The second concert this week in Alberto Portugheis’ season at St James’s Sussex Gardens.
Yesterday the superb Gabrielé Sutkuté from Lithuania
Today Ciro Rolon had flown in especially from Argentina, as winner of the 24th EPTA International Course, Competition and Scholarship programme, to play in the historic masterclasses that this unstoppable eclectic master is holding in Steinway Hall from 19 to 22 October.
Alberto will then fly off to Bangkok for an International Peace Conference, he has been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize . Just a few days later he will be in Sorrento where after his success this summer he has been invited back by the owners of the sumptuous Vittoria Hotel to give a concert for their guests on the 3rd December.
On New Years’ Eve he will celebrate his 86th birthday!
Arriving at the concert in open sandals because he had lent the pianist his shoes and dress trousers as Ciro’s luggage had been lost in transit from Argentina to London !
A programme of Schubert, Franck, Rachmaninov and Beethoven demonstrating his pedigree from the Italian School of Aldo Antognazzi heir to the leggendary Michelangeli and Vidusso . A beauty of sound and limpet touch without doubt from his studies with Bruno Leonardo Gelber.
From the very first notes the liquid fluidity of his playing of Schubert’s A flat Impromptu D. 899 demonstrated his timeless musicianship where his sense of style and beauty allowed the music to live and breathe naturally with a palette of sounds that were never hard or vertical but pure and horizontal . His arms outstretched as they embraced the beauty that was lying within each note like jewels on a velvet cushion.
The same fluidity he was to find in the opening of César Franck’s Prelude, Chorale and Fugue with washes of sound out of which emerged the musical line of magical limpidness. A poetic sensibility that on occasion he allowed too much reign at the expense of the architectural line, but it was done with such loving care and with fingers that delved deep into the keys to find the gold that was hidden within. Almost imperceptibly the ‘Chorale’ was heard floating magically on waves of expansive harmonic arpeggios. Building to a climax that was sumptuous and sonorous but never hard or ungrateful. A ‘Fugue’ that was allowed to unfold so naturally until the bubble burst and a cloud of radiance filled the air. Jewels that seems to glisten and glow as César Franck stealthily combined the three main ingredients into one sumptuous passionate outpouring to the Glory of God the maker of peace and harmony. A dynamic outpouring of rich broken chords brought this magical feast to a brilliant end.
The Rachmaninov ‘Elegie’ of the Moments musicaux op 16 n. 3 ,was played with weight and the poignant significance of Russian nostalgia.
The last work on the programme was Beethoven’s’Appassionata’ Sonata op 57. Ciro played with great style but could at times sound a little laboured as his control and measured playing demonstrated an achitectural sense of line at the expense of the dynamic drive that the title ‘Appassionata’ should imply. The ‘Andante con moto’ flowed well and the variations grew naturally out of the processional theme that was played with sensibility but rather too vertically for the string quartet quality which Beethoven defines. The final movement was played with great intensity and if there was a little too much pedal it was because he was shaping the multitude of notes into phrases of musicianly understanding . A coda in which he finally allowed his temperament full reign. If he played too loudly the chords after the two dramatic declamations it at last brought a sense of excitement and ‘Appassionata’ to a performance of great style and beauty but lacking the dramatic character of one of Beethoven’s most imperious sonatas.
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2024/03/20/christopher-axworthy-dip-ram-aram /
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/12/05/ileana-and-joan-3rd-december-2023/
