Halloween comes early at the Razumovsky Academy especially when Anna Fedorova is presenting her new CD ‘Intrigues of Darkness’.
A hall full of warmth and joy as Anna played her heart out on Fou Ts’ong’s Steinway D that now sits so proudly in this extraordinary Salon of the Kogan’s.
There is a warmth that’s envelopes you the moment you step into this cove of culture built by Oleg’s own hands and now filled with sumptuous music but also cordon bleu after concert treats, prepared by this great ‘cellist’s loving hands.
I have rarely heard Ts’ong’s piano sound so beautiful as in Anna’s hands.It just underlined Menahem Pressler’s words on listening to her a few years ago in which he extolled ‘the beautiful sound and natural freedom in making music with total technical security made for the finest Chopin performances he had heard in a long,long time’.
It was indeed the Chopin encore that stole our hearts with the most beautiful performance of the Minute waltz I have ever heard. A whispered trill that was just a reverberation of notes that became a web of golden sounds played with a ‘joie de vivre’ and subtle rubato that was truly breathtaking.
But Anna had taken us into the depths of Darkness with a performance of Gaspard de la Nuit that was both ravishing and astonishing. The chiselled beauty of Ondine as she flitted in and out of the undulating water until with a big splash she disappeared only to leave us with the desolate vision of Le Gibet and the impish devilment of Scarbo.
The most sublime of all Chopin’s Nocturnes op 27 n. 1 and 2 showed the same beauty with strength that was to win Fou Ts’ong a major prize in Warsaw much to the surprise of the Polish contestants who thought only they could understand and enter the soul of their National hero.
Four pieces by De Falla from his Suite El Amor Brujo had us clicking our heels and stamping out feet as we cheered Anna’s truly explosive Ritual Fire Dance.
Mussorgsky’s Pictures was played with remarkable character and beauty as this was a musician listening to herself and with a supreme sense of balance bringing to life without excessive exaggerations the great bells of Kiev that I have never heard played with such sumptuous beauty and heartfelt nostalgia for her homeland.
The desolate landscape of ‘Le Gibet’, that Anna depicted in sound with the ever present tolling bell in the distance. It was played with a flowing tempo where the architectural shape was always foremost in her mind , the hypnotic sultry harmonies just creating even more atmosphere. There was a simplicity and purity to the strand of melody that emerges but still the tolling bell continues, played with masterly whispered insistence. The dramatic appearance of ‘Scarbo’ deep in the bass was made even more terrifying by the silence before the sharply vibrating chords. Bursting into demonic passionate outbursts leading to the driving forward movement on which the demonic goblin comments and rides so gleefully. This was a work written specifically by Ravel to rival Balakirev’s Islamey as one of the most transcendentally difficult showpieces for piano. It was masterly the way that Anna ignored the technical hurdles in her quest to give character to the devilish impatience and delight of this little menace. A remarkable performance of architectural shape and colour where technical hurdles were transformed into a tone poem of scintillating exhilaration and excitement .
To the first Anna created a beautiful sonorous wave of harmonies on which floated a desolate melody of unrequited longing. Building to an almost polonaise like climax but stopped in its tracks by an aristocratic left hand recitativo before the heart rending beauty of the long final sighing adieu.
The second is one of the most beautiful bel canto melodies that Chopin ever wrote. In the warm key of D flat the melodic line glows with ravishing beauty especially when played with the subtle naturalness that carried Anna so magically through all the bel canto embellishments and even through the heartrending question and answer between the hands. This was a favourite encore of Rubinstein and Anna had found the same timeless beauty that was Rubinstein’s in his Indian Summer.
There was a beguilingly hypnotic beauty to ‘Pantomime’ with its insinuating rhythmic drive. ‘The Dance of Terror’ was played with fiery repeated notes and streams of delicate glissandi and there was an etherial beauty to the ‘Magical Circle’ before the opening fanfare to the ‘Ritual Fire Dance’ that Anna played with commanding authority and hysterical insistence. All through these four short pieces there had been a feeling of theatrical showmanship where Anna was telling a story of compelling Spanish earthy participation. It made for a great ending of a first half of her programme and as Rubinstein always said: ‘ you must send them to the bar on a high!’ Here is the great master himself doing just that : https://fb.watch/vzkiyex7PC/?
‘Gnomus’ was depicted with terrifying outbursts.Slitherting trills vying for their rightful place before shooting off to the top of the piano with fearless abandon.’The Old Castle’ moving so sedately with the ever present pulsating undercurrent and a final luminous light in the sky before the heavy steps to the next picture. The ‘Tuileries’ was played with remarkable technical mastery with notes thrown off with nonchalant ease and charm as they raced up to the top of the keyboard with Anna’s technical assurance of a perfect arrival.The lumbering ‘Bydlo’ was played with sumptuous full sound with Ts’ong’s magnificent piano gleaming as never before.
A whispered promenade on tip toe took us to the impish good humour of the unhatched chicks.The slithering chicks trillingly shaped with unusual musical meaning without ever leaving the confusing caos of the chicks!
What grandeur she brought to ‘Goldenberg’ and what a contrast to the beseeching cries of ‘Schmuyle’ with his vibrating notes magically played by Anna with transcendental technical mastery. It was the same frightening mastery that she brought to the ‘Market Place at Limoges’ that I have rarely heard played at such a pace and amazingly with such character. Scaling the heights with long held pedals before being seized by reverence ,awe and fear at the sight of the Catacombs. Sounds allowed to reverberate around the hall with remarkable daring as the ‘Cum mortuis in lingua mortua’ wafted in on high with it’s magical harmonic changes and timelessness.
What fearless drive Anna gave to ‘Baba Yaga’ as she threw herself at the piano like a woman possessed . A Queen Boadicea indeed! Exhilaration,excitement of orchestral sounds suddenly taken from under our feet by fleeting vibrations in the right hand with isolated , non legato ( sic) comments deep in the bass. Baba Yaga on the prowl again built to a tumultuous climax only to have the sight of the legendary Gate of Kiev revealed in all its glory.
It was played with remarkable technical control but above all of balance and sound that seemed to have endless possibilities without ever getting hard or ungrateful. Bells ringing all over the keyboard and particularly significant for Anna and her family forced to flee from their homeland and assist their compatriots by raising funds for the cause from afar. A particular warmth from the tenor bell that was indeed of the warm heart of a people so badly mistreated by a selfish dictator!
A remarkable ending to a beautiful evening of glorious music making amongst friends in the warmest atmosphere imaginable in a concert hall, as in the Kogan’s Razumovsky Academy.
The ‘Minute’ waltz played as an encore was of such beauty I could have danced all night! .The opening trill a bare whisper of reverberating sounds was a revelation that in all these years I have never heard played with such delicate style and beguiling charm.
Just a minute !
This beautiful young artist is a supreme stylist and a quite extraordinary human being .
Anna has created her own Davidsbundler Academy ,in The Haig ,together with her parents and husband Nicholas Schwartz where over 50% of teaching hours goes to Ukrainian refugee students.
The last time I heard Menahem perform was at the Concertgebouw at the age of 95 with Franck Piano Quintet – incredibly demanding work which he has never played before but insisted on learning – fascinating! Completely packed hall gave him standing ovations the moment he appeared on stage and then we were all treated with a great dose of magic.
Menahem’s spirit will stay with us forever and he will continue living and sharing his magic through his legacy, his music.’
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2024/10/22/misha-kaploukhii-at-the-razumovsky-academy-with-technical-mastery-and-poetic-sensitivity/
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2024/10/29/filip-michalak-at-st-marys-radiance-and-beauty-of-great-artistry/
Francois Dumont remembering the genius of Fou Ts’ong at the Razumovsky Academy
Francois-Frédéric Guy ignites the soul of Fou Ts’ong’s piano at the Razumovsky Academy.
Razumovsky Academy flying high with the birth of the Lanyi-Lovell Jones-Prodanova Trio
Ronan O’Hora at Razumovsky Academy Simple Grand Beethoven
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 