totally still except for her magnificent hands spinning their golden web.

Glenn Gould too was only 23 when he recorded his revolutionary performance and I hear that Beatrice`s CD will appear commercially next month.

It was a young intelligent man`s performance as was Beatrice`s today.

Firstly the transcendental piano playing that was never in evidence for its own sake but was totally at the service of the music.

Always with great taste and intelligence some very subtle colouring and shaping.

Maybe the more rhythmic variations could have been slightly slower and weightier with slightly less rubato in the middle variations but that sense of a monumental rock will grow as this young virtuoso takes her rightful place, in the not too distant future, with the likes of Arrau,Tureck or Pollini.

I well remember some years back inviting both Nikolaeva and Tureck to play the Goldbergs in my theatre in Rome within a month of each other and people commenting on the lack of fantasy in programming .

It was exactly the contrast of two of the greatest Bach players of the century interpreting this masterwork in an intellectually intelligent reading both totally different,that was so stimulating and indeed created quite a stir.

It marked the return to the concert platform of Rosalyen Tureck after having retired to Oxford to study in depth the composer that she had dedicated her life to.

Tureck was magnificently slow and weighty(like Klemperer) a monument etched in marble.

With Nikolaeva music poured out of her in such a simple natural way and had a flexibility and humanity that one felt could change:A monument written in sand (like Bruno Walter).

Beatrice Rana did not quite have the authority which will only come with the maturity of experience but she was someway between these two magnificent extremes and it made for a very stimulating and totally absorbing performance.

Her wonderful Steinway was used to the full never aware of her subtle use of the pedals used only as a harpsichordist would change register.

The whispered simplicity of the return of the theme after almost an hour and a half took our breath away ,I think hers too .

Such was the control and silent virtuosity of this performance ,I am sure it will go down in history as one of the most memorable performances in recent times.

There was certainly magic in the air that one can luckily savour on the BBC radio 3 website(bbc.com/radio 3)

Juan Perez Floristan at the Wigmore Hall tonight for the Prizewinners concert of the Santander International Piano Competition. A strange programme confronted us with the first half the Liszt Sonata and the second four preludes by Debussy ,three by Gershwin and in between the Bartok Sonata and Ginasteras`s Argentinian Dances.

My first reaction ,of course,was to think it rather foolhardy or at the very least presumptuous to open a debut recital with such a monumental work. However in his hands it was a totally convincing and satisfying first half. A very mature intelligent reading allied to a luminosity of sound that allowed this masterpiece to unfold without any exaggerations or over passionate exclamations .In fact a quite overwhelmingly professional performance without the hystrionics of a Horowitz or the deep introspection of an Arrau but a real understanding of the structure of this masterpiece.

Blessed,obviously,with a large hand,strong fingers and relaxed arms his sound could be likened to cristal drops reminiscent of Michelangeli. It suited him well also in the second half. His Canope ,one of four preludes by Debussy, was the most remarkable performance in a notable debut recital. La Puerta del Vino was given a performance of orchestral proportions such was his feeling for the colour and style that he was able to produce. A Bartok Sonata of such clarity and precision one was reminded of Andor Foldes memorable recording.

Some subtle additions to Gershwin’s seductive second prelude added to the razz matazz that he found in the outer ones. Leading ,of course, to a sensational account of Ginasteras dances that brought the house down. Party time secured an encore charmingly introduced to the public :his own arrangement of a Flamenco to thank us and wish us goodbye. Well it was quite a farewell for this consummate artist still only twenty three so there will be many more occasions to hear him in London again …………the earlier the better. As Paloma O`Shea says in her programme introduction :”the combination of luminosity and musical depth make Juan a very special pianist”………..this remarkable promoter of the arts has hit the nail on the head that is for sure