I have heard José play many times during his studies in London but today I heard a master playing with authority and style and an obvious enjoyment that was infectious.

I had first met this young Bolivian when a trustee of the Keyboard Trust, Dr Moritz von Bredow had introduced him to me.He had discovered a very young pianist in Bolivia whilst on a tour with his choir. He was so impressed that he advised him to come to Europe to study and today we hear the result of that intensive study with some of the finest teachers who include: Paul Badura Skoda,Balasz Szokolay,Claudio Martinez Mehtner,Norma Fisher,Frank Bralay,Ian Jones etc. He has been given many performance opportunities in London too by the intrepid Canan Maxton and her Talent Unlimited organisation.I was surprised to see today not the Fazioli piano,that had been chosen many years ago by Alberto Portugheis for St James’s but a magnificent Bechstein Concert Grand.Of course the great German pianos have colours and a depth of sound that are immediately recognisable but as demonstrated today they do not always keep in tune as well as the other more modern makes.

José is such a wonderful musician though that we were immediately immersed in a musical discourse where technical details are of secondary importance.It was immediately apparent from the opening Couperin Tic Toc ,that is so often played as a toccata type study , but today was played like the miniature tone poem it truly can be in the poetic hands of an artist.The resonant acoustic and rich sound of the piano helped shape this little jewel and fill it with coherence, character and wit.There followed the haunting beauty of Scarlatti’s beautiful Sonata K.208.A long drawn out melodic line of poignant beauty with ornaments added in the repeat that just added to the rarified beauty of what is a true Bel canto.The Contrapunctus IX from Bach’s Art of Fugue was a genial way of ending this first group of baroque pieces.A knotty twine of great clarity with a Busonian rhythmic energy played at breakneck speed that almost unsurprisingly came unstuck and it was only José’s musical understanding and mastery that kept it on the straight and narrow. It reminds me of ‘Nun Freud each lieben,Christen gmein’ Bach Busoni Chorale Prelude and it was a genial idea to play just this Contrapunctus and allow us to marvel at Bach’s genius without having to sit through the 90 minutes of the complete unfinished masterpiece.

What a marvel Haydn is when played like today.The Sonata Hob XVI :43 not often heard in the concert hall was played with beguiling elegance and charm with crystal clear ornaments like tightly wound springs sparkling in this scintillating atmosphere.A wonderfully rhythmic Minuet 1 that contrasted so well with the delicate mellifluous Minuet 11.The last movement was full of Haydenesque wit and delicious playful charm that José played with a sense of improvised discovery that brought it vividly to life with a jeux perlé of ravishing simplicity.

There were mists of sound in the Debussy study that was nevertheless played with a clarity and transparency of quite astonishing mastery with a charming capricious ending just thrown off with nonchalance and style. The beauty of the Bel Canto that he brought to Chopin Nocturne op 32 n. 1 was quite memorable as he played with aristocratic good taste and a refined timeless beauty.Attacking the study op 25 n. 10 that just seemed to grow out of the final chord of the Nocturne.Octaves shaped into dynamic sounds of fiery passion and a beautiful central episode that was played with great freedom but also with architectural strength that made it truly belong to the whole study.

The dramatic theatrical opening to the Liszt ‘Pesther Karneval’ revealed a magic box of sumptuous seductive beauty and piano playing of another age.A mastery of style and a command of the keyboard that was truly breathtaking and brought this lunchtime recital to a triumphant end.

A young aspiring pianist has become a great artist ready to take the world by storm.A name to watch indeed.

The young Bolivian pianist has performed in different countries in venues and festivals in Germany, United Kingdom, USA, France, Spain, Austria, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Slovenia, Croatia, Georgia, Lithuania, Chile and Bolivia. Venues include the Teatro Municipal “Alberto Saavedra Pérez” in his hometown La Paz and the Musikverein in Vienna. He is supported by Talent Unlimited in London. He was one of the last pupils of Paul Badura-Skoda, from whom he gained a particular interest in period instruments.As a soloist, he has performed with the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra, Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock, Georgian Philarmonic Orchestra, La Paz Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta de Jóvenes Musicos Bolivianos and Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil de Santa Cruz de la Sierra under the baton of Timothy Redmond, Markus L. Frank, Wojciech Rajski and Andreas Penninger.

His debut CD “Vibrant Rhythms” recently released by GENUIN Classics garnered international acclaim from important musical publications such as the BBC Music Magazine, Pizzicato, PianoNews and Interlude among many others. He awarded the Supersonic Award by Pizzicato and was nominated for the ICMA 2024.Jose is a prize winner at the Anton Rubinstein Piano Competition in Düsseldorf, Tbilisi International Piano Competition in Georgia, International Competition Young Academy Award in Rome, Claudio Arrau International Piano Competition in Chile among many others. He was a finalist at the Eppan Piano Academy and at the 63rd Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition.”Navarro-Silberstein is the master of all Latin American moods, playing with both feeling and real flair”. BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE.

He is a co-founder and the Artistic Director of Mazurka Concerts, a new concert platform in Cologne, Germany. The platform aims to connect young performers with a younger audience through a unique concert experience.As a pedagogue he has given masterclasses in La Paz Conservatory, Sucre Conservatory Santa Cruz Fine Arts College and Laredo School in Cochabamba and in the framework of the Eppan Piano Academy 2021. He served as a jury member at national music competitions.

He studied with Balasz Szokolay at the Franz Liszt University in Weimar and with Claudio Martínez Mehner at the University of Music and Dance in Cologne. In 2017-18 he had an Erasmus Year at the University of Arts in Graz and the Music Academy in Zagreb with Milana Chernyavska and Ruben Dalibaltayan. He just concluded his Artist Diploma programme at the Royal College of Music in London under the guidance of Norma Fisher and Ian Jones. Since September 2023 he is an Artist in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel under the guidance of Frank Braley and Avo Kouyoumdjian.He has scholarships from The Robert Turnbull Piano Foundation, Herrmann Foundaiton Liechtenstein- Bolivia, Theo and Petra Lieven Foundation of Hamburg, Clavarte Foundation in Bern and Elfrun Gabriel Foundation for Young Pianists.

https://www.navarrosilberstein.com/

Jose Navarro Silberstein – masterly performances of red hot intensity

José Navarro-Silberstein in Perivale with playing of authority and haunting beauty

José Navarro-Silberstein in Perivale with playing of authority and haunting beauty