As Rubinstein says ‘you cannot teach talent ‘ although you can nurture it and allow it to grow which has happened in these past few years under the careful guidance of Dmitri Alexeev.
https://youtu.be/gex0sOR7XZ0?si=eUD5Zpet_fdB2j3v
Since I heard Magdalene play Schumann’s 8 th Novelette on this very stage I immediately wrote to Patsy Toh, her original mentor, in a state of disbelief that no-one seemed to realise what a talent had landed in our midst . In Jed Distler’s words she is the real thing as he said awarding her the Chappell Gold Medal a few years later. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2024/02/17/hats-off-the-chappell-gold-medal-has-uncovered-a-genius/
I was not surprised when Patsy rang me during the night just six months after that first encounter to say Magdalene had won the Clara Haskil International Competition, known for its eclectic choice based on talent and musicianship not muscle and showmanship.
Opening with Bach’s 6th Partita with a grandeur that was immediately an arresting statement of intent . Followed by a mellifluous outpouring both profound and poignant as the music was allowed to undulate with a natural freedom almost without pedal, as her control of legato and sound was in her fingers and soul . A Courante that was gracious with ethereal washes of sound as the architectural shape was as natural to her as breathing. A rhythmic drive to Bach’s ragged edged Gigue with voices that appeared like those of voices in the B minor mass just appearing without any unnatural pointing but arising out of the overall cloud of a Universal Genius
A little Impromptu by Clara Wieck that in Magdalene’s hands had all the charm and grace of Chaminade. Sumptuous sounds of radiance and beauty with a jeu perlé of the fluidity of pianism of a past age. Fauré’s 11 th Nocturne op 104 emerged out of the Impromptu with secret whispered sounds of glorious beauty in a unique harmonic language played with the extraordinary subtlety of a world of past things remembered.
A surprise was the appearance of a clarinettist colleague to play together Brahms Sonata n 2 in a duo where her palpable enjoyment of sharing the stage for such music making reminded me of another illustrious lady pianist now in her Indian Summer. Magdalene twisted and contorted her face as she tried to match the sounds of the clarinet. It was the same joy at making music together that had so enthralled the distinguished cellist Daniel Müller- Schott at St John’s just a month ago.
I was happy to pluck a rose from Magdalene’s graduation bouquet and be able to offer it to her clarinettist colleague as an appreciation for such fine music making together
Nocturne No. 11 in F♯ minor, Op. 104/1 (1913) Gabriel Fauré
The eleventh nocturne was written in memory of Noémi Lalo; her widower, Pierre Lalo was a music critic and a friend and supporter of Fauré.] Morrison suggests that its funereal effect of tolling bells may also reflect the composer’s own state of anguish, with deafness encroaching. The melodic line is simple and restrained, and except for a passionate section near the end is generally quiet and elegiac.
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 