Mese: giugno 2020

Tuesday 9 June 4.00 pm

Streamed ‘live’ concert in an empty church

Amit Yahav (piano)

A Chopin recital :
Polonaise-Fantaisie Op 61
Nocturne in B flat minor Op 9 no 1
Nocturne in F Minor Op 55 no 2
Scherzo no 1 in B Minor Op 20
Mazurka in C sharp minor Op 6 no 2
Mazurka in F minor Op 7 no 3
Waltz in A flat Op 34 no 1
Ballade no 4 in F Minor Op 52

Multi-award-winning pianist  Amit Yahav  is much in demand as a recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist, having earned his reputation for interpretations that grip and move audiences with passion and intellectual insight. His interpretations of the music of Chopin and Schumann in particular have received high praise. Alongside his performing career, Amit also conducted research into Chopin with the generous support of the Royal College of Music’s Polonsky Award. In performance, Amit’s interpretations are historically informed, and often made accessible to the audience by spoken introductions which place the works in a historical, social and cultural context. Amit is keen to programme well-known and loved repertoire along lesser-known works. Amongst Amit’s success are the  Anthony Lindsay Piano Prize,  the  Special Jury Prize  at the Northwood-Ruislip Concerto Competition, the  György Solti Award for Professional Development , and the Brooks-van der Pump Pianist Prize at the Royal College of Music. Amit also won the 1st International Israeli Music Competition in London and consequently performed Zvi Avni’s  On the Verge of Time  in London’s Southbank Centre in the presence of the composer.In 2014, Amit released his newest CD “ Amit Yahav Plays Chopin “, containing the four Ballades alongside the 2 Polonaises op.26 and the C# Minor Scherzo op.39. This release follows Amit’s tour showcasing the four Ballades in an explained recital, which was selected by the Royal College of Music as part of their  Insight Series  of soirees offered to their donors. In 2018, he earned a Doctor of Music degree for his thesis investigating interpretation in the music of Chopin.

And Hugh Mather replied after the concert:

“A fantastic LIVE piano recital by Amit Yahav this afternoon at St Mary’s Perivale. A delightful all-Chopin programme. Slightly strange without an audience but very satisfying nonetheless.  And about 200 viewers (inc Amit’s family in Israel) have seen his recital online so far.”

And so it is that music will out.No matter the disasters and calamities that befall the world music will always find a way to enter our lives. It enters a secret territory that we have a need of.It reaches places where words are just not enough.Some people might even call it our ‘soul’It has taken only three months from the last concert in London on the 17th March (https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2020/03/17/the-last-recital-luka-okros-at-st-johns-smith-square/)  to arrive via various desperate  home attempts at hausmusik , at the formula of live music streamed into our homes wherever that may be in the world. Hats off to Hugh Mather and his team who were one of the first to continue  concerts even in lockdown with  Teatime Classics from their archive of over 400 performances to choose from.Realising that these young artist had not only lost a platform and in a sense their raison d’etre but also any source of income.The artists were paid for their archive recordings.With the official opening up of the Wigmore Hall live streamed BBC Lunchtime recitals from the 1st of June  Dr Mather, ever vigilant to respect the self distancing rules that have become so necessary, felt free to do likewise at his mecca in Perivale.

And so it was today not only lunchtime with Hyeyoon Park and  Benjamin Grosvenor  at the Wigmore( https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2020/06/10/hyeyoon-park-and-benjamin-grosvenor-live-at-the-wigmore-hall/)but also a Chopin recital by Amit Yahav for tea!A magic carpet that took me and many others from one concert hall to another.

  A beautifully shaped all Chopin programme within a framework of two of his last and most profound works: the Polonaise Fantasie op 61 and the Fourth Ballade op 52.With a substantial filling of  two nocturnes op 9 and 55 and mazurkas op 6 and 7;  the first Scherzo op 20 and the scintillating waltz op 34 n.1 .Infact in just one hour of music a complete panorama of the magic world of Chopin.It is hardly surprising to read that in  2018, he was awarded a Doctor of Music degree for his thesis investigating interpretation in the music of Chopin.

A beautiful shape to the opening of the Polonaise Fantasie,the arch of his left hand poised to await the arrival of the magic wave of  sounds created by the right.There was a great architectural shape to the work with a forward movement that allowed for all the nostalgic nobility without any sentimentality.A beautifully shaped central section with some poignant counterpoints that glistened from the left hand leading to  a magical return of the opening waves of sound after some truly majestic trills.A heroic ending played with all the aristocratic nobility of one of Chopin’s greatest and most original works.

There was a beautiful sense of balance in the hauntingly  simple musings of this first of Chopin’s  nocturnes.The first performance I ever heard was on a piano roll by Josef Lhevine in the archive from the Brentford piano museum just down the road from Perivale. The  same haunting nostalgia has remained with me all these years and it was from Amit’s mellifluous  hands that I was  so poignantly reminded.The nocturne op 55 n.2 in F minor was the favourite of Shura Cherkassky who  played it in a much more serene and fantastically coloured way than Amit.I found his performance just a shade too fast to allow  full range to the fantasy of  the  final flowing arpeggios that pass like the wave of sound that he had found so perfectly in the Polonaise Fantasie.

The central work of the recital was the tempestuous first Scherzo in B minor op 20 .Amit played it with great passion and precision and brought a beautiful contrasting stillness to the simple Polish folk melody that Chopin quotes in the central section.The return to the tempest and coda were played with technical assurance and great excitement.The two early Mazurkas were played with all the infectious dance rhythms and contrasts of Chopin’s nostalgia for his  beloved homeland.And the Waltz op 34 n.1 was played with all the ‘joie de vivre’ and infectious gaiety of one of his most joyous waltzes.One that Rubinstein loved to play as an encore with great final elan  in his many all Chopin recitals.

The fourth Ballade in F minor op 52 is like the Sonata in B minor by Liszt and the Schumann Fantasy op 17 one of the pinnacles of the  romantic piano repertoire .Amit gave an impeccable performance from the beautifully liquid opening as though a door had just been opened leading  to the  purity of sound that he found for the theme.A control and intellectual understanding that did not preclude some exquisite playing.From the return of the opening and the magical cadenza to the sumptuous lead up to the passionate final triumph of  such a seemingly simple melody.After the five calming chords a coda of great technical assurance but shaped liked the true musician he revealed himself to be  today.

Tuesday June 2nd 4.00 pm

Streamed ‘live’ concert in an empty church

Alim Beisembayev (piano)

Liszt: Transcendental Etudes S.139
No 3 “Paysage”
No 5 “Feux Follets”
No 10 “F minor”
No 11 “Harmonies du soir”
No 12 “Chasse-Neige”

Beethoven: Sonata in C minor Op 111

Maestoso-Allegro con brio ed appassionato ;Arietta: Adagio molto semplice e cantabile

Alim Beisembayev was born in Kazakhstan in 1998. He started playing the piano at the age of 5 in a music school in Almaty. In September 2008, he moved to study at the Central Music School of Moscow. Later that year, he won the televised, international competition for young talented musicians “Nutcracker”.After two years of studying in Moscow, he moved to continue his studies at the Purcell School for Young Musicians in the UK, where he was taught by Tessa Nicholson.In 2010, Alim recorded Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Symphony Orchestra “New Russia” under the baton of Evgeny Bushkov.His performances have taken place in prestigious halls such as the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatoire, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, the St. Petersburg Philha rmonia of Shostakovich, the Steinway Hall, Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room and the Royal Festival Hall.

Alim was awarded 3rd prize at the Liszt International Junior Competition in Weimar and he won the First Prize in the inaugural Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas.In February 2016, Alim was a guest at BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’ promoting his concert at the Royal Festival Hall, where he performed Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto with the Purcell School Symphony Orchestra.In summer 2017, Alim was awarded 1st prize at the Manchester International Piano Competition where he performed the First Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto with the Manchester Camerata. Later that year, he also won the Jaques Samuel Intercollegiate Piano Competition which led to his Wigmore Hall debut in June 2018.Since September 2016, Alim continues studying with Tessa Nicholson at the Royal Academy of Music in London on a full scholarship.

                                                                            Alim Beisembayev at St Mary’s live

                                     

There is something refreshing about seeing Dr Mather at last presenting the first of a superb line up of young artists live that he and his team at St Mary’s have been selflessly promoting over the past years.

In the last few months relying on an archive of over 400 artists St Mary’s has continued after the lock down to  tirelessly promote these young artists by streaming from this archive a selection of remarkable performances.

All the artists are offered a professional engagement even when it is an archive recording.

So many artists rely on this window that allows them to share their talent with a discerning public not only live but  also virtual – necessità virtu.

But there is something about a live concert that makes one even more aware of what marvels are  being shared.

As Gilels said it is the difference between fresh and canned food.

Yesterday the Wigmore Hall opened its ‘virtual’ doors to a series of recitals streamed live from an empty hall.

Today following their lead  St Mary’s has followed suit.Careful ,as only a physician could be,of respecting the distancing regulations even paying for his artists to travel to the hall in a private car.

Stephen Hough opened the season at the Wigmore Hall and it was like a breath of fresh air for us listeners but also for the artist who rose to the occasion with superb performances of  Bach and Schumann.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2020/06/01/4406/

The Bach/Busoni Chaconne and the Schumann Fantasie – two pinnacles of the pianistic repertoire.

At St Mary’s today the bells were pealing just as loudly with Beethoven’s last word on his 32 Sonatas preceeded by five of Liszt’s Transcendental Studies .

Stephen Hough is a world renowned figure, a true renaissance man who not only plays the piano better than most but also writes,paints and is a public commentator on so many subjects.His latest book ‘Rough Ideas’ sums this all up with his ‘reflections on music and more!’

Alim Beisembayev is a young pianist in his early twenties and at the start of what promises to be an equally remarkable  career.

                                             

I do not say that lightly as I have heard Alim since he was in his teens at the Purcell School and on many occasions since he won a scholarship to continue his studies with Tessa Nicholson at my old Alma Mater – the RAM.

Could it have been the occasion?

Or was it simply that this very talented young man already winner of the Junior Van Cliburn Competition in Texas ,has matured  into an artist of quite considerable stature.

It was enough to see the intelligent choice of five of Liszt’s trascendental studies.

Chosen to give a shape to what in his hands are miniature tone poems but shaped into a much larger and satisfying whole.

From the luminosity of ‘Paysage’ played with such a flexible beat and subtle sense of phrasing.A touching duet that moved so eloquently towards the passionate climax ‘ritentuto ed appassionato assai’ but always maintaining the same mellifluous  dialogue .A simple growling acciaccatura in the bass brought us back to the countryside and a  gradual disappearance into the distance.

Ready for will 0′ the wisps or ‘Feux Follets.’

Sparkling lights that light up the countryside so magically in hot climes.

And there was indeed true magic in Alim’s hands.

One of the most transcendentally difficult works in the piano repertoire together with Chopin’s study op 10 n.2 that relies on the independence of the fourth and fifth fingers in the right hand.It was played with an ease and charm like Liszt’s ‘Au bord d’une source’ but with the intricate precision  of a  Swiss clock.The sense of character he gave this perfect jewel was something to marvel at indeed.The contrast in dynamics but above all the subtle melodic line that he could shape so beautifully whilst the most difficult filigree accompaniment was thrown of with the ease of a true magician.

                                   

This gave way to the romantic outpourings of the 10th study in F minor.A  passionate performance of demonic pianism  of breathtaking mastery.This was a truly operatic scenario that had nothing to fear from Bellini.

The wonderful romantic melody floating on a most intricate syncopated accompaniment before bursting into red hot declamations of almost obscene passionate involvement.Driving savage rhythms had all the hallmarks of the’ guerra guerra ‘ of Norma.

Harmonies du soir was full of magical sounds .The piu lento was played with all the heartfelt cantabile of the most Italianate tenors that gradually built up to a most sumptuous outpouring of emotion kept perfectly under  masterly control .Dying away to a mere off stage whisper it prepared the scene for the delicate melodic duet between soprano and baritone in Chasse Neige.A truly magnificent control of balance allowed the melodic line to sing above the constant tremolando accompaniment with gushes of wind every so often appearing from the depths.

These performances made one aware of the truly poetic nature of Liszt’s virtuosity that was almost never to an end of its own but always at the use of descriptive sounds much as a painter would add strokes of genius to an already expressive canvas.

                                         

Beethoven’s Sonata op 111 was given an exemplary performance.Not only for its technical mastery but even more for the maturity and total respect for Beethoven’s most precise indications.The opening of the mighty ‘Maestoso’ was fearlessly played with one hand as Beethoven asks and it put the seal on an interpretation that whilst being like water boiling at 100 degrees also had moments of contrast and rest that made the sudden outbursts of energy even more astonishing.

Nothing was missing even the fugato was a gradual build up to the full outburst of the theme with an inner energy that was quite hypnotic.Perfect control and rock steady pulse gave such strength to this movement that is obviously just the introduction to Beethoven’s last great song.

The Arietta in Alim’s hands made one realise that from the beginning to the end this was just one great melodic outpouring.From the great depth of sound of the Arietta played as Beethoven asks simply and singing.One was made aware today as I have never been before of one long sublimely mellifluous outpouring of thanksgiving that leads to the celestial trills of the final bars where Beethoven at last via op 109 and 110  finds true fulfillment in the purity of the spirit.

All this was revealed from the hands of this remarkably mature young man who is obviously  on the crest of a wave where technical mastery is at the total service of the musical message of which he understands so completely the meaning of the word  interpretation.

A rare gift indeed and one that will give him a special space in a world that needs more than ever something greater than just words.

                                                                         

This is what I have written over the past few years of some of Alim’s performances:

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2020/05/09/alim-beisembayev-on-st-marys-teatime-classic-archive-concert-series/