Mese: Maggio 2019

A Polish pianist and conductor, Michał Karol Szymanowski was born in 1988 into a musical family. He graduated with honours from the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, where he studied piano with Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń and symphonic-operatic conducting under Zygmunt Rychert.

He honed his skills with Eldar Nebolsin at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. At present works as an assistant lecturer at his alma mater. He has won top awards in a number of national and international piano competitions, including Chopin Competition in Darmstadt, Germany (2017), MozARTè Competition in Aachen, Germany (2016), Chopin Competition in Daegu, Korea (2015), Zarębski Competition in Warsaw (2012), Yamaha Competition in Katowice (2011), Paderewski Competition in Bydgoszcz, (2010), Horowitz Competition in Kiev (2007). In 2015 he was the highest placed quarter-finalist in the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.
Michał has performed in many concerts across Europe and throughout the world, including the Palace of Nations in Geneva, the Paul VI Audience Hall in the Vatican (a concert for Pope Benedict XVI), at Warsaw’s Belvedere Palace for Polish President, numerous philharmonic halls as well as major festivals in Poland and abroad, among them Oficina de Música de Curitiba, Festival Chopiniana in Buenos Aires, Festival Europeo de Solistas in Caracas, Festival Pianistico di Roma, the Long Lake Festival in Lugano, and the Chopin and His Europe Festival in Warsaw, where he brilliantly performed piano concertos by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Józef Wieniawski and Sigmunt Stojowski. He has performed under such eminent conductors as Alfredo Rugeles, Medardo Caisabanda, Juri Gilbo, Jacek Kaspszyk, Antoni Wit, Grzegorz Nowak and Marek Pijarowski with, among others, the Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, the Symphonic Orchestra of the National Theatre in Brasilia, Daegu Symphony Orchestra, Russian Chamber Philharmonic St. Petersburg and all major polish orchestras.

Apart from solo repertoire, Michał also frequently performs chamber music. He has released two solo albums for CD Accord (Naxos), featuring compositions by Fryderyk Chopin, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Karol Szymanowski and Józef Wieniawski. The recordings were critically acclaimed. One reviewer wrote: “this is heartfelt music-making of the type one associates with such luminaries as Uchida, Schiff and Brendel”.

As Michał Szymanowski rather cheekily explained, Paderewski first and Chopin second to ensure there would not be a mass exodus in the interval!

He or Dr Hugh Mather need not have worried because the music was so beautifully and intelligently played it was a superb introduction to the genius that is Chopin.

We did however get more Paderewski by great demand, as an encore :The Melody op 16.

One could say that the Paderewski was a curtain raiser that demonstrated the difference between a genius and a good craftsman.

Chopin ,though, had not been like Paderewski the Prime Minister of Poland or a pianist idol in America as Liszt had been in Europe a century before.

I think most pianists would have had a go at the Menuet in G probably in a shortened simpler version from the one that Michał Szymanowski opened his programme with this evening.

It immediately showed off the intelligent musicianship allied to a command of the keyboard that would be the envy of many.

Many of us will have struggled with the Menuet in G as children , but how many I wonder know the other five pieces that make up op 14 by Paderewski.

The last of these the Crakovienne Fantastique was given a crystal clear performance of hypnotic almost Gopak style dance rhythm.

The Nocturne op 16 n.4 was a completely different style from that of Chopin or Field.

In fact it owed more to Grieg or Tchaikowsky .

Full of nostalgia and charming atmosphere.The ending in Michal’s hands was quite magical.

The Legend op 16 n.1 was far removed from the Ballades of Chopin that had so inspired Liszt and Brahms.

A pleasing salon piece especially with Michal’s superb sense of balance made for a piece of great effect rather than Chopin’s inspired masterpieces of the poems of Mickiewicz.

The Mazurka op 9 where the typical dance was so apparent but far removed from the profound yearning for his homeland that made the 58 mazurkas of Chopin amongst his greatest works.

The Polonaise op 9 n.6 was superbly played with just the right amount of bravura and jeux perle of the great pianists of the past like Lhevine,Rosenthal Godowsky or Paderewski.

Michal’s thesis for his doctorate was indeed on Paderewski and it was very refreshing to be able to hear some of the works of a figure who is usually only thought of as a leggendary  virtuoso of the past and who in turn became the first Prime Minister of Poland.

What is in fact very interesting is to see the intelligent musicianly performances of this young polish pianist.Never falling into the trap of sentimentality or crowd pleasing nuances.

It was Rubinstein who was one of the first pianists to react to the rather free almost improvisatory performances of Chopin.

The salon composer, as he was in the hands of many of the great pianists of the so called Chopin tradition.

De Pachmann in particular but also Paderewski,Hoffman and many others.

Rubinstein brought Chopin back to the world of the great composers like Bach,Beethoven,Brahms etc .

Playing with a virility where there had been feminine delicacy.

With nobility where there had been flashy virtuosity.

But above all true sentiment were there had been sentimentality.

Today in fact it was refreshing to hear this modern school of playing in the hands of Michal Szymanowski interpreting the very works of Paderewski that had largely been to please his vast public on his concert tours.

Michal possesses that strong noble cantabile that was of his great compatriots such as Malcuzinski,Niedsielski or Stefan Askenase .Added to a great sense of style and intelligent musicianship he is a great advocate for his compatriots music.

The proof was in the applause that greeted him after his first half totally dedicated to Paderewski.

The second half was dedicated to the genius that is Chopin.

The nocturne op 55 n.1 (Cherkassky’s favourite nocturne) although beautifully played did not have the fluidity that we had so appreciated in that of Paderewski.

The ending of the Nocturne immediately leading into the magical notes of the Second Ballade where with his great sense of measure and style it immediately became evident the difference between the two Polish Composers.

The four Mazukas op 59 seemed to ignite in our pianist tonight a sense of colour and fantasy that turned what in Paderewski’s hands were baubles ,in Chopin’s were true gems.

The Polonaise in F sharp minor op 44 was given a masterly performance and the same sense that Rubinstein brought to the middle section was apparent here today.

I think this might be the case where these rhythms can only be fully understood by fellow compatriots.

The most beautiful performance of the evening was still to come in the encore offered by insistent demand.A public totally won over by this pianist now on his fourth visit to this Mecca of great young pianists.

Michal at the end asked who they thought the encore was by: Paderewski or Chopin?

They got it right thanks to this truly illuminating recital tonight.

If it had not been for the magnificent streaming that allowed me to have the best seat in the house at St Mary’s Perivale, transported to the National Park of Circeo in Italy ,I would have thought that we were in the realms of the Joyce Hatto scandal.

Wonderful to be reminded of Fausto Zadra and that fateful day in the Ghione Theatre when time stood still at the coda of the Chopin Nocturne op 27 n.2.

It had been a very busy few days before as Fausto wanted his son to recite the poems that had inspired Chopin in his Four Ballades.

My wife Ileana Ghione was with Fausto to prepare him for this special come back recital with father and son.

It had been postponed several times but finally the date had been set.

Strangely Fausto did not want to rehearse but wanted to help his son.

We spent much time chatting together.

Fausto was a great talker always.

On the evening of the concert there were so many friends,family and admirers that the box office was taken by assault.

Another remarkable concert in the series giving a platform to Young Pianists by the Roma Tre University in the Great Hall in via Ostiense in Rome.

Valerio Vicari,the enlightened artistic director has gathered together some of the finest young talents to demonstate in varied programmes the kaleidoscopic variety of the piano.

A few weeks ago it was “A Journey of Italian Keyboard Music” with Umberto Jacopo Laureti

Today it was the turn of Giulio Potenza with “A journey in the world of the 19th (and 20th!) century piano “

Ending with the mighty Appassionata but starting with some rarely heard works by Janacek,Grieg and Medtner.It was indeed a fascinating journey not least because we had a master guide this time too.

It is also interesting to note that these two Italian trained musicians received their Masters degrees from the Royal Academy and Trinity Laban in London.

Giulio had received his final studies from Gabriele Baldocci and Deniz Arman Gelenbe.

Gabriele I know from when he was studying at the International Piano Academy in Como and made his Rome debut 20 years ago in the Teatro Ghione.

He has since gone on to be not only a duo partner with Martha Argerich but also a distinguished Professor at Trinity Laban in London.

Deniz Arman Gelenbe who was head of studies now dedicates herself more to her distinguished career as a chamber music musician.

So I was not suprised to find in the recital today many of the hallmarks of his illustrious mentors.

Above all a beautiful sound with infinite gradations that never allowed the tone to get hard due to his supreme sense of balance.

A very intelligent choice of programme in which each work seemed to lead into the next.

The sound at the end of the Janacek 1st Sonata(1905) “Smrt “(Death) ,reminiscent of Scriabin second sonata .

A supreme sense of colouring with the doubling of the melody and a very subtle use of the pedals to create a very particular atmosphere .

The opening movement “Predtucha” (Foreboding) where his extreme sense of balance and colour combined with a great sense of line and forward movement created so vividly this visionary atmosphere.

Two beautiful Lyric Pieces by Grieg so rarely played these days although both Rubinstein and Gilels were great admirers of these atmospheric pieces.

The “Notturno” op.54 n.4 was played with a beautifully flexible line and again his superb sense of balance created a magic that was crowned with the atmospheric bird song at the end.

The nostalgia of ”Vanished days op 57 n.1 where from a whisper we were transported to the sumptuous piano world of Rachmaninov which in turn led so beautifully to the “Sonata Reminiscenza in a minore” op 38 n.1 by Medtner.

Medtner was a younger contemporary of Rachmaninov and Scriabin who came to live in London and is buried in Hendon Cemetery.

I remember hearing his pupil Edna Iles play in the Festival Hall in London.

This one movement sonata is one of his most poetic creations.Tinged with Russian nostalgia with such a subtle tenor melody line amidst streams of glistening sounds.

A real kaleidoscope of magical sounds.

After a short break we were taken into the completely different world of Beethoven with his “Appassionata” Sonata op 57.

Here we were immediately plunged into a performance of grandiose nobility.

A full symphonic sound where taught rhythms, clarity of melodic line,relentless sense of direction and scrupulous attention to Beethoven’s very precise markings gave a performance both dramatic and passionate.

Even Beethoven’s most original pedal indications were translated into sound on this modern instrument as a true artist should strive to do.

There was great weight too to the sound and nowhere more evident than in the Andante con moto that Agosti likened to a procession or corteo.Some extraordinarily beautiful sounds in the variations and great sense of always being anchored to the bass that allowed such sumptuous sounds elsewhere on the keyboard.

An Allegro ,ma non troppo taken at such an exciting pace.Maybe a little too fast to contrast fully with the Presto coda but played with such control and contrasts it had us on the edge of our seats until the final tumultuous outburst.

It was indeed a wildly exciting performance that as Giulio had said was inspired too by an audience that had been so attentive to every nuance.

One encore offered from Schumann’s Kinderscenen (Scenes of Childhood).

What better way to end than a magical performance of “Of Foreign Lands and Peoples.”

It is hard to know where to begin in describing the concert by Hin-Yat Tsang in Perivale today.

I think the one word uttered by our master of ceremonies the philanthropic Dr Mather just about sums it all up:”sensational.”

I just hope that his teacher and my colleague at the RAM almost 50 years ago was listening with pride in Hong Kong.

Eleanor Wong was studying with “Freddy “ Jackson and inherited from him his masterly musicianship, absolute respect for the score and above all the rhythmic impetus that lies within the notes on the printed page.

All these qualities were apparent in a Liszt Sonata that rarely has been heard in such a powerfully projected performance where intelligence and respect for the composer were of paramount importance.

Something that is all too rare in this work that is considered the pinnacle of the Romantic repertoire and so often an excuse for self indulgence and rhetoric.

The Schubert “big” A minor sonata D 845 was played as only a true musician following in the footsteps of Kempff or Brendel could have matched .

An encore of the Second Sonata by Scriabin played with such fantasy and amazing technical prowess that the miracles of sumptuous sound that filled this unique venue belied the mastery that we were witnessing.

Hin-Yat Tsang above all has the abilty/sensibility that allows the music to talk so coherently as though on every note there was a different word in a musical conversation that ranges from the deepest of confessions to the most demonic excesses.

It was the absolute control in the Schubert Sonata that gave this complex work such an architectural shape and sense of direction that for once Schubert’s heavenly length was justified!The rhythmic control from the very outset of the first movement allied to contrasts of character and sound made for a fascinating journey indeed.

The Andante had all the charm of the master of song.The florid variations played with a sense of ease and shape leading to the etherial magic sounds of the distant horn.

The scherzo almost orchestral in sound with very strict rhythmic control.A charming lilt and complete change of colour brought a great contrast to the trio of an almost pastoral nostalgia.

The last movement slipped in almost unnoticed before the trumpet call to arms and wending its way in an ever more transcendental web.

A long pause before embarking on the lonely journey of Liszt’s great Sonata.

Great character to the opening statement of the three main motifs.

From the absolute stillness of the single isolated bass notes and wonderfully shaped mysterious melodic line.

The understatement of the opening octaves and the demonic appearance of the left hand menacing motif.

This made the transition to the first main appearance of the octaves even more powerful and of great grandiloquence.

An almost orchestral diminuendo led to the transformation from Florestan to Eusebius but always with the nagging demonic rhythmic throbbing deep in the bass.

The sublime melodic transformation where the most liquid of sounds revealed his true mastery of the pedal.

Magical sounds from every part of the piano led to overwhelming feats of virtuosity all the more startling for the absolute control and spare use of the pedal.Great dramatic statements were interrupted with recitative type comments of great poetic but virile sounds.Three magical chords heralded the melodic middle section played with almost string quartet type voicing The passionate throbbing at the centre of this middle section where vast sounds were unleashed were very similar to the wonders that I remember from the studio in Siena of Guido Agosti.

A mastery of balance that meant there was never any hardness to the sounds but a sumptuous fullness that was overpowering.

The fugato slipped in and led to the triumphant appearance of the recapitulation and the great climax of double octaves played with great technical command .

It led to an almost aching silence that made the entrance to the magical coda even more memorable.

The silence that greeted the final deep bass note spoke wonders for the total concentration and atmosphere that had been created.

A quite remarkable performance in which this much maligned work was once again placed at the very pinnacle of the innovative genius that was Liszt.

Time had indeed stood still with these remarkable performances and a request for more was gladly accepted with the promise of the first movement of the Fantasy Sonata by Scriabin.

Some wonderfully liquid sounds, a completely different sound world from the Schubert or the Liszt.An atmospheric opening leading to the most sumptuous climax before dissolving to a marvel of subtle liquid sounds.

Such was the total absorption of the artist and public alike it was obvious that the second movement should slip in on the crest of this magnificent wave.

Some startling feats of transcendental virtuosity in the second movement with swirls of subtle sounds on which the melodic line rides with such passionate involvement.A remarkable performance from a true poet of the piano.

Totally absorbed too was Andrew Yiangou a colleague from when they were both studying at the Royal College in London .A pianist who has played many times in Perivale and was overcome as we all were today by the poetic mastery of this young musician.