Mese: aprile 2021

Tuesday 13 April 4.0 pm 

Mozart: Piano Sonata in C major K279 Allegro-Andante-Allegro

Chopin: Etude Op 25 no 11 ‘Winter Wind’

Ravel: 3 pieces from Miroirs
Une barque sur l’océan
Alborada del gracioso
La vallée des cloches

Ravel: Toccata from ‘Le Tombeau de Couperin’

Ginastera: Piano sonata no 1 (1952) Allegro marcato-Presto misterioso-Adagio molto appassionato-Ruvido ed ostinato

‘Sorry about the internet problems this afternoon – hope it didn’t spoil a magnificent recital. Here is the HD version’-Hugh Mather

Cristian had told me that there were so many notes in today’s recital that having just recorded the Goldberg variations he was getting quite alarmed.
I told him I would send him some notes over the air if need be.
Unfortunately today being the 13th the internet connection at St Mary’s had decided to play up!
Luckily there was no need for my assistance because from the very first notes of Mozart’s early C major sonata it was obvious with what artistry this young Romanian pianist dispensed of the notes.The Sonata was written at the age of 18 during the visit Mozart paid to Munich for the production of La finta giardiniera in 1774 .
A Mozart so full of character it had me almost rolling in the aisles as you could almost see Mozart laughing as the acciaccatura’s poked fun at the operatic scenes that were being enacted before our very eyes.
A rhythmic energy and infectious ‘joie de vivre’ that is only heard these days from Martha Argerich’s genial hands.With Mozart’s miraculous bursts of song coupled also with his impish sense of humour.
A sumptuous cantabile in the Andante with a sense of legato that like the ‘bebung’ on the fortepiano allowed him to join one note miraculously to the other in a vibration of sounds that belies the percussive nature of the instrument.
Mozart of course has the last laugh with a final Allegro of such bucolic charm that Cristian and we seemed surprised that the fun should ever end.

A Chopin Winter Wind where one could again marvel at the legato of the opening statement with a legato I have only noticed from the aged Wilhelm Kempff in his visionary Liszt recordings.I could only catch glimpses of Cristian sailing up and down the keyboard in between the hic-cups of internet glitches and I will catch up with the count as St Mary’s download their superb HD recording.

Miroirs suffered the same fate – but I have heard Cristian’s superb performances on other occasions ( see below 4/3/2019)
A miracle occurred in Alborada where the gremlins of St Mary’s allowed us to be moved by the deeply felt recitativi and of course marvel at the control and technical prowess in the double glissandi and repeated notes.

Repeated notes is the operative word with Ravel’s sumptuous Toccata that ends the suite ‘Le Tombeau de Couperin’ . Ravel had dedicated each movement to friends that had fallen in the First World War where the composer was a humble lorry driver.
He was one of the few who lived to tell the tale of sacrifice not to say political butchery of a generation.
A superb performance if not only for the relentless rhythmic drive but above all the magic moments when the sun shone through and glistened amongst the butchery.

Of course Ginastera is a piece of great effect,always,but in Cristian’s artistic hands it became of Bartokian proportions. Ginastera was commissioned by the Carnegie Institute and the Pennsylvania College for Women to write a piano sonata for the Pittsburgh International Contemporary Music Festival in 1952.The performance was given by pianist Johana Harris, wife of American composer Roy Harris ,and the work was dedicated to both Harrises. Ginastera’s intention for the piece was to capture the spirit of Argentine folk music without relying on explicit quotations from existing folk songs.Not only the savage relentless ritual dance rhythms but also the whispered legato of the second movement and the great cries of lament in the third before the relentless final toccata of erotic triumph with which it drives the latin temperament to its inevitable goal.

Cristian’s first contact with the piano happened naturally, at very young age, since music played an inherent part of family life. Born in Bucharest, Cristian first studied in Romania under Marina Dragomirescu and Cristian Dumitrescu, winning numerous local competitions and having his public debut at the prestigious Romanian Atheneum at the age of 13. Upon moving to London, Cristian accepted a place at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied for 7 years: a particular opportunity, to be closely mentored by both Diana Ketler and Christopher Elton. He completed his last degree at the Academy in 2019, the Advanced Diploma, a special programme reserved only for the very fine students of this institution. Before that, in 2018 he received a DipRAM distinction, awarded for an outstanding performance for the Master of Music final recital. Cristian Sandrin is very passionate about music, and his love for Mozartian repertoire led him to conduct numerous piano concertos from the keyboard, in Summer Piano Festivals and for the official opening of the Angela Burgess Recital Hall at the Royal Academy of Music. Cristian toured extensively across the UK as an artist of the Countess of Munster Recital Scheme from 2018 to 2020. He performed a very successful and critically well received debut solo recital at the Wigmore Hall in 2017. A very special and memorable experience for any young musician, this Wigmore opportunity was made possible by the support of the Kirckman Concert Society. Further support from Imogen Cooper’s Music Trust provided Cristian with exclusive mentorship and guidance in 2017. Since 2019, Cristian is being supported by the Keyboard Charitable Trust.Other UK engagements included recitals at St Martin in the Fields, Queen Elizabeth Hall, St James Piccadilly, Brighton, Oxford, Chipping Campden. In Romania, Cristian Sandrin is a frequent guest artist of the Bacau State Philharmonic, Sibiu State Philharmonic, Ramnicu-Valcea State Philharmonic and Bucharest Symphony Orchestra. International engagements included performances at Salle Cortot in Paris, Marstall Platz in Berlin, Salla Manuel de Falla in Madrid, Palazzo Ricci in Montepulciano, “La Fenice” Theatre in Venice, “Bulgaria Hall” in Sophia and the Polish National Philharmonic Hall. In the past season he has been invited to perform solo recitals and chamber music in the Naarden International Piano Festival (Netherlands), the Eifel Musicale Festival (Germany) and the KameArt Experience (Romania).He is a laureate of many international competitions, most recently being awarded the “Roslyn Tureck Special Prize” for the best interpretation of Bach during the Olga Kern International Piano Competition 2019 in New Mexico, USA. Other recent achievements included top prizes in the Città di Ollegio Piano Competition (2019), Concours Musical de Versailles (2019), the Windsor International Piano Competition (2018), the Sheepdrove Intercollegiate Piano Competition (2018), Automobile Club de France Piano Competition (2011), the “Animato” Competition in Paris (2012), ProPiano International Competition (2010), “Yourii Boukoff” Competition (2009) and the Eastbourne Symphony Orchestra Young Soloist Competition (2015). Cristian is a past winner of the Harold Craxton Chamber Music prize (in 2016), and the William Sterndale Bennett Prize (in 2014) at the Royal Academy of Music.Cristian is grateful extremely grateful to the Tillett Trust, the Hattori Trust, the Martin Musical Scholarship Fund, Help Musicians UK, the Cohen Foundation, the Harold Craxton Memorial Trust and the Royal Society of Musicians. The financial support offered by these trusts enabled Cristian to study at the Royal Academy of Music, one of UK’s leading music institutions.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2020/10/13/cristian-sandrin-at-st-marys/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2019/04/03/cristian-sandrin-at-st-marys-with-encore-performance/

http://tiny.cc/stagione_concertistica

Some fine playing from this eighteen year old Tuscan pianist winner of the Premio Sergio Cafaro 2020.
After the Easter lock down in Italy the streamed concerts at Viterbo University have been allowed to continue with a remarkable recital by Leonardo Merlini.
A pianist that immediately shows all the musical intelligence and integrity that was so much part of the Cafaro studio that is a stone’s throw from the Ghione Theatre in Rome.
Artists such as Roberto Prosseda,Alessandra Ammara,Francesco Libetta,Luisa Prayer,Laura Manzini ,all now distinguished artists were formed by Sergio Cafaro and his wife Annamaria Martinelli.
It is she who is still carrying the flame and has founded this prize for the most talented young musicians each year in the name of her beloved husband and their work together of a lifetime dedicated to helping to form real artists.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/christopher-axworthy/premio-sergio-cafaro/10155983211097309/

It was the absolute clarity of this young man’s playing that was so remarkable allied to a scrupulous attention to detail.
The Bach Italian concerto was played with a fine non legato touch with delicately placed ornaments of crystal clarity.There was also some very telling phrasing with some very slight punctuation that was of a true musician.The Andante too showed a remarkable control and the freedom of a bel canto singer that made for a great contrast with the relentless rhythmic drive of the outer movements.
Beethoven’s almost pastoral sonata op 31 had a crystalline freshness but could have had just a little more weight in the passage work to contrast with the simplicity of the mellifluous outpourings in what is one of Beethoven’s happiest sonatas. No clouds here as this is Beethoven in an unusually genial mood.
There was great beauty and sense of colour in the four pieces he chose from Schumann’s Fantasiestucke.
Des Abends was played with a touching simplicity and control that contrasted so well with the tempestuous Aufschwung that followed.The magical duet in Warum could have been even more to the fore with the accompaniment a mere murmur but Grillen was thrown of with aristocratic poise.
Ravel’s Ondine just flowed so magically from his fingers with a clarity and astonishing technical prowess.The glissandi flowed so naturally from his hands as they hovered over the keys and the climax was played with passionate involvement leading to the gentle single strand of melody drowned in pedal ,as Ondine disappears into the depths ,just as the composer asks in the score .
Of course the Liszt Trascendental study in Fminor was played with astonishing control and passionate excitement where Leonardo allowed himself to be totally involved in Liszt’s ravishing score of great virtuosity and emotivity.

Leonardo MerliniNato nel 2003, a Piombino, Leonardo Merlini inizia lo studio del pianoforte a cinque anni sotto la guida del M° Alessandro Gagliardi. Fin da piccolo risulta vincitore in vari concorsi, tra cui il “Riveria Etrusca” e il “J.S. Bach”.Nel 2017 vince il 2° Premio nella competizione Steinway di Verona e nel 2018 ottiene una borsa di studio per frequentare le masterclass del M° Aquiles delle Vigne.Tra i riconoscimenti più importanti: il Premio Maria Giubilei, il Premio Humberto Quagliata, il Premio Enrico Galletta e il Premio Sergio Cafaro.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2021/01/22/duo-prosedda-amara-french-women-composers-for-four-hands-from-palazetto-bruce-zane-in-venice/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2021/01/13/roberto-prosseda-pays-tribute-to-the-genius-of-chopin-and-the-inspirational-figure-of-fou-tsong/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2020/02/27/a-lion-in-villa-torlonia-luca-lione-at-teatro-di-villa-torlonia/

Tuesday April 6 4.0 pm 

Sasha Grynyuk (piano) 

Beethoven: Sonata in E flat Op 81a ‘Les Adieux’ The Farewell Adagio- allegro ,The Absence Andante espressivo,The Return Vivacissimamente

Schumann: Davidsbündlertänze Op 6

Messiaen: Vingt regards sur l’enfant-Jésus no 10
Regard de l’esprit de joie

More superb playing from Sasha Grynyuk.From the first delicate notes of Beethoven’s Les Adieux sonata where he transformed the composers most precise indications into sumptuous sounds of a pastoral farewell,a heartfelt absence and a truly joyous return.
The conflict between Florestan and Eusebius in one of Schumann’s greatest works.Inspired by Schumann’s love for his future wife,Clara,it was played with such loving care by Sasha’s delicate hands that one thought that each of the eighteen pieces could not get any more beautiful.Overwhelmed by the fourteenth ‘zart und singend’ that is possibly the most beautiful thing Schumann ever wrote,we were left with a desolate waltz as this wedding party draws away to a distant magic land.
The barbaric Regard de l’Esprit de Joie by Messiaen was a tour de force of dynamic drive and histrionic declarations of faith.The passionate belief of Messiaen together with his love of nature was overwhelming in it’s relentless insistence.The final transcendental scale in Sasha’s hands just proved that love and passion go hand in hand as they had done all through his enthralling performances today.

Beethoven’s Sonata op 81a ‘Les Adieux’ was written during the years 1809 and 1810.The French attack on Vienna, led by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1809, forced Beethoven’s patron, Archduke Rudolph, to leave the city. and on the first publication in 1811 a dedication was added reading “On the departure of his Imperial Highness, for the Archduke Rudolph in admiration”.

The opening Adagio where Beethoven writes Le-be-Wohl over the first three chords were indeed played with an even deeper meaning on it’s return where the hesitation before the final chord had us already on the edge of our seats.Great care of the phrasing on the gentle upward phrases meant that the arrival at the Allegro sped along in two with an almost pastoral feel of open air and freshness.Sasha’s scrupulous attention to detail made great contrasts between the bare open notes and the bass syncopated comments.It led in turn to the open horn calls answering each other and the delicate quavers like a clear flowing stream in this outdoor landscape.The problematic crescendo on a single note at the end was superbly interpreted and played with great deliberacy instead of the usual half hearted efforts of lesser musicians!The andante espressivo sang with a delicate but full voice where the sforzandi only re enforced the intense feeling created on the arrival of His Imperial Highness the esteemed Archduke Rudolph.Beethoven’s magical pedal over pianissimi rising arbesques made the joy of the return even more intense.There was such clarity in Sasha’s playing with great playfulness and a pastoral feel of well being that was truly refreshing.Played with a rhythmic drive and joie de vivre that even in the final poco andante he kept a constant pulse leading to the joyous ride to the finish.A performance of remarkable lucidity and character where Beethoven’s ever more precise indications were interpreted and made to live again as he himself must have imagined them in his secret ear.

Davidsbündlertänze (Dances of the League of David), Op 6, is a group of eighteen pieces composed in 1837 by Robert Schumann who named them after his music society Davidsbundler-. The low opus number is misleading as it was written after Carnaval Op. 9, and the Symphonic Studies Op. 13 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest piano works of the Romantic era.Schumann’s early piano works were substantially influenced by his relationship with Clara Wieck and on September 5, 1839, Schumann wrote to his former professor: “She was practically my sole motivation for writing the Davidsbündlertänze, the Concerto, the Sonata and the Novellettes.” They are an expression of his passionate love, anxieties, longings, visions, dreams and fantasies.In fact the theme of the Davidsbündlertänze is based on a mazurka by Clara Wieck and the intimate character pieces are one of his most personal works.In 1838, Schumann told Clara that the Dances contained “many wedding thoughts” and that “the story is a wedding eve party, during which old crockery is smashed to bring good luck.”They are not true dances , but characteristic pieces, musical dialogues about contemporary music between Schumann’s characters Florestan and Eusebius that represent the impetuous and the lyrical, poetic sides of Schumann’s nature. Each piece is ascribed to one or both of them. Their names follow the first piece and the appropriate initial or initials follow each of the others except the sixteenth (which leads directly into the seventeenth, the ascription for which applies to both) and the ninth and eighteenth, which are respectively preceded by the following remarks: “Here Florestan made an end, and his lips quivered painfully”, and “Quite superfluously Eusebius remarked as follows: but all the time great bliss spoke from his eyes.”It is one of the most precisely notated works of Schumann where rests,legato and staccato marking are all most carefully indicated.The difficulty for any interpreter is to incorporate all these details into an overall architectural shape from the arresting opening to the wistful waltz dying away into the distance.It was a work that Rubinstein preferred not to play in public because of its quiet ending.Gieseking was superb in his no nonsense multicoloured driven performance.Geza Anda was the most magically poetic with his liquid sound and intelligence.I once suggested to Fou Ts’ong that he should play it for us in his annual Rome recital but he loved it too much and it fell wonderfully apart.(I was on tour when he played it in Rome and poor Ts’ong exhorted: ‘but Chris it was like cooking a meal for someone who did not show up!’He went on to make a wonderful recording of it.All this to say what a challenge Sasha took on today and how refreshing it was to be swept along on a great wave of sounds of such poetic delicacy,colour and at times passionate involvement.Never loosing the undercurrent that drives the music on there was a constant forward movement and great sense of fantasy as Florestan and Eusebius fight it out at the opening before the intimate confessions of Eusebius in the second piece the same sumptuous colours that are dreamt of in the distance of the seventeenth piece after a journey of longing and passion.Florestan bursting on the scene in the third piece played with bucolic charm with Sasha’s great care of legato and staccato.The fourth was played with sweeping passion before the touching simplicity of the coquettish Eusebian charm of the fifth.The devilish syncopation that Florestan combines in the sixth almost caught Sasha out but the continual drive kept him on course magnificently to the passionate outpouring of the coda.Such deeply felt communion in the nicht schnell with the beautiful duet of the mellifluous middle section.Such frivolity too,as Florestan takes over ,with his great character shining through ,leading to the passionate outpourings of the Balladenmassig.The simple beauty of the eleventh was a wonderful oasis before the twelfth that was thrown off with skittish charm before the passionate ‘wild und lustig ‘ of Florestan that Eusebius manages to calm with an almost Brahmsian melodic line of such elegance and beauty.Uniting in a coda of sweep and the charm of a candle coming gently to its end.The most beautiful of course was left to Eusebius with the fourteenth piece played with a heart melting cantabile surrounded by magic figurations flowing on a kaleidoscope of beautiful sounds.Rudely awoken by the fifteenth and the Frisch of Florestan only to have Eusebius wave his magic wand where wondrous sounds appeared of sweep and innermost passion which the fleeting bass notes just seemed to highlight. Florestan takes wing with a capricious interlude of syncopated play between the hands before dissolving into a distant land .Ravishing marvels of sumptuous beauty in Sasha’s delicate hands out of which emerges the recollection of the second piece that gradually builds up to a climax where Florestan and Eusebius seem united but infact it is Eusebius who has the last say.A magic chord opens a landscape where Eusebius alone looks nostalgically back at what has surpassed.Playing of great poetry and the sumptuous sounds of a true musician that could admire all the marvels that surround him whilst on a long journey of discovery.

Vingt regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (“Twenty visions of the infant Jesus”) is a suite of 20 pieces for solo piano by the French composer Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992). It is a meditation on the infancy of Jesus and was composed in 1944 for his wife Yvonne Loriod.Regard De l’Esprit de joie is the tenth and Messiaen writes in the score Thème de danse orientale et plain-chantesque-comme un air de chase,comme des cors,Thème de joie,Thème de Dieu,Dans un grand transport de joie.Messiaen uses Thèmes or leitmotifs, recurring elements that represent certain ideas. They include:Thème de Dieu (“Theme of God”)Thème de l’amour mystique (“Theme of Mystical Love”)Thème de l’étoile et de la croix (“Theme of the Star and of the Cross”)Thème d’accords (“Theme of Chords”).For example, Messiaen has written that “The ‘Theme of Chords’ is heard throughout, fragmented, concentrated, surrounded with resonances, combined with itself, modified in both rhythm and register, transformed, transmuted in all sorts of ways: it is a complex of sounds intended for perpetual variation, pre-existing in the abstract like a series, but quite concrete and quite easily recognizable through its colours: a steely grey-blue shot through with red and bright orange, a mauve violet spotted with leather-brown and encircled by bluish-purple.”

The first performance I ever heard of this piece was at the Leeds International Piano Competition played by Jean Rodolph Kars who has since become a Trappist monk I believe! It is the work of a great believer as the hammered out declaration of the Thème de joie can testify.I don’t know if Sasha is a true believer but I think to play this work with his conviction it must be in that instant truly meaningful.The startling rhythmic savagery of the opening and the constant collision of sounds only added to the heart rending beauty of broken glass and the mysterious repetitive noises over the entire keyboard.The final frantic dance that Messiaen exhorts ‘comme un air de chase,comme des cors’ Sasha generated such excitement with some truly transcendental playing where almost every one of the many notes has a different accidental.Great declarations were played with such overwhelming passionate conviction that the final explosion came as a relief from the tension that had been so masterly created.

Winner of over ten international competitions, prizes and awards, Sasha was chosen as a ‘Rising Star’ for BBC Music Magazine and International Piano Magazine . His successes also include First Prizes in the Grieg International Piano Competition and the BNDES International Piano Competition, in addition to winning the Guildhall School of Music’s most prestigious award – the Gold Medal – previously won by such artists as Jacqueline Du Pré and Bryn Terfel.Sasha has performed in many major venues including Wigmore Hall, Barbican Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Bridgewater Hall (Manchester), Wiener Konzerthaus, Weil Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall, New York), Teatro Real (Rio de Janeiro) and Salle Cortot (Paris). He has performed with such orchestras as the Royal Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic and Orchestra Sinfonica Brasiliera. His recording of music by Glenn Gould and Friedrich Gulda for Piano Classics was chosen as the record of the month for the German magazine Piano News and shortlisted for the New York Classical Radio Award. Among Sa sha’s ongoing projects are performances of Shostakovich’s original piano score for the 1929 silent film The New Babylon , which he premièred at LSO St. Luke’s and later performed at Leif Ove Andsnes’ Rosendal Festival, Norway. Born in Ukraine, Sasha studied at the Guildhall School in London. Sasha is a Keyboard Trust artist and currently benefits from the artistic guidance of its founder Noretta Conci-Leech.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2020/11/11/sasha-grynyuk-for-cranleigh-arts-online/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2019/11/26/sasha-grynyuk-an-unexpected-visit-from-a-master-pianist/