Fluidity and freedom, intelligence and beauty are words that come to mind as I listened to a great pianist showing us a wondrous world of his own
Aidan Mikdad looked bewildered and dazed as the magic spell he had unknowingly created was broken by the ovation he received at the National Liberal Club last night for Mary Orr’s inaugural ‘Promote Our Pianists’ concert series. I missed his ‘Waldstein’ Sonata that he confided was his first performance of this work that Delius was to describe as all scales and arpeggios. Aidan spontaneously modest as he came down the sumptuous staircase on his way to the green room and saw me just arriving in time for his Chopin . Mary Orr knew I had been invited by the LSO to the spotlight on Seong- Jin Cho
Mary had written to me in her own inimitable way and on arriving our beloved Mary handed me a glass of red wine and the best seat in the house! What a lady!
Having listened enthralled to Aidan’s Chopin I was doubly sorry to have missed his Beethoven.The original programme for the second half had gone through some deeply rooted changes and instead of the Prelude op 45 and Scherzo op 39 leading into the Sonata in B minor , Aidan after long suffering decided that the great B minor sonata would be better accompanied by two of Chopin’s most mellifluous outpourings of Bel Canto : The Aeolian Harp of op 25 n. 1 and the equally magical Berceuse op 57. The reasoning for this became evident as the sound of the first notes of the étude was the same sound that resounded through the Berceuse and B minor Sonata creating a sumptuous world of refined elegance and passionate intensity.
Leaning back as his long slender fingers created the magic sounds that Sir Charles Hallé had described on hearing Chopin himself play in Manchester.This was on his last ill fated tour enticed by an aristocratic lady friend and fervent admirer, Jane Sterling just as Chopin had been persuaded by another equally demanding George Sand, to spend an ill fated winter on Majorca. The description of Hallé perfectly describes the playing of Aidan as the melodic line rose and fell and was shaped with beguiling freedom sustained by the undulating sounds of changing harmonies. Undulating harmonies played with simplicity but also a poetic intensity where this étude became a tone poem of extraordinary power and beauty. We are so used to hearing these studies played one after the other that to hear just one elevated to such heights and with an overwhelming freedom and personality was overpowering and caught our attention immediately, paving the way for the magical glowing simplicity of the ‘Berceuse’. A theme and variations with a constant lullaby undercurrent, played with the glowing radiance of Bel Canto, this time without the luxuriant harmonies that he had bestowed on it with his Aeolian Harp. Maybe Aidan played it a little fast as the more intricate filigree work lost something of its expansive freedom, but the golden sounds and strong personality were compelling as the scene was now set for the B minor Sonata.
Aidan opened the Sonata with a commanding authority and a scrupulous attention to Chopin’s very precise indications, to which he added fantasy and dramatic drive with everything so beautifully and naturally phrased. A sumptuous golden sound as the second subject was played with a flowing poignant beauty of aristocratic nobility. Straight into the development with passionate intensity and the return of the second subject intoned with even more depth of sound and extraordinary radiance. The ‘Scherzo’ was phrased with the shape of a thinking musician, not just a web of sparkling jeux perlé but something of far greater significance. The ‘Trio’ unfolded like an improvised voyage of discovery as the weaving, glowing counterpoints spoke in a way that is rare indeed and lead imperceptibly to the return of the ‘Scherzo’. Even the noble opening chords of the ‘Largo’ were given a subtle sense of direction and significance as the luminosity of the melodic line held us spellbound for the eloquence and sensitivity of Aidan’s playing. Streams of notes poured from Aidan’s hands with a sumptuous bass keeping an anchor and giving great strength to the glowingly elusive musical line. This was music shaped by a great musical personality with passionate radiance and a remarkable line of great architectural strength.The Finale: ‘Presto non tanto’ opened with octaves over the entire keyboard, given a sense of direction and colour out of which was born the Rondò theme that was to become ever more intense on each return.There was a continuous, fearless drive of poetic mastery where even the many scintillating cascades of notes were shaped and phrased with subtle meaning as the music built to the final explosion and a coda that was played with breathtaking brilliance and the sumptuous sounds of a truly ‘Grand’ piano.
The Prelude op 45 that had originally been intended as the first work in this Chopin second half was now the encore that Aidan offered to a very enthusiastic audience. The long flowing lines of slowly changing harmonies were allowed to unfold with glowing beauty and an improvised freedom of extraordinary beauty. The delicacy of the cadenza at the end was where Chopin creates sounds of even faster changing harmonies of whispered beauty as this late Prelude uttered its last glowing wish. Aidan was not expecting a second encore but such was our insistence that he sat at the piano again and played a Waltz by Scriabin op 38 with a kaleidoscope of colour and beguiling insinuation that filled the air with even more rarified magic from a master musician.
https://youtu.be/FpOnHiZYbaU?si=VwgSYgm_WGh5cI6z
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 