Some superb playing from Francesco Carletti to open the piano concert season at Cremona Music which will end on Sunday with the prize ‘A Life in Music ‘ being awarded by Angelo Fabbrini to Bruno Canino . Stefano Golinelli one of many forgotten Italian composers being celebrated this year in this extraordinary round up organised by Roberto Prosseda, whose class in Rovigo attracts the finest talents of the day ,many of whom are being rediscovered here in Cremona this weekend.
Stefano Golinelli (26 October 1818 Bologna – 3 July 1891 Bologna) was an Italian piano virtuoso and composer. In 1840 he was appointed
by Gioachino Rossini , then an Honorary Councillor of the Liceo Musicale di Bologna, professor for piano at the Liceo (now the Conservatorio ), a post he held until 1871. He composed a large number of works for the piano, especially noteworthy 3 Sonatas, and 2 collections of 24 Preludios, op. 23 and 69. He is buried at the Certosa cemetery in his hometown. At his death, he left his Érard piano to the Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna.
Pedro on his way to Warsaw was invited to play some of the works that he will present in the 19th International Chopin Competition next week. The main works being two of the greatest masterpieces ever written for the piano. The Barcarolle op 60 and the Sonata in B flat minor op 35, surrounded by miniature masterpieces : Nocturne op 62 n. 2 ,Waltz op 34 n.1, Étude op 25 n. 11 ( Octave ) and finishing ( officially) with the youthful Andante Spianato e Grande Polonaise Brillante op 22. Unofficially we were rewarded with the Polonaise Héoique op 53 that I have not heard played with the same aristocratic authority and exhilaration since Rubinstein.
The Nocturne was played with refined elegance but also a passionate outpouring from a soul full of ravishing sensitivity. Pedro’s playing needs no projection as his palette of colour and supreme sensitivity to the harmonic layers of sound draw the public in to him ,enticed like the Pied Piper of such opulent beauty. The opening of the Waltz ( another favourite of Rubinstein) was played with elegance and style rather than a brash declamation. Jeux perlé just poured from Pedro’s fingers with enticingly embracing streams of multicoloured sounds where the sudden contrast in dynamics was of a pianist from the Golden Age when technical perfection meant a supreme Bel Canto as was Chopin’s inspiration.
The Barcarolle op 60 surely ,Chopin’s most perfect creations, which is a song from beginning to end. Chopin’s ‘Lied von der Erde’, from the opening C sharp that just illuminates the sounds that will follow and close this marvel with the four final chords. Inbetween Pedro played with delicacy and poetic beauty that did not exclude passion and seduction but all in the shadow of the Venice that was in Chopin’s imagination. Magic sounds played with superb clarity and subtle beauty with Pedro’s masterly use of the pedals, that was to be admired throughout the recital. A kaleidoscope of unexpected colours of delicacy and simplicity created this extraordinary sound world with so many different layers that it was like a flower opening and blossoming before closing. The Étude op 25 n. 11 was conceived as waves of horizontal sounds rather than the more mundane verticality we usually suffer! Maybe a little too much pedal but strangely enough Pedro played the central episode with such refined pedalling that it went unnoticed, such was the musically inspired perfection, that contrasted so well with the outer more dramatic episodes. I have never heard this central episode sound so beautiful and instead of waiting for the re-entry of the octaves I wanted this marvel to continue for much longer! Re creation can be so stimulating from the hands of a true poet!
The Sonata in B flat minor that Schumann described as one of Chopin’s craziest children was given a masterly performance . The much discussed repeat ,like all great pianists, was just ignored as the opening motif was allowed to be developed as only the genius of Chopin could contemplate with such originality.There was again whispered beauty in the second episode of the ‘Scherzo’ where Pedro drew us in to hear harmonic marvels unfolding beneath the beauty of bel canto. A sombre ‘seemingly’ expressionless ‘Funeral March’ with it’s barely whispered Trio where Pedro suddenly allowed the cloud to pass and we got a momentary glimpse of the paradise that was awaiting to finish this remarkable movement. The ‘wind over the graves’ was played with superb control and above all masterly pedalling that made these washes of sound have the personality of the ‘mad children’ that Schumann had mentioned. Schumann not having realised to what heights the Genius he had recognised,from Chopin’s first appearance, could lead to! The Andante Spianato was played with masterly control and the refined subtle beauty that we had experienced throughout this recital .There was subtle phrasing to the mazurka episode that I have never heard played so convincingly . Passion and energy too from this young Spaniard with fire in his veins , but even in the most exhilarating passages it was the poetic content that shone like a golden star and illuminated all he did. A much requested encore, not least from Ing.Paolo Fazioli, was treated to a performance of ‘the’ Polonaise op 53 where even the wondrous cavalry were given a sense of direction and a voice of Patriotic revelation not only revolution !
Just time for the final chords of Eliana Grasso’s :’Around Clara Wieck
A fascinating glimpse into the unknown world of Julius Benedict with some ravishing playing from an always inquisitive musician .
Almost at the same time in the hall nearby Adriano Murgia with some masterly playing : ‘Mario Castelnuovo- Tedesco ,a journey to Italy’.
And on the way there were many other delights that would deserve much more time to give more than a passing glance
And on the way to a round table discussion, streamed live with that legendary giant, Bruno Monsaingeon ( director of historic videos of Richter and Glenn Gould). ‘The present and future of Cultural Programming on Television Channels ‘ with fascinating comments from Francesca Nesler of RAI TV and M. Belluzzo and C.Prakken . A discussion chaired by our indomitable host Roberto Prosseda.
And the next three appointments in the Monteverdi Hall with its superb Yamaha piano . After Nicolò Giuliano Tuccia his friend and colleague from the Rovigo Academy, Filippo Tenisci, with his inspired and inspiring ‘Reimagining Wagner’
Star students from the Cremona Conservatory where I heard a superb ‘Trio elegiaco’ by Rachmaninov with Pasquale Evangelista at the helm with a superb Stefano Stancic on violin and Cosmaola Nitti on the cello.
Getting my breath back, who should pass by but Midori on her way to receive Cremona’s finest award for one of the great violinists of our time.
Not only Midori, but in should pop the crowned Prince of the Piano Angelo Fabbrini about to give the same award to Bruno Canino on Sunday for a ‘Life in Music’. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2024/12/12/martha-argerich-the-queen-of-the-keyboard-salutes-angelo-fabbrini-the-prince-of-the-piano/
Insisting I look at his superb Bechstein piano that Marcos Madrigal and Alessandro Stella will play on Saturday with their piano duo of works by Pizzetti and Montemezzi .
And finally the prize given to Midori ,one of the greatest violinist of our age and much more besides as the citation most eloquently outlines :
Dettagli dell’evento
‘Midori is a visionary artist, activist, and educator who explores and builds connections between music and the human experience. In the four decades since her debut with the New York Philharmonic at age 11, the “simply magical” (Houston Chronicle) violinist has performed with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras and collaborated with world-renowned musicians including Leonard Bernstein, Yo-Yo Ma, and many others. Midori is the Artistic Director of the Piano and Strings Program at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute; summer 2024 will be her first year in this role.
This season, she will debut Spirituals, a new work written for her by Che Buford, in a recital with pianist Özgür Aydin, at the Edinburgh Festival, New York’s 92nd Street Y, Boston’s Celebrity Series, San Francisco Performances, and the Colburn Celebrity Series. Other highlights of Midori’s 2024-25 season include performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, and Oklahoma City Philharmonic.
Outside the United States, he performs with the Vienna Philharmonic under Andris Nelsons in Vienna and on tour in Japan and Korea (Prokofiev’s First Violin Concerto); he will perform twice in spring 2025 at the Berlin Philharmonic, with the Deutsche National Youth Orchestra in May, performing Glanert’s Second Violin Concerto, and with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO) in June, performing Dvořák’s Violin Concerto. He will also join the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Jonathan Nott, performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto on a tour of Spain, and will give concerts in Geneva, Cologne, and Nuremberg, as well as in Mumbai, Istanbul, İzmir, and Colombo.
Deeply committed to promoting humanitarian and educational goals, Midori has founded several nonprofit organizations: Midori & Friends, based in New York, and MUSIC SHARING, based in Japan, both of which have been active for over thirty years. For the Orchestra Residencies Program (ORP), which supports youth orchestras, Midori commissioned a new work by composer Derek Bermel, Spring Cadenzas, which premiered virtually during the COVID-19 lockdown and continues to be performed; this season, she is working on creating a video recording of the work, to accompany a tutorial. The ORP also recently collaborated with the Afghan Youth Orchestra, which relocated to Portugal to continue its operations. Midori’s Partners in Performance (PiP) program helps bring chamber music to smaller communities across the United States. In recognition of her work as an artist and humanitarian, she is a United Nations Messenger of Peace and was named a 2021 Kennedy Center Honoree.
Born in Osaka in 1971, she began studying violin with her mother, Setsu Goto, at an early age. In 1982, conductor Zubin Mehta invited the then eleven-year-old Midori to perform with the New York Philharmonic in the orchestra’s annual New Year’s Eve concert, laying the foundation for her subsequent career. Midori holds the Dorothy Richard Starling Chair in Violin Studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She has received honorary degrees from Smith College, Yale University, the Longy School of Music, and Shenandoah University, and in 2023 she received the Brandeis Creative Arts Award from Brandeis University.
She plays the 1734 ‘ex-Huberman’ Guarneri del Gesù and uses four bows: two by Dominique Peccatte, one by François Peccatte and one by Paul Siefried.’ P.S. I can add that this was the legendary violin of Huberman that had been stolen from the green room in Carnegie Hall.On it’s recovery it belonged to Ruggieri Ricci who used to play for us at Teatro Ghione for many years in his Indian Summer . One concert he was on his own, as Julia his wife could not accompany him but knew with us he was in good hands. Having given a solo violin concert trying to hide the fact that he had packed two different shoes, one foot balanced on the other, and after an after concert supper next to the theatre ,I accompanied him home to the Santa Anna Hotel the other side off St Peter’s Square.No one had told us that at night the square was closed. No problem for Ruggiero as he climbed over the barrier and we crossed the square but chased by the police , as we ran away with the priceless violin under Ruggiero’s arm.
The day was almost over but the best was kept to last …….a masterclass with Midori at the beautiful Stauffer Academy with a prize student of Salvatore Accardo ,whose 84 birthday was yesterday. Sofia Catalano, the youngest student at the academy, played Wieniawski and Sarasate ………..wonderful,playing but the finesse of listening more carefully was the precious message passed between these two ‘gals’ . The voice of a master to a violinist on the crest of a great career.
And walking down the street passing Stradivari’s house , who should pop out but an old friend and master violinist , Fabrizio Von Arx , who is artistic director of the Fondazione Casa Stradivari .
…………If music be the food of love …….please play on …..perchance to dream!
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 