Some superb music making in one of the most atmospheric churches that is St James’s in the heart of London .
The scene was set for three extraordinary musicians from the stable of Talent Unlimited directed by the indomitable Canan Maxton: Can Arisoy,Elfida Su Turan and Damir Durmanovic.
In the illustrious company of the Turkish Consul who had come to applaud in particular his compatriots Can Arisoy and Elfida Su Turan
It was Can who opened the concert with an ultra sensitive performance of Beethoven’s ‘Les Adieux’ Sonata op 81 a.
A refined tone palette that created an atmosphere of such emotional impact in the introduction that the explosion and rhythmic energy of the Allegro came as a blessed relief.
There was a technical prowess that was not just of notes but of multicoloured streams of sound and magical echo effects of the coach horns replying to each other on their long journey .
An absence that was so delicate and subtly shaded with the bare whisper of Beethoven’s yearning for the return expressed so poignantly.
The French attack on Vienna, led by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1809, forced Beethoven’s patron, Archduke Rudolph , to leave the city.Beethoven titled the three movements “Lebewohl“, “Abwesenheit“, and “Wiedersehen” (‘farewell’, ‘absence’, and ‘reunion’), and reportedly regarded the French “Adieux” (said to whole assemblies or cities) as a poor translation of the feeling of the German “Lebewohl” (said heartfully to a single person).Indeed, Beethoven wrote the syllables “Le-be-wohl” over the first three chords.
On the first 1811 publication, a dedication was added reading “On the departure of his Imperial Highness, for the Archduke Rudolph in admiration”
And return there certainly was,as after Beethoven’s long held pedal and whispered asides Can attacked the piano like a man possessed.
There was extraordinary power and superlative technical control that gave such exhilarance to this most bucolic of movements.
It was the same control and mastery of sound that he brought to the second work on his programme with Debussy’s Feux d’artifice.
A distant murmur of sounds as the fireworks drew nearer and nearer until they were there with us at our feet.Explosions of sound and glissandi where you could almost see the smoke rising out of this magnificent Fazioli piano.
Bathed in pedal until just before the coda where there was a startling unexpected clarity before the final smokey ending with fragments of the Marseilles just recognisable in the distance.
A remarkable performance where Can could create such magic out of so little.
A pianist has to be both artist and magician if he is to persuade us that a box full of hammers and strings can create a world of dreams and desires.
Can Arisoy proved today that he is both.
Follow that !One might say . https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2021/03/31/can-arisoy-keyboard-trust-new-artists-recital/
Elfida Su Turan and Damir Duramovic were ready to take up the gauntlet.
Damir standing in at the last minute for Can,his school friend from Menuhin days together, who preferred not to play a double role today.
Damir is a natural where everything he plays becomes part of his being as he moves with cat like stealth over the keys .A natural musicality that was truly mesmerising as Elfida reached for the passionately resonating notes that abound in Chausson’s score.
Watching and listening to them together as they intoned this inspired poem was like being present at the improvised creation of a masterpiece.
A fascinating voyage of discovery together recounting a fairy tale of ravishing beauty and passion.
Szymanowski’s cruelly complicated scores are always a test of the technical prowess and imaginative artistry for all those that dare trespass into such a minefield.
Not so for Canan Maxton’s carefully chosen artists who from the very first notes of the Notturno created the atmosphere of a wondrous landscape.
Playing as one they brought vibrant energy also to the treacherous Tarantella.
The same energy I am sure Paul Kochanski and Artur Rubinstein would have displayed a century earlier when the music of their friend was still wet on the page .
Critically acclaimed pianist Can Arisoy was born in 2000 in Turkey. Can is the 2nd prize winner in the 2016 Beethoven Junior Intercollegiate Piano Competition in London and 2016 Nilüfer International Piano Competition. He was awarded The Young Talent Prize at the Ibiza International Piano Competition and was a finalist at the 2020 International Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Scholarships. Can started his piano studies at the age of 5. In 2006, he was accepted to The Bilkent University’s junior music department with a full scholarship. He gave his first concert at the age of 7 and his first orchestral concert as a soloist at the age of 11 with Bilkent Youth Symphony Orchestra. At the age of 14, he was invited to the Turkish National Radio 3 Ankara for a recital and interview. At the same age, Can gained a place at The Yehudi Menuhin School with a full scholarship to study with Prof. Marcel Baudet. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2021/03/31/can-arisoy-keyboard-trust-new-artists-recital/
Can has worked with greatly acclaimed pianists such as; Boris Berman, Paul Roberts, Murray MacLahclan, Edith Fischer, Idil Biret, Robert Levin, Gülsin Onay, David Dolan, José Ramón Mendez, Markus Schirmer, Paul Coker, Jeremy Young, Pierre Réach and Jean Bernard Pommier in International Masterclasses.
Since the age of 14, Can gave concerts in England, Turkey, France, Spain, and Austria. Performed in venues such as Wigmore Hall, Steinway Hall, Champs Hill, Clapham Omnibus, London King’s Place, Gloucester Music Society, Bilkent Concert Hall and Saygun Hall. He played with The Pelly Concert Orchestra in 2017 and The Dorking Chamber Orchestra in 2018 as a soloist and performed in music festivals including The Gstaad Music Festival, ISA Piano Festival, Gümüslük International Piano Festival, Music Alp International Music Academy and Cheathams Piano Series.
Can also performed and gave an interviews at the Karnaval Radio, Turkish National Radio 3 Istanbul and Borusan Classic Istanbul. In 2018 his performance of Brahms’ Horn Trio was chosen for The Yehudi Menuhin School 2018 Highlights CD. In the same year, Can became a “Talent Unlimited” artist in the UK. In 2019 December he gave his first Masterclass at the Izzet Baysal Fine Arts University in Turkey. Can is continuing his studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Prof. Caroline Palmer.
Can is generously supported by Zetland Foundation, Talent Unlimited, Keyboard Trust and Sevda-Cenap And Music Foundation.
Presented in association with Talent Unlimited
It was first performed in Warsaw on 24 January 1920, by Pawel Kochanski and Feliks Szymanowski (the composer’s elder brother), and published in 1921. It is dedicated to the composer’s friend August Iwański, at whose estate Ryżawka, and Józef Jaroszyński’s manor in Zarudzie the work was written.The Nocturne has mainly long elegant lines soaring high above the piano accompaniment, but also sometimes diverts off the pathway into a Spanish idiom style (Szymanowski had recently returned from a Mediterranean journey) and is alternately languid and febrile.The Tarantella is in a typically relentless Neapolitan 6/8 rhythm,with left hand pizzicatos,double stopping and other effects.It was sketched during a single evening of drinking with Kochanski and Izanski at Zarudzie.It has impressionistic overtones redolent of Debussy and early Stravinsky,but is also pervaded with the flavours of the Middle East,similarly to many of his works.
Born in Istanbul in 2002, Elfida Su Turan started studying the violin at Istanbul University State Conservatory with Veniamin Varsavsky. Elfida, has been performing as a soloist with orchestra since the age of 10 with orchestras such as; the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, İzmir State Symphony Orchestra, Başkent University Orchestra, Başkent Academy Orchestra, Aşkın Ensamble, and the Bakırköy Municipality Orchestra. Elfida has had the ultimate pleasure of giving multiple concerts at the Akbank Art, Istanbul Culture University, Istanbul Philharmonic Society, Uludag University Auditorium, Sarajevo Music Academy Auditorium, Hikmet Şimşek Culture Center, İş Sanat, Milli Reasuans, Presidential Symphony Orchestra, France Bastille Opera Hall, Yehudi Menuhin Hall, Auditorium of the Fitzwilliam College inCambridge, Gestaad Festival, Conservatoir Royal de Bruxelles, Audotorio de Zaragosa, Juan March Foundation Madrid and Jeju Festival. Having been invited to master classes both in Turkey and abroad, Elfida has had the opportunity to learn under Itzhak Raskovsky, Rodney Friend, Davide Alogna and Ani Schnarch, Akiko Ono, Cihat Aşkın, Bomsori Kim, Michelle Kim, Lutsia İbragimova.
She entered her first national violin competition when she was 10 years old and was awarded the 2nd prize as well as best interpreter of the mandatory piece the competition demanded which gave me the opportunity to play with an orchestra yet again. I was also announced prizewinner in; International Violin Competition organized by Serbian Music pedagogues in March 2013 won first place. Won first place in the 7th Agimus Firenze Premio Crescendo in June of 2015, first place in the 13th Individualis Competition held in Kiev, Ukraine in August of 2015, and won first place in the GrandPrize Virtuoso Competition held in France in November of 2015 and I won third place in the 2nd İlona Feher İnternational violin competition June 2018 in Budapest. And this year March, I was announced a finalist in the 13th Grumiaux Violin Competition. Sadly, the final round did not take place due to the worldwide pandemic.
In 2014 she was also awarded the Joseph Guarini 1883 violin by the Çağdaş Eğitim Foundation.
In February of 2016 she was invited to audition in the world renowned music school, which is considered to be one for the top 3 schools in the world for pre University, The Yehudi Menuhin School. She got accepted with full scholarship.
In November 2019, she auditioned for Royal Academy of Music and got accepted and was also awarded the Entrance Scholarship which covers the entire tuition fee for the full course. She feels incredibly lucky to have Talent Unlimited support her as a musician.
As an internationally sought-after performer, Damir Durmanovic has performed in venues and festivals including the Wigmore Hall, Champs Hill Studios, YPF Festival Amsterdam, Wimbledon Music Festival, Renia Sofia Audotorium Madrid, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Derby Multifaith Center, Flusserei Flums, ‘Ballenlager’ Vaduz. He has won prizes in numerous international competitions including The Beethoven Intercollegiate Junior Competition in London, Adilia Alieva International Piano Competition in Geneva and Isidor Bajic International Piano Competition in Novi Sad.
He has performed in masterclasses with Claudio Martinez-Mehner, Dmitri Bashkirov, Pascal Devoyon, Jacques Rouvier, Robert Levin, JeanBernard Pommier, Tatyana Sarkisova, and chamber ensembles such as the Emerson Quartet. Damir is also a scholar at the ‘Musikakademie Liechtestein’ and participates annually in the courses offered by the Academy.
Damir began his studies at age of eight with Maja Azabagic before commencing his studies at the Yehudi Menuhin School where he studied with Professor Marcel Baudet.
Damir is an ABRSM scholar and is kindly supported by the Talent Unlimited Scheme. He is currently studying at the Royal College of Music in London with professor Dmitri Alexeev. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/10/04/damir-duramovic-reveals-the-true-soul-of-the-slavic-people-at-pushkin-house/
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/09/14/the-gift-of-life-the-keyboard-trust-at-30/
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 