The Piano: Bach to BeBop is produced by Burnett Thompson https://www.PianoJazz.com https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2019/11/11/tea-for-two-leslie-howard-45th-wigmore-celebrations-and-burnett-thompson-the-age-of-mayhem/
01:22 Helen Ottaway Levantina
08:04 Franz Schubert Drei Klavierstücke D. 946
29:03 Jan Sibelius 6 Impromptus, opus 5
44:59 Aram Khachaturian Sonata I. Allegro vivace II. Andante tranquillo III. Allegro assai
It was nice to hear Iyad live from Washington yesterday, the last stop of his USA tour. Some years have passed since his student days in London when I was already very impressed by his intelligent well prepared programmes and the professional calm he was able to transmit from a very early age. He has long been an advocate of the works of Mozart of which he was already a remarkably mature interpreter but it was his brilliance and total dedication to Khachaturian that captured the imagination. Listening to Iyad today I was impressed not only with his professional stance with playing of authority but above all of the poetic colouring and imagination he brought to all he played. Sometimes old instruments can still have sounds hidden away inside them that even they no longer know they possess. Richter would often enjoy the discovery of an unknown instrument and the challenge to find the soul that was hidden to all but the musicians who were also magicians.
Already with the opening work by Helen Ottaway, although we could not hear the introduction, as a headless Iyad spoke out of range of camera and microphone. It was obvious that this was a work that uses the piano not as a percussive instrument but as the Pandora’s Box it can be in a true artist’s hands. A lot of it reminded me of the hypnotic repetitive sound world of Steve Reich, as there were magical sounds resonating through this ‘historic’ instrument with a mellifluous flow of flowering intensity.
Schubert’s Drei Klavierstücke are a true test of musicianship and poetic sensibility and Iyad opened the first with a joyous outpouring of great urgency on a journey to some distant paradise.The paradise that was waiting in the central episode that was allowed to sing in Iyad’s sensitive hands with beauty and simplicity. Magical arabesques just illuminating the mellifluous outpouring, gradually becoming more agitated as it regained the pace of the opening .The second movement was a simple ‘ländler’ that was deeply felt and played with aristocratic poise.The last movement had an infectious rhythmic drive and an almost Brahmsian richness to the central episode embellished by notes sparkling on high.The doubling of the tenor voice gave depth and added even more sumptuous beauty as the opening was just waiting to take wing and bring us with exultation and excitement to the end. A work that has been likened to a sonata such is the overall architectural shape which Iyad understood with simple mastery today.
A real voyage of discovery with Iyad’s programme today continuing with Six Impromptus op 5 by Sibelius. As Iyad pointed out, we think of this composer as a Symphonist but there is an even greater output of solo piano pieces that are completely overlooked .His orchestral output amounts to 77 works whereas for piano there are 115 out of a total number of compositions of 550 ! These six Impromptus are an early work written in 1893 ( Sibelius 1865- 1957) and are miniatures lasting only a few minutes each, with the exception of the 5th which is the most hauntingly beautiful of them all. Iyad played this 5th with cascades of magical arabesques of ravishing golden sounds almost Schumannesque in its expansive outpouring of romantic fervour.The first was intoned with sombre richness followed by the second which was a quixotic dance played with sparkling colours. The third too was a dance of infectious good humour and bucolic fantasy. The fourth a melody of melancholy and great solemnity.The last pointed in the direction of Scriabin with its melodic uncertainty searching for a star that was nowhere yet to be seen.
Khachaturian has long been in Iyad’s veins and he has already recorded the concertos and many of the solo piano works. Music that owes much to Ginastera and a little to Bartòk with its unashamed virtuosity and fast moving changes of character. Streams of notes just poured from Iyad’s hands with transcendental mastery but also a total self identification with a world of simple naked feelings. Not only was there virtuosity but in the slow movement there were sounds of a hypnotic fluidity of searing intensity. A final movement that showed off Iyad’s remarkable clarity and rhythmic mastery with not a little showmanship as the race was on to the exuberant excitement of the ending.
Jordanian-Palestinian concert pianist Iyad Sughayer, performing music of Schubert, Sibelius and Khachaturian in his first professional American tour. A prize-winner with the Young Classical Artists Trust International Auditions, he was named London’s ClassicFM “Rising Star Artist”. Mr. Sughayer arrives in Washington, DC following critical acclaim for his recording with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, led by the renowned American conductor Andrew Litton.
Mr. Sughayer’s recent calendar has included performances with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, performances at the Berlin Konzerthaus, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Barber Institute Birmingham, and a series of recitals at the Leicester International Music Festival. Programs include the complete Mozart Piano Sonatas alongside newly commissioned pieces.
Iyad has appeared with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Mozart Players, Manchester Camerata, European Union Chamber Orchestra, the Cairo and Amman Symphony Orchestras. Iyad also regularly collaborates with oboist Armand Djikoloum, with whom he recently toured Scotland.
In 2022 Iyad co-founded and launched a new specialist music school, the Mashrek Academy of Music, with the Mashrek International School in Amman. The Academy welcomes students from across Jordan, discovering and nurturing a new generation of creators and musicians. In 2020 he contributed to a BBC Arabic documentary ‘London Lockdown’, in which he took part as a character and recorded the soundtrack for the music.
Born in Amman, Jordan, Iyad studied at Chetham’s School of Music, the Royal Northern College of Music and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance where he won the College’s prestigious Gold Medal. He completed his International Artist Diploma at the RNCM in 2019 and in the same year became a City Music Foundation Artist. In 2021 he was made an Associate of the Royal Northern College of Music (ARNCM).
Mr. Sughayer was selected by London’s Keyboard Trust for their career development program. Trust board members include Evgeny Kissin, Alfred Brendel, Leslie Howard and Antonio Pappano.
Monday, March 10, 7:00 pm
Decatur House Museum
748 Jackson Pl. NW
Washington, DC 20006
Info: Burnett@PianoJazz.com
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2020/04/01/iyad-sughayer-at-st-marys-3rd-march-2020/
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 