Fulvio Nicolosi flying high in Milan at the Steinway Flagship where he gave a recital of Bach, Clementi, Rossini and Beethoven as part of a long-standing collaboration between Steinway & Sons and the Keyboard Trust.
Just returned from concerts in South America and heading tomorrow for Hamburg where he will embark on a five day tour for the Keyboard Trust.
From the scintillating brilliance of Clementi played with a clarity and a remarkable sense of character and contrast. An imposing authority and a palette of colour that enriched one of the composers over a hundred neglected sonatas . A ‘Largo’ of disarming simplicity bursting into life with an ‘Allegro’ of passionate intensity and a ‘Presto’ of scintillating jeux perlé.
To the improvised mastery of Bach’s D major Toccata where the fleeting changing moods were played with extraordinary depth of detail and an ornamentation that did not disturb but enhanced the flowing drive until the poignant beauty of the fugato leading to the exhilaration and hypnotic insistence of the Toccata . Showing a great sense of style in four of Rossini’s ‘Péchés de vieillesse’, from the salon charm of the ‘Sicilienne ‘ to the hesitant lightweight beguiling insistence of the ‘Marche Slave’ and the beautiful mellifluous outpouring of ‘Les petits pois’. And ending this group of salon pieces with the scintillating ‘Danse Sibérienne.’
Fulvio’s recital ended with Beethoven’s last of his trilogy of op 31. The so called ‘Hunt’ because of the exuberance and excitement of the last movement.
It had opened with the pastoral simplicity of the ‘Allegro’ that just flew from Fulvio’s well oiled fingers with refreshing simplicity and ‘joie de vivre’ . Clarity and sparkling brilliance brought this opening to its picturesque life. A ‘Scherzo’ played with a rhythmic insistence of great character with its cheeky ending thrown off with knowing nonchalance . It was followed by the noble beauty of the ‘Minuet’ which seemed rather fast for its ‘moderato’ marking but contrasted with the ‘Trio’ that Fulvio shaped with grace and beauty. In fact it was to be the theme that Saint-Saëns chose for his Beethoven Variations.
The hunt was on in the last movement ‘Presto con fuoco ‘ that Fulvio played with burning dynamic drive.
The finest performance, though , was kept to last , with a sumptuous encore of Charles Trenet’s ‘April in Paris ‘ in Weissenberg’s beguiling transformation into a piano piece of extraordinarily enticing beauty that Fulvio played with style and simple mastery.
