Hugh Mather and friends greet the Keyboard Charitable Trust
Programme of Jamie Bergin
Once again thanks to the generosity and enthusiasm of Hugh Mather and Roger Nellist we were able to hear the superb young British pianist Jamie Bergin in London.
Having been selected by the Keyboard Charitable Trust to give a public audition / concert in Steinway Hall to find that due to rebuilding work the hall will not be available until the spring.
Jamie having studied from an early age with Murray McLachlan at Chethams and then at the Guildhall with Joan Havill has gone on to complete his studies with Lars Vogt in Hannover and since 2016 was invited to be his assistant.
Here was a pedigree of great musicianship and it was exactly this that was so evident from a programme of often heard works but in the hands of a true musician.
It was as though we were hearing them afresh for the first time.
The really refreshing surprise was the variety of sounds that he could conjure out of a piano that we have heard so many times in lesser hands.
Here was a professionality where there was absolutely no doubt technically or musically of his intentions.
To start at the end with the encore of Granados: “A Maiden and the Nightingale” of such sublime beauty.
The almost whispered melodic layers of sound each one weaving a magic spell but with a quality of sound at once creamy rich but with undercurrents of harmonies of such subtle colour like a fabulous string orchestra that is barely audible.
The passionate outbursts were a consequence of the slow built up of sound.
The imitation bird calls would have had Messiaen green with envy.
They were played with clarity but also with just the right amount of pedal that blurred the edges to perfection.
This was after a Gaspard de la Nuit that I have never heard played so perfectly in a live performance.
Scarbo was quite fenomenal in it’s sheer brilliance and complete technical command.
The subtle indications of diminuendo and crescendo so often ignored were here wonderfully noted and the deep throbbing notes at the beginning and in the mysterious middle section were quite a revelation.
To hear what Ravel actually wrote was a technical and musical feat of but a chosen few.
The opening of Ondine was beautifully judged with the melody shaped so perfectly where the murmur of the water was never allowed to be distinct or invasive.
Of course there were great washes of sound and in the great double note climax I have never been so aware that they start piano and lead to a crescendo of great brilliance- a real technical feat indeed.
The tolling bell of Le Gibet was even more mysterious for its understated clarity.
The concert had started with Les Adieux Sonata op 81a by Beethoven.
Of course as we would expect with a disciple of that great trainer of musician pianists, Joan Havill, every marking was scrupulously noted and incorporated into a very personal interpretation.
In fact it was immediately noticeable the differing liquid sounds that he managed to find within piano to mezzo piano.
This I imagine is the influence of that other great musician Lars Vogt who we know from his participation for many years with the Leeds Competition and conducting from the keyboard the orchestras in the north of England.
foto taken by Roger Nellist from the video camera hidden in the gallery
The whole of the first movement had an almost “pastoral” feel to it with some wonderful attention to the bass where I have never noticed such differing colours before.
Technically impeccable,of course, but almost too fussy for Beethoven with hairpin shaping and slight changes of tempo that disturbed a little the true Beethovenian rhythmic drive.
The slow movement was beautifully shaped and lead to the Vivacissimamente which had all the relentless drive that had been missing in the first movement.
It was indeed a very fine performance and was followed by Chopin’s great continuous melodic outpouring that is his Barcarolle.
Played with great taste never allowing the rubato to become vulgar but with that fexibility that is as Chopin describes: a tree with the roots in the ground but the branches that are allowed to sway naturally in the wind.
Inner counterpoints so beautifully shaped as rarely heard with great aristocratic nobility but at the same time with a heart that beats so strongly from within.
Hugh Mather applauding Jamie Bergin
This remarkable young man, well on his way to a great career ,can be heard in London at St John’s Smith Square for the Kirckman Young Artists Series on the 24th January at 19.30 ………………
I for one shall not miss it!
Thank you Hugh Mather and your remarkable team for opening up not only your beautiful church but also sharing your informed enthusiasm with the Keyboard Charitable Trust on a friday night .
Hugh Mather Elena Vorotko co-artistic director of the KCT and Jamie Bergin
I have followed the career of the young Jordanian pianist Iyad Sughayer for some years and it was a great pleasure to share in the celebration that Palmusic UK had organised together with the Keyboard Charitable Trust to celebrate his winning the Trinity Laban Gold Medal 2018.
John Leech with Iyad Sughayer
As John Leech proudly announced in the question and answer session that followed a remarkable recital.
The Keyboard Trust has been able to offer this young musician concerts in Germany and in Manchester Cathedral with the Manchester Camerata.
Other tours await this gifted young man in Italy and the USA in the future.
Wissam Boustany
Sharing the platform in the Q&A session was Wissam Boustany,the artistic adviser of Palmusic and distinguished flutist (teaching at Trinity Laban and visiting Professor at the Edward Said Conservatory in Palestine)and above all an International Peace Campaigner.
Outlining the power of music in creating peace in the Middle East just as Edward Said together with Daniel Barenboim have demonstrated to the world with their East-West Divan Orchestra.
Creating dialogue between peoples with differing cultures can only be achieved by sharing something loved by all sides:MUSIC.
The words and actions of Politicians have proved to be futile if the dialogue is not shared and understood by the people that are suffering.
As John Leech rightly said the Keyboard Trust is proud to be associated with Palmusic on this and hopefully on many other occasions.
It was a short showcase recital that left plenty of time for discussion and celebration.
In the splendid acoustics of the Conway Hall in Holborn.
A Bosendorfer piano that had seen better days but still retained it’s unique voice.
It was ,infact this voice that was immediately noticeable in Iyad’s hands.
In the Q&A session he had been asked if he had a favourite composer.
Mozart without any doubt was the reply.
His Mozart showed remarkable clarity and control but it was above all the purity and beauty of the sound that struck us all and especially Noretta Conci-Leech,former assistant for many years of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli.
No higher praise could be offered !
The first movement in particular had all the rhythmic drive together with the finesse and contrasts that mark this sonata in particular one of the most important of Mozart’s output and with the C minor almost forseeing what would come afterwards in Beethoven’s revolutionary hands.
The Andante cantabile is pure opera and here the dramatic contrasts are quite unique and should almost take us all by surprise.
A recent performance by Janina Fialkowska was really a lesson to us all and quite enthralling.
It was with Murray that Iyad had studied since leaving Amman and the National Music Conservatory at the age of 14.
Studying first at Chetham’s and later at the RNCM always in Manchester.
Awarded a full scholarship to study at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music in London he continued his studies with Martino Tirimo .
Now having completed his studies there having been awarded the prestigious Gold Medal he returns to Manchester to complete his International Artists Diploma with McLachlan,Tirimo and Scott.
An exciting project to be invited to record for the Swedish label BIS the solo works of Khachaturian and it was after a performance of the four Mazukas op 33 by Chopin that we were treated to a transcendental performance of Khatchaturian’s 1961 Sonata.
Here was all the verve and drive of a young lion .
Not only.
But with a sense of colour and contrast that had ignited this young man’s imagination and that he transmitted to an audience mesmerised and overwhelmed by such authority.
A work in many ways reminiscent of Prokofiev with its liquid cantabile contrasting with passages of enormous velocity and power.
A remarkable performance that augers well not only for posterity in the recording but also in the performance with the BBC Philharmonic which is in programme shortly after in Manchester.
Wissam Boustany with Iyad
A very interesting Q&A with a capacity audience after the performance in which it was refreshing to see with what simplicity and joy this young man could share not only his music but also his views on music in the Middle East and the message that music can have for all those who have ears and the wish to listen.
A celebration afterwards was a fitting end to an uplifting evening dedicated to Art and Peace.
His next performance in Amman will be on the 23rd December with that other extraordinary Jordanian pianist Karim Said (a student at Purcell School of that other renowned trainer of young musicians Tessa Nicholson)
In programme Beethoven Concerto n. 2 .
* honoured to be corrected and enlightened by another extraordinary human being present in the audience:Alberto Portugheis
Dear Wissam Boustany (you can read what he wrote about me on the back cover of my first book, with John’s foreword) is a Peace lover and occasionally Peace searcher, but not a campaigner as such. He’s very spiritual and a wonderful musician. We have partnered each other on occasions. This, from his website, expresses in a clear way what his interests are:
Wissam’s experiences of the war in Lebanon have greatly influenced his outlook on both Life and Music, crystalizing into a burning intensity, commitment, deep sadness, and spirituality that find their wings in the sound of his flute. In 1995, he founded Towards Humanity, a multi-decade international initiative working with musicians and charities, helping communities who suffer from the tragedies of war.
You don’t mention his teaching at Trinity Laban; has Wissam retired ?
To me, outlining the power of music in the context of Peace work, is distracting and confusing. Many politicians and often the more warmongering ones, (Hitler included) listened to good music all their lives. Armed Forces have orchestras, bands, chamber music, choral music, etc. Many military murderers are excellent painters, sculptors, poets.
ART is used to celebrate good or evil, depending on who orders it.
Famous composers have written marches to encourage killing. The 5th verse of God Save The Queen says we must kill all the Scotts !!!
Daniel Barenboim has repeatedly said the East-West Divan Orchestra is not a Peace Project and he does not expect their concerts to do anything to advance the Peace process. The Said-Barenboim Project’s aim is: show that communication between Jews and Muslims is possible. This however, is already know by everybody, but Militarism, Politics and money makes Peace impossible. In fact, we have so many wars because of the excellent communication, fluid dialogue between all the warrying parties.
You say Creating dialogue between peoples with differing cultures can only be achieved by sharing something loved by all sides:MUSIC.
In Spain, when the Civil War broke out, thousands of people who shared the music they were singing, in Church choirs all over the country, ended up killing each other, depending on which side of the conflict they belonged to. You also write The words and actions of Politicians have proved to be futile if the dialogue is not shared and understood by the people that are suffering..
In reality most people don’t understand what happens, because people are gullible and they believe politicians. People believe that we need Armed Forces for “Defense”. Politicians are ‘forced’ by the system to create ‘enemies’ so as to justify military expenditure. We force them to lie to us. They have to promote the military Trade (something impossible without creating the terrain for wars), so that they can tell us of their Peace efforts.
To the piano now !!!
Ciao,
Alberto
The remarkable work of Palmusic UK
The distinguished audience in Conway Hall
Alberto Portugheis demonstrating his up and coming Beethoven Piano Concerto Masterclasses in St John’s Notting Hill on the 17th November
Iyad celebrating with us after his distinguished performances
Yuanfan Yang takes Rome by storm The XXVIII Rome International Piano Competition
It was in 1989 that Marcella Crudeli decided that Rome merited a competition like many of the other major cities.
With her enormous energy and indomitable spirit the first Rome National Competition was won by Roberto Prosseda and Enrico Camerini.
Two pianists that had been giving recitals from an early age in the Ghione Theatre which for years tried to give a platform to musicians who for one reason or another were not being invited to perform in Rome.
( Young and old alike included Vlado Perlemuter,Guido Agosti,Shura Cherkassky,Annie Fischer,Dame Moura Lympany,Fou Ts’ong,Peter Frankl,Rosalyn Tureck,Gyorgy Sandor,Alicia De Larrocha,Peter Katin,Ruggiero Ricci,Idil Biret,Dominique Merlet,Bruno Canino,Pina Carmirelli,Jeno Jando,Vadim Repin,Mikhail Pletnev,Tatiana Nikolaeva,Andor Foldes,Paul Tortelier,Janina Fialkowska,Angela Hewitt,Ivo Pogorelich,Friedrich Gulda,Jerome Rose,Dmitri Alexeev,Oxana Yablonskaya ,Boris Berman,Gervase De Peyer,Bary Tuckwell,Paul Badura-Skoda,Franco Mannino,Fausto Zadra,Lya De Barberiis,Martha Noguera,Alberto Portugheis.Alexander Romanovsky,Bruno Canino,
Teatro Ghione next to St.Peter’s Square in the heart of Rome
The Theatre was built and run by the distinguished actress (my wife) Ileana Ghione for over thirty years.
It is still going strong and is a just monument to her.
And as Marcella Crudeli said in her closing speech tonight at the end of its 28th edition: “This is the International Piano Competition of Rome” and not the Marcella Crudeli Competition as it is familiarly known.”It must carry on long after I have gone.”
The same sentiments of my wife who died on stage in her theatre 13 years ago.
Exhibition of Marcello Mastroianni at the Ara Pacis in the centre of Rome
It was a nice coincidence that in the interval between the Final and the gala concert at the Teatro Quirino – Vittorio Gassman I was able to visit an exhibition mounted for a colleague of that other famous Italian actor Vittorio Gassman- Marcello Mastroianni.
The final exhibit is a film where he quotes Kafka saying so poetically that the hill that had seemed so far away in his youth was now only a stone’s throw away.
It is truly admirable to see the strength of women ready to fight for what they believe in and to never give up until they succeed.
Such was the determination of Fanny Waterman with the International Competition that she brought to her city of Leeds.
Sulamita Aranowska did the same for her adopted city with the London Power Piano Competition.
Carla Grindea too founded EPTA(European Piano Teachers Association) with Perlemuter President and Sidney Harrison ,chairman.
It is now an organisation worldwide of which Marcella Crudeli is the Italian representative.
Marcella Crudeli after the Final the morning of the Gala Concert
The first competition was followed the following year by the first “International” Competition which has since seen 28 editions.
A list of prize winners over the years includes Dmytro Choni,Dmitry Masleev,Denis Zhdanov,Ilya Maximov,Luca Rasca,Boris Giltburg all of whom have gone on to distinguish themselves in competitions such as Van Cliburn,Tchaikowsky,Queen Elisabeth and forge great careers.
It was Enrico Camerini who won the very first Roma 1991 prize and was today on the jury of the competition together with Carles Lama( Spain),Martin Munch and Frank Wasser (Germany),Kathryn Page(UK),Arturo Stalteri(Italy).
The President of the jury was Enrica Ciccarelli,distinguished pianist and artistic director of the Societa dei Concerti in Milan.
The jury at the final round in Teatro Quirino
I was only able to listen to the Final round with orchestra of the three finalist selected during a week of sessions at the Confraternita di S Giovanni Battista de’ Genovesi.
.Soo Jin Cha from South Korea opened with Chopin First Concerto op 11.
Actually studying with Pavel Gililov in Salzburg whose assistant, Ilya Maximov, had won the Rome 2008 prize.
Soo Jin Cha
At 33 she was the eldest of the three finalists and was able to give a very fine beautifully shaped performance inspite of an orchestra and conductor who had not played this repertoire before.
The slow movement in particular was of ravishing beauty.
The outer movements equally beautiful but missing the drive and rhythmic energy that Rubinstein had taught us was so much part of Chopin’s personality.
She went on to win second prize and give some equally poetic solo performances in the gala concert.
Her Chopin Mazuka op 17 n.4 brought spontaneous applause for its poetry and complete understanding.
Debussy “Jardins sous la pluie” and Rachmaninov Etude Tableau op 39.n.5 were equally beautiful but here again missing that energy and drive that was missing too in the Concerto.
Some very fine professional performances under difficult circumstances from an artist of some experience
Gen Li
Gen Li at 27 ,who I have heard in London play Prokofiev superbly well (St John Smith Square celebration concert for his teacher Deniz Arman Gelenbe on her retirement from Trinity college).
He also studied with Bryce Morrison and now receives guidance from Dmitri Alexeev.
His choice of Mozart D minor Concerto K466 took me by surprise especially as he had played Prokofiev 7th Sonata and Liszt Mephisto Waltz n.1 in the previous rounds.
Very clean and clearly played with a rather cheeky little cadenza added to Beethoven’s,all perfectly in style.
Some beautiful playing but somehow missing that demonic spark that I know he possesses.
A little too in awe and respectful he gave a very solid musical account but as with Soo Jin Cha it missed that special spark that holds an audiences’ attention to every single note as with a Curzon or Serkin.
Gen Li was give third prize and went on to astonish us with his Mephisto Waltz at the final gala.
Although not note perfect as he was obviously drained after a gruelling week competing, it did have that spark that marks his performances out as “very special “in that piano expert Bryce Morrison’s words .
Yuanfan Yang with Kathryn Page after the results had been announced
Yuanfan Yang,the scottish pianist of chinese origin, at only 21 was the youngest of the three finalists.
Trained from an early age at Chethams with Murray McLachlanwhere he received that superb early training and support that is so important and that Chethams continues to surprise and provide in abundance.
Now with Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy in London he is not only a pianist but also a composer in his own right.Having played his own piano concerto all over China to audiences in their thousands.
He has also been accepted by the Keyboard Charitable Trust of which I am a co artistic director together with Leslie Howard and Elena Vorotko,for monitoring and guidance.
Yuanfan Yang morning Finals
He gave a very fine performance of Beethoven 3rd Concerto under very difficult circumstances indeed.
Enough said that every time he played a trill in the cadenza the conductor gave the up beat and brought the orchestra in.
There are many trills in the cadenza unfortunately and the magical coda was the sacrificial lamb to the conductor’s inexperience.
Far from being put off Yuanfan rose to the occasion with an injection of Beethovenian fervor that had been missing in a beautiful but rather lightweight performance.
It was the performance that gained him first prize and another performance of the entire concerto at the Gala Concert.
This time both orchestra and conductor were in almost complete syntony with our young soloist who had retained the same authority and Beethovenian rage acquired under duress that same morning.
Marcella Crudeli introducing the Cuomo Foundation prize to Yuanfan Yang
Receiving numerous prizes in particular the Medal from the President of the Republic,the Cuomo Foundation and the International Federation of Chopin Societies. Also generous sponsors glad to be associated with Marcella Crudeli and her crusade to bring youth into contact with culture in the name of the Eternal City.
In fact it is the Cuomo Foundation that prominently states:
“The Art of Education is Education of the Heart”
A very fine account of Beethoven’s 3rd Concerto followed where all the difficulties of the morning performance had been ironed out.
A charming speech of thanks from Yuanfan was followed by a very poetic account of La Campanella Study by Liszt.
And then the surprise of the evening which took us all by storm after an evening of prizes and performances that had started three hours earlier.
Yuanfan had been asked by some of the jury if he would give an example of his improvisations that they had heard about from me.
Marcella Crudeli provided the theme which was “La ci darem la mano” and there followed a transcendendal performance in which Marcella’s melody appeared in every part of the piano amidst the most amazing Lisztian or Thalbergian arabesques and octaves.
This is what we had been waiting for.
Someone born to play the piano fearlessly with that “goie de vivre” and authority that had up until now been lacking.
It brought the house down and as the cheering died down we realised that “our” Marcella had done it again!
Mention should be made of her beautiful performance of the Fantasie Impromptu by Chopin as accompaniment to the historic film archives of the past editions.
The Gala Concert Programme
A young Lithuanian at only 17 years old had won two categories and gave some very fine if rather lightweight performances of Rachmaninov and Tchaikowsky.
Kasparas Mikuzis is obviously a name to watch as he gains in experience and authority
Kasparas Mikuzis ,17 year old Lithuanian pianist double prize winner
A cheer from the audience for the piano duet team made in Italy of Giuseppe Carmine Atorino and Armando Sabbarese .
Piano duet team Atorino- Sabbarese
A performance of Petrouschka more remarkable for the fact that they played this very complex work without the score than for its lack of demonic rhythmic drive and colour.
I wish I could have heard more of this duo than the Stravinsky.
Obviously the jury had, and justly gave them first prize.
Remarkable though were the two piano team of Kyungchan Nahk and Jonghwa Park from South Korea.
A strepitoso performance of Lutoslawski’s Pagnini variations.
In which that spark that had been missing from many of the young pianists was ignited by the pianist with the lid to the piano and complimented by the composure of the one without.Sorry to say I do not know the names of each one individually but what does it matter when the sparks fly in such an exciting and intelligent performance
Two piano team Bahk and Park
Before the ceremony the National Hymn with orchestra and with a performance of the choir of young ladies with speaking impediments expressing the music so movingly with the movement of their hands.
As my wife would so often say “It is not only theatre but also a social service “
It can help so many express our true feelings in a world where we seem afraid of having them at all!
Words so eloquently expressed by the President of the Jury: Enrica Ciccarelli in her thank you speech to Marcella and her colleagues on the jury
The choir “singing” in their own very special way the National Hymn
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 