Tuesday 28 September 3.00 pm

 

Schumann: Kinderszenen Op 15

Chopin: Etudes Op 10

Gershwin: 3 preludes

Here is the HD link https://youtu.be/MtUFETMWAgA

Miracles do not often occur but today at St Mary’s a light was shining brightly as we were treated to such wondrous playing of total mastery that I was reduced to tears by the sheer perfection and beauty.
Not since Geza Anda have I heard such luminous sound and technical mastery allied to a musical imagination that brought everything so vividly to life.
I sat mesmerised listening to pieces I have known all my life as though for the first time as streams of poetical sounds flowed from his fingers with such well oiled ease.
Kinderszenen was unbelievably beautiful as each of the thirteen episodes was revealed with a sheen of sound that bound them into a wondrous whole.Chopin studies,that as he said , were a collection of jewels hidden in technical difficulties.Poetry for those that can master the difficulties , full of colour and magical sounds.
Gershwin played like Art Tatum in some dive in New York where all the great pianist used to go to marvel.
And marvel we did today.
There is only one word to describe what we heard today …sensational.

Schumann wrote 30 movements for this work but chose 13 for the final version of 1838.The unused movements were later published in Bunte Blatter op.99 and Albumblatter op 124.He initially intended to publish Kinderszenen together with Novelletten op 21 where the shared literary theme is suggested by the original title Kindergeschichten (Children’s Tales). He told his wife Clara that the “thirty small, droll things”, most of them less than a page in length, were inspired by her comment that he sometimes seemed “like a child”. He described them in 1840 as “more cheerful, gentler, more melodic” than his earlier works.

From the very first liquid notes we were immediately transported into a magic world of wondrous sounds and eloquence.The final piece is called the Poet Speaks but it was apparent from the very first note,and throughout the recital of short pieces,that each one was a jewel that was made to sparkle and shine,whisper and shout with loving care, as this young man delved deeply into the soul of each piece with a transcendental mastery of sound that was mesmerising.I remember Shura Cherkassky telling me that he did not think that young pianists listen to themselves – I just wish he could have been here today! https://youtu.be/QsEfoSCfJ1s

‘Of foreign lands and peoples’was played very slowly and simply with his extraordinary sense of balance that let the melody shine out above a whispered flowing accompaniment – sometimes the melodic line and accompaniment get mixed up at the end of the phrase but not for an artist who is listening like a Gerald Moore as he accompanies a Schwarzkopf or a de Los Angeles!There was charm and character as he deliberately played with the dotted rhythm in such a teasing way – ‘a curious story’ indeed as it alternated with exquisite legato comments.The feather light jeux perlé of ‘Blind man’s bluff’was not the usual explosion we so often hear but a child creeping and peeping into every corner.It led so naturally into the gentle ‘Pleading child’ who was ‘Happy enough’as the child obviously awoke amidst magic colours and sounds.A pompous ‘Important event’ but always within the context of the overall architectural shape of this fairy story.It is,after all, a dream as his exquisite sense of meaning ,full of shape and style,gave great delicacy to this most beautiful of pieces-‘Traumerei’.Creeping in to be ‘by the Fireside’ with its wondrously delicate ending before being interrupted by the ‘Knight on the hobby horse’ so deliberately careful as it rocked gently to and fro.Things we’re now getting ‘Almost too serious’ with its wondrous syncopated melodic line – as he hinted at the beautiful tenor counterpoint at the end.His mastery of balance gave such meaning to the ‘frightening’ interruptions as the melodic line passed from treble to tenor then bass as if by magic.With such sublime beauty and delicacy it is hardly surprising that the ‘Child falls asleep ‘ was dreaming of all these wonders that have appeared from the opening magic of foreign lands to paradise .There was a sublime ending before leading quite simply to the ‘Poet speaks’ played such simple beauty and subtle wisdom.A quite extraordinary performance that I have only once heard equalled by Guiomar Novaes

The first set of Études was published in 1833 (although some had been written as early as 1829). Chopin was twenty-three years old and already famous as a composer and pianist in the salons of Paris, where he made the acquaintance of Franz Liszt. Subsequently, Chopin dedicated the entire opus to him – “à mon ami Franz Liszt” .They are generally thought to be not quite as poetic as the second book op 25.Rokas today showed us just how much poetry there is in this first book hidden behind transcendental technical difficulties.The difficulties just disappeared in Rokas’s hands as he himself had said that his lockdown project had made him realise just how much poetry there is in these 12 miniature tone poems.With a circle of tonality that links them into a whole ,making the 6th study the focal point in the complete architectural conception.And it was this study above all the others that received a quite remarkably poignant performance of aching beauty.In the key of E flat minor and played with a subtle sense of shape and flexibility as it spoke so eloquently with such luminosity and intensity.It is like the 16th variation of Bach’s Goldberg -the real centre point of a great arch.The first study was a series of shifting harmonies in which neither the great anchor of the bass or the filigree accompaniment of the treble were given a priority but the shifting harmonies they produced were shaped into great arches of sound.The second study of chromatic scales in the right hand was played with such delicacy with the same irresistible lilt that I have never forgotten from the hands of Jan Smeterlin over fifty years ago.

Smeterlin had studied with Godowsky who had written fifty three studies based upon Chopin’s studies.It is interesting to note in the introduction to these studies that their aim is to develop ‘the mechanical,technical and musical possibilities of piano playing,and to expand the peculiarly adapted nature of the instrument to polyphonic,polyrhythmic and polydynamic work ,and to widen the range of it’s possibilities in tone colouring’.Anyone who has had the fortune to hear Shura Cherkassky play the sixth study for the left hand alone will realise what subtle shading and colour can be found by true masters of the instrument.It was just this mastery that was quite breathtaking today from Rokas as one sparkling jewel linked with another to be crowned by the final great added octave C at the end of the final ‘Revolutionary’ study.In the eleventh there were sounds woven in the air with the melodic line floating on a continuous harp like accompaniment.The acciaccaturas so clear were helped by the resonance he gave to the deep bass notes as it drew to a coquettishly delicate ending.Chopin’s very meticulous phrasing in the tenth study I have only heard so clearly and poetically realised from Geza Anda.This was preceded by the dark seriousness of the ninth played with a wonderful sense of balance that allowed the melodic line to float on a wave of sound.The absolute clarity of the ornaments incorporated into the return of the opening melody had me searching in the score as I had never been aware of this delicate touch before.Murray Perahia often has me searching in the score as he too illuminates details in works that I have lived with for a lifetime but have passed over unaware of their significance.Rokas showed us today that he has the great gift of illuminating details in scores as he digs deep into their poetical content.The seventh was strangely non legato but contrasted so well with the lyricism of the middle section.The eighth just sprang out of his fingers with an ease as if turning on a tap.Streams of golden sounds accompanying the delicacy of the left hand melodic line .The beautiful third study,sometimes known as ‘Tristesse’ ,was shaped with aristocratic style of such flexibility and good taste.The technically challenging middle section was incorporated into the overall shape instead of seeming like a rude interruption before the continuation of the sublime opening melody.Number four and five were played with extraordinary agility.There was passion and excitement in the fourth and irresistible sparkle in the fifth -the famous black key study that Myra Hess used to play for fun with an orange and two carrots!A quite extraordinary performance from Rokas who restored these often misunderstood ‘studies’ to their true realm of tone poems every bit as poignant as the Mazurkas that Schumann so rightly described as cannons covered in flowers.

The three preludes by George Gershwin were first performed by the composer at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City in 1926. Each prelude is a well-known example of early-20th-century American classical music as influenced by jazz.They were dedicated to friend and musical advisor Bill Daly.He originally planned to compose 24 preludes for this group of works but the \number was reduced to seven in manuscript form, and then reduced to five in public performance, and further decreased to three when first published in 1926.

What fun Rokas gave them as he let his hair down letting rip as he brought these three charmers vividly to life in great style.There was a full orchestra in the first one with rhythmic energy and a fantastic ending like a rocket taking off as he shot up to the top of the keyboard.Sleeze and decadence in the second, Rokas even added some of his own embellishments as he dug deep into the bass producing sounds of pure magic.A truly hypnotic sense of energy in the last famous prelude brought this short jazz interlude to a truly brilliant end.

Praised for his “liquidity of sound” and “devilish performances”, Lithuanian pianist Rokas Valuntonis has drawn admiration for his imaginative interpretations and striking virtuosity. A laureate of more than 20 international competitions, Valuntonis won 1st Prize at the 2018 Campillos International Piano Competition (Spain) and previous victories include both the International Music Competition “Societa Umanitaria” (Italy) and the Nordic Piano Competition (Sweden). Valuntonis has performed all over Europe, including Denmark, Finland, France, and Portugal, in venues such as Milton Court (Barbican Centre), La Sala Verdi, The Wallace Collection, Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall, and La Sala Casella Accademia Filarmonica Romana. He has also performed with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Lund Symphony Orchestra, St Christopher Chamber Orchestra, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, and Panevežys Chamber Orchestra. Aside from traditional concerts, Valuntonis has collaborated with both actors and presenters. His most recent collaboration, with the celebrated Lithuanian actor Kostas Smoriginas, explored the characters and emotional lives of great composers like Beethoven, Chopin, and Rachmaninov. The 2020/21 season sees Valuntonis present solo recitals around Europe in venues such as Lithuanian National Philharmonic (Lithuania), Klaipeda Concert Hall (Lithuania), Harpa Concert Hall (Iceland) and festivals such as Deal Arts and Music festival (UK), Barnes Music festival (UK), Summer of Piano music in Druskininkai (Lithuania). Growing up in Lithuania, Valuntonis studied at the Lithuanian Music and Theatre Academy under Aleksandra Zvirblyte, before attending the Sibelius Academy (Finland), followed by studies with Eugen Indjic in Paris and Artist Diploma studies at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London under Peter Bithell. Rokas joined the City Music Foundation Artist Programme in 2017. For his many achievements, Valuntonis has been honoured with the prestigious Queen Morta Award and acknowledgements by two Lithuanian Presidents. This year Rokas was awarded with “Jung Artist Grant” by Lithuanian Ministry of culture.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2020/07/14/rokas-valuntonis-at-st-marys/

Cristian Sandrin in concert for the Imogen Cooper Music Trust.In the sumptuous new concert venue in Knightsbridge that can boast a magnificent piano and unique atmosphere for chamber concerts.

It is a major addition to the London concert scene with its warm friendly atmosphere and perfect acoustic . Lord Burlington would take his guests after dinner ,to a concert with Handel performing ,to the copy he had made of La Rotonda of Vicenza transplanted into the countryside of Chiswick.Mozart tells us in his letters of going for a ride in the countryside of Chelsea!

This beautiful house just behind Harrods has just such an atmosphere of rare friendly elegance .
We were able to be ravished tonight by Chopin B minor Sonata and Beethoven op 111 separated by C.P.E Bach Sonata in C minor.

Great works that need a master musician to bring them to life and Cristian showed off his aristocratic good taste and intelligence in performances where the architectural line was of fundamental importance.

This in Chopin is no mean feat and it was enough to see how he linked the end of the Scherzo with the mighty opening of the Largo or how he opened the Finale with a crescendo to the rondo that grew ever more in intensity until it’s final ecstatic explosion and triumphant final declaration.
There was sublime beauty too with the intense simplicity of the first movement second subject or the ravishing nobility of the Largo.
The scintillating jeux perlé of the Scherzo was contrasted with the clarity of line in the trio.

Beethoven’s last Sonata was played with great clarity.The opening three mighty declarations played with such weight only to dissolve into magical vibrations before the startling arrival home to C. There were arresting contrasts between water at boiling point finding refuge in moments of sublime repose.The Arietta was played with a luminosity and simplicity out of which the variations evolved so naturally before exploding into rhythmic turmoil and disintegrating before our very eyes .It wound its way ever more on high in its ethereal journey lost in a magic stream of trills above which the angels had the last word.Beethoven after a tormented life had finally found peace.No ritardando at the end of either movement showed his remarkable intelligence as he followed the great architectural line to its inevitable conclusion.

C.P.E Bach is a well constructed sonata for keyboard by a craftsman but not the genius of his father.It was played with a innocent simplicity.The seeming solo and tutti in the Andantino gave great character to an otherwise rather uninspired work.The rondo had grace and energy and all the character that Cristian was able to portray.A nice interlude between two master works just made us appreciate the genius of Chopin and Beethoven even more.
An encore of une barque sur l’océan from Ravel’s miraculous Miroirs allowed this magnificent piano to illuminate the room with scintillating colour and ravishing virtuosistic washes of sound.

In the whole recital one was aware of the natural way that Cristian could play with such clarity and simplicity.A technical mastery that knows no difficulties but gives him the possibility to conduct like a great maestro with his ten marvellous fingers replacing the magnificence of a full symphony orchestra.It was refreshing to see the way he sat at the piano and the way that his hands,arms and whole body would carve the great curves of sound out of the piano as a master sculptor would create such wonders out of a block of marble.
The next concert on the 14th October is another great young musician Ariel Lanyi who will be playing Beethoven’s mighty Hammerklavier Sonata op.106.

Master musicians playing master works is only to be expected with Dame Imogen Cooper at the helm!

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2021/06/06/sandrin-plays-mozart-simplicity-and-purity-in-bucharest/

Jamal Aliyev (cello)
Hugh Mather (piano) 

A wonderful afternoon of music making .Two sublime masterpieces played with such unassuming humility and joy – music making as Jamal has often told me ‘to play with Hugh is the joy of being able to make music without any pressure – real Hausmusik’.

And what a treat for us to be able to hear Amal as he has matured over the years from an exceptionally talented young musician – one of the stars of the Royal College – to a great artist.Such refined artistry without any histrionics but with such deep meaning . I have rarely heard the Arpeggione played with such sublime beauty.Or the grandiose opening of Beethoven’s A major Sonata played with such aristocratic nobility.The sheer exhilaration and heart on sleeve emotion of the Popper Hungarian Rhapsody not to mention the supreme virtuosity in the perpetuum mobile was something to marvel at.I heard traces of Liszt’s Rhapsodies too – n.12 and n.6 so expect they were traditional Hungarian folk songs used by Popper in this showpiece for cello.

None of this would have been possible ,of course, without the superb collaboration of Hugh Mather.Always there with Jamal in every twist and turn – and there were many- in Popper.But his musicianship and beauty of sound in Schubert and Beethoven were something to marvel at.Amazing the activity of Dott Mather – from consultant physician at Ealing hospital to pianist,organist,organiser,father and grandfather.

Behind every great man,though,there is invariably a great woman .His wife Dott Felicity Mather is always there with her wonderful tea and cakes not to say so much more behind the scenes.What a pair they are and how lucky Ealing is to have them bring such glory as they help young musicians reach out to a world that awaits.

Schubert: Sonata in A minor D821 ‘Arpeggione’
Allegro / Adagio / Allegretto

Beethoven: Cello sonata in A Op 69
Allegro / Allegro / Adagio – Allegro

Popper: Hungarian Rhapsody Op 68

Jamal Aliyev was born in Baku, Azerbaijan and studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and at the Royal College of Music with Thomas Carroll, where he completed his Masters. He is currently undertaking an Artist Diploma at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. In 2017 Jamal made his BBC Proms debut and won the Arts Club – Sir Karl Jenkins Music Award. His debut CD Russian Masters was released by Champs Hill Records to critical acclaim. He was selected by Young Classical Artists Trust in 2017 and Concerts Artists Guild in New York in 2019. He has appeared as soloist with the City of Birmingham Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, London Mozart Players, CBSO Youth Orchestra, Istanbul Symphony, the Presidential Symphony Orchestra of Turkey and the Symphony Orchestra Simón Bolívar of Venezuela. Highlights include performances of the Elgar Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tomsk Philharmonia, the latter as part of the Trans-Siberian Festival. He gives recitals throughout the UK including Wigmore Hall and Saffron Hall, and records with Fazil Say. 

Hugh Mather studied the piano and organ from an early age, gaining the FRCO and the ARCM piano performers diplomas. He then pursued a medical career and was Consultant Physician at Ealing Hospital from 1982 to 2006, before retiring to pursue his musical interests. He continued his piano studies with James Gibb for many years, and gave countless concerts at St Mary’s Perivale, St Barnabas and elsewhere, as concerto soloist, recitalist, accompanist and chamber musician. More recently he has concentrated on organizing concerts. He has been Chairman of the Friends of St Mary’s Perivale since 2005, and has organised over 1100 concerts there, as well as a further 600 at St Barnabas Church.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2020/11/25/dr-hugh-mather-1000-not-out/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2018/02/15/jamal-aliyev-and-daniel-hyun-woo-evans-at-the-wigmore-hall/

Tuesday 21 September 3.00 pm

Evelyne Berezovsky (piano) 

I was on my way home from the airport sorry not to have been able to listen this time to Evie’s recital live from St Mary’s.I have heard her many times here and in Italy and have always been totally enraptured by her compelling magnetism and total concentration when she plays .She has that God given gift of living the music a fresh as though on a voyage of discovery.She shares her quite unique spontaneity with her astonishment for the beauty she can conjure out of the keys.’Je joue,je sens,je trasmet’ was the title of an article about Shura Cherkassky in Le Monde de la Musique – Martha Argerich was quoted as describing him as :’The man I love’. He often used to say that young pianists these days do not seem to listen to themselves! Cherkassky and Argerich certainly do or did! Evelyne Beresovsky is one of the few of the younger generation that listens to every note joining them together into a musical conversation of such conviction that can bring even the most popular works vividly back to life. I was surprised to receive a message as soon as I stepped off the plane saying she had not been happy with the recital and not to bother listening to it in play back. Red rag to the bull indeed! Bemused and intrigued I thought I would discreetly take a peek…………and this is what I found……………….

Mozart Piano Sonata in D K576
Allegro / Adagio / Allegretto

The last of Mozart’s 18 Sonatas opened the programme played with a clarity and simplicity,so difficult for many,that had Schnabel exclaim that Mozart was too easy for children and too difficult for adults.Here she allowed the music to speak so naturally with an exhilarating effervescence that gave such character to a work that was enacted before our very eyes as if on stage.There were some very subtle contrasts in dynamics and slight inflections that just brought the notes vividly to life.Such luminosity to the melodic line in the Adagio with some very delicate filigree passages played non legato that contrasted so well with the delicacy of the melodic line.There was sheer ‘joie de vivre’ in the Allegretto that was played with an hypnotic rhythmic energy and passages of such ebullience that could have come straight out of a Mozart Piano Concerto.

Scriabin: Feuillet d’album Op 45 no 1

Scriabin: Poème Op 32 no 1

Scriabin: Piano Sonata no 3 in F sharp minor Op 23
Drammatico / Allegretto / Andante / Presto

The little Feuillet d’Album op 45 by Scriabin was full of ravishing colours and sense of improvisatory wonder as was the Poème op 32 n.1 that followed.Played with less coquettish charm than Horowitz it was played with a sense of line and musical shape that was indeed refreshing. These were just two little ‘tasters’ of Scriabin’s world of the ravishment and torment of his 3rd Sonata as he reaches for that star which is his ultimate goal.The opening movement was imperious and brooding with a constant forward movement contrasted with moments of ravishing introspection and delicacy.The Allegretto was played with great rhythmic impetus with a momentary respite in the ‘con grazia’ soon overtaken by the driving rhythms of the return of the opening.An Andante of sumptuous beauty with the melodic line returning in the tenor register accompanied by magical streams of golden sounds.This led to the menace of the opening theme and furious driving rhythms of the Presto con fuoco before the radiant ecstasy of the star is revealed and its final imperious comments.

played with the score which she hardly glanced at,as opposed to Dr Mather who had his eyes glued onto the complex score with the very ungrateful task of finding the right moment to turn the pages!

Rachmaninov: 4 preludes
Op 23 no 4 in D Op 23 no 6 in E flat major Op 23 no 5 in G minor Op 32 no 5 in G major

There was ravishing beauty in the selection of four preludes by Rachmaninov.And if the sumptuous beauty of the D major was momentarily lost in a moment of panic it was nothing compared to the sheer romantic beauty and subtle flexibility that she brought to the following E flat minor Prelude.The restrained opening of impish good humour of the G minor made its climax even more exciting and the mellifluous middle section even more of a contrast.The ending was thrown of with the consummate ease that only a great artist could ever offer.The ravishing sounds of water in the G major Prelude was just the bed on which jewels were allowed to float with such magic.

Debussy: L’isle joyeuse

Debussy’s L’Isle Joyeuse was played with an alternation of dance and ecstasy.There was great rhythmic energy in the opening with layer upon layer of sound delicately added as a sumptuous melody appears.The dance builds gently ever more frenzied until the final climax of excitement and passion played with aristocratic grandeur until it final bursts into flames.

It may not have been the finest recital she has ever given but her artistry and God given gift of communication transcend any momentary defiance that to a true artist can be so unsettling .I was lucky enough to hear Rubinstein many times in his 15 final years on stage and his was the greatest lesson that could be offered as he would risk all for that magic moment of feeling that the audience was listening to the story you were discovering together.Today when we think we have to know and order everything in advance it is refreshing to live dangerously in the search for utopia. I enjoyed immensely my peek………what the butler saw indeed !

Evelyne Berezovsky was born in Moscow in 1991, the daughter of the eminent pianist Boris Berezovsky. She started playing the piano at the age of five and two years later joined the Purcell School of Music. She then studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Hamish Milne, in Italy with Elisso Virssaladze, and with Rena Shereshevskaya in Paris. She has played in public since she was 7 years old and appeared with the orchestra for the first time at the age of 11. Since then she has performed at major venues in London, including the Wigmore Hall, St. John’s Smith Square and the Southbank Centre, and at concert venues in Germany, Belgium, Holland, France, Norway, Russia and Japan, including a recital at the prestigious piano festival in La Roque d’Antheron. In February 2012 she won First Prize in the Lagny-sur-Marne International Piano Competition in France. Following this, she has been regularly invited to play on Radio France, including a performance at the Fête de la Musique which took place at the Olympia, Paris. Evelyne has given concerts and recitals in the UK, France, Belgium, Germany and the USA, including performances at Lorin Maazel’s Festival in Castelton, VA and Steinway Hall, New York.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2020/12/04/evelyne-berezovsky-at-st-marys-a-new-golden-age-takes-us-by-storm/

A recital of refined intelligence and sumptuous piano playing.A pianistic perfection of kaleidoscopic colour and elegance that is a rarity indeed where mediocrity passes for the norm.Here is a unique example that sets a standard by which lesser mortals should be judged .

http://www.pisarenkovitaly.com
PROGRAMA
FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797 – 1828)
Sonata in C minor D 958 Allegro-Adagio-Menuetto/Trio Allegro-Allegro
FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797 – 1828) transcribed for piano by FRANZ LISZT
Gretchen am spinnrade Auf dem Wasser Zu singen
FRANZ LISZT (1811 – 1886)
Valse oubliée No. 1
Funérailles ( Harmonies poétiques et Religieuses)
Transcendental Etude No. 12, “Chasse neige” Faribolo pastour
Totentanz (piano solo version)
LUIS ANTONIO CALVO (1882 – 1945)
Arabesco

Some remarkable playing from Vitaly Pisarenko who I have heard many times over the past few years.But in this recital there was all the precision and pianistic perfection that one would expect from someone who had taken the Utrecht Liszt competition by storm at the age of twenty.But there was also a finesse and intelligence allied to a poetic intelligence that made his performance of Schubert’s C minor sonata quite riveting.From the very first opening declaration of intent there was a driving rhythmic force – an undercurrent that was ever present and which kept us mesmerised from the first note to the last.This did not preclude the absolute fidelity to the very precise phrasing and dynamic indications that Schubert had meticulously written into the score of the first of his last trilogy of Sonatas .It was written in the last year of his life when he was suffering the final fatal symptoms of syphilis .The last three sonatas D.958, 959 and 960, are his last major compositions for solo piano and were written during the last months of his life, between the spring and autumn of 1828.Schubert died on 19th November at the age of 31 but his Sonatas were not published until about ten years after his death.I have heard Vitaly’s fine performance of the Drei Klavierstucke also from the last period of Schubert’s all too short life but the performance of this most Beethovenian of Schubert’s Sonatas had the same rhythmic drive and finesse that I remember from Richter many years ago.It is like a tornado that even before the first mighty declaration in C minor you can feel the energy that is about to be released in the opening bars.I remember being overwhelmed by Richter’s performance in the Festival Hall in London and catching the Brighton Belle to hear him play it again the next day!

In Vitaly’s performance there was the same clarity and precision – the extraordinary phrasing in the menacingly quiet passage before the beauty of the second subject that Schubert writes ‘ligato’( his Italian like Beethoven’s was never perfect).The contrast was quite overwhelming as the beauty of the melody,like one of Schubert’s songs was allowed to sing with such eloquence .There was a scrupulous care of detail as it built up to a Beethovenian climax to die away to a mere whisper.The development explodes only to die away to a murmur with the melodic line in the bass so menacing as the seemless streams of chromatic scales accompany this force that leads into the recapitulation.Like Richter ,Vitaly has a phenomenal control of sound – a jeux perlé that was played with such poetic precision and clarity as it passed from piano to pianissimo and even pianississimo.The Adagio was played aristocratic poise with the brooding episodes played with an obsessive insistence that was almost orchestral in its sense of colour where every note had its just weight and place with an overbearing sense of desolation.The return of the theme after each menacing episode was ever more full of subtle radiant beauty with the legato melodic line accompanied so magically by the staccato left.The Menuetto was full of the same Beethovenian urgency of the first movement but mixed with uncertainty .It was followed by a trio of radiance and bucolic pastoral colour.The final tarantella was played with a continuous drive of great character and even humour.There was magic too in the sudden unexpected melodic outpouring in B major before the final relentless return of the tarantella to the final two mighty chords.

The transcriptions by Liszt of two of Schubert’s lieder were played with a sensitivity and a refined technical control .The sheer delicacy of the lapping water in Auf dem Wasser zu singen was something to marvel at.There was a sumptuous beauty of sound as it built to a climax with a wondrous sense of balance and unrelenting flow of mellifluous sounds.Played with the finesse of the virtuosi of another era,where fleeting lightness and subtle colours could bewitch and enchant an audience much more than barn storming octaves.Gretchen am spinnrade was played with the same wonderful sense of balance that allowed the melodic line to emerge above the continuous stream of accompanying notes . Building up to a sumptuous climax and the questioning start of the spinning wheel to the mighty final declamation before disappearing into the distance.

There was such grace too in the questioning Valse oubliée n. 1 played with scintillating rhythmic energy

Ravishing beauty in the shimmering scales of Chasse neige that just seemed to emerge from a distance where it eventually disappeared after passionate outpourings of romantic sounds of quite extraordinarily subtle virtuosity.

Faribolo pastour (‘Pastoral Whimsy’) is the title of a song by Jacques Jasmin (1798–1864) who wrote the dialect poem Françouneto in 1840 and may have invented the melody himself or else adapted it from a folk song. Liszt met Jasmin whilst touring at Agen in September 1844 and improvised upon Jasmin’s romance. Jasmin returned the compliment with an improvised poem which was later published with a dedication to Liszt.It is a beautifully delicate piece and was played with such ravishing charm and beauty before the extreme technical and emotional demands of Funerailles and Totentanz.

Funérailles subtitled October 1849,is the 7th and one of the most famous pieces in Poetic and Religious Harmonies.It was an elegy written in October 1849 in response to the crushing of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 by the Habsburgs .It is a great tone poem from the opening brooding Adagio played with truly devilish concentration -the bass notes resonating as it built to its inevitable climax and the call to arms on D flat -fortissimo and marcatissimo as Liszt marks.Expiring to leave the subtle colour and resonance of the bass melody,with the gently placed comment from the right hand chords.There was an aristocratic sumptuousness to the climax immediately giving way to the ravishing beauty of the lagrimoso and it’s passionate outpouring before the arrival of the troups . A central episode very similar to Chopin’s Polonaise Héroique op 53 which after a tumultuous display of octaves leads to the grandiose statement of the opening theme before dying away on a wave of distant memories .It was played with remarkable control and technical mastery,where musical values and architectural shape restored this work to one of the most original and perfect of Liszt’s vast output for the solo piano.

Some of the titles of Liszt’s pieces, such as Totentanz, Funérailles,La lugubre gondola and Pensée des morts show the composer’s fascination with death. In the young Liszt we can already observe manifestations of his obsession with death, with religion, and with heaven and hell. Liszt frequented Parisian “hospitals, gambling casinos and asylums” in the early 1830s, and he even went down into prison dungeons in order to see those condemned to die.

Totentanz in Liszt’s own arrangement for solo piano was originally written for piano and orchestra .I remember hearing Claudio Arrau play it in the Albert Hall with Weber Konzertstuck – both works absolute rarities these days.I do not know this version for solo piano but as played by Vitaly I am surprised it is not more often included in recital programmes . Totentanz (English: Dance of the Dead): Paraphrase on Dies irae, S.126 is based on the Gregorian plainchant melody Dies Iraeb. It was first planned in 1838, completed and published in 1849, and revised in 1853 and 1859.Every variation discloses some new character—“the earnest man, the flighty youth, the scornful doubter, the prayerful monk, the daring soldier, the tender maiden, the playful child.”A work of great technical difficulty played with such mastery and transcendental virtuosity .An ease and clarity that was remarkable with a sense of shape and colour of a true musician.An astonishing display of spectacular piano playing greeted by an ovation from an amazed and bewitched audience.

Luis Antonio Calvo (1882-1945) is one of the most celebrated Colombian composers. He wrote innumerable romantic works for piano in a “salon” style. Most of these works he wrote from the leper colony at which he was confined for most of his life. In the town where he was confined now stands a monument to his musical achievements.This beautiful arabesque was played by Vitaly as a homage and thank you for the series which is dedicated to him

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2019/07/01/vitaly-pisarenko-conquers-st-marys/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2018/02/22/the-supreme-mr-pisarenko/

Standing ovation in Paradise
Yuanfan Yang at La Mortella The Walton Foundation Ischia meets the Keyboard Charitable Trust

Miracles are rare but not when you are in the paradise that Susana Walton created in celebration of her husband.

They are both here Sir William and Lady Susana Walton ,their ashes interred in the place that they created and shared together.
Susana after the death of Sir William in 1983 created a foundation so that their paradise could live on forever as a lasting legacy of their life together.

Lady Walton died in 2010 and in the 27 years alone not only augmented La Mortella as a botanical garden but also built a concert hall where her series of concerts for young musicians is an inspiring venue for some of the finest young musicians of the day. All in the name of Sir William and a lasting testimony to one of the finest composers of the twentieth century.

She created an amphitheatre too overlooking the bay like in nearby Ravello where youth orchestras from around the world could also play.
A magnificent programme of music organised by the distinguished musician Lina Tufano with the whole amazing complex overseen by Alessandra Vinciguerra with her team of dedicated helpers that have all been inspired by the untiring dedication of Lady Walton.

There is a family atmosphere where every minute detail is treated with such loving care that creates a magic atmosphere from the moment one steps into the wondrous gardens of tropical plants .
The first collaboration with the Keyboard Trust allowed me to accompany Yuanfan Yang to give two afternoon recitals in the concert hall next to the music room where Sir William used to compose.I
had been to La Mortella several times when Susana was alive who was a close family friend.
Susana and my wife Ileana Ghione were both admirers of each other-birds of a feather you might even say.They both had the indomitable spirit that would never think anything was impossible as they reached for their seemingly impossible dream with a passion and business acumen that is rare indeed.
My wife created a theatre in Rome that became a cultural beacon in Europe as Susana had done likewise on Ischia.
Two remarkably courageous women in what was very much a man’s world!

It was in Yuanfan’s second recital that a miracle occurred as he had obviously been inspired by the atmosphere of this very special place.
From the exquisite delicacy of Debussy.La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune played with sounds that seemed to appear and disappear like magic as the radiance of sensual passion unwound in La puerta del vino.This was played with a kaleidoscopic sense of colour vanishing into thin air leaving the stillness and poignant chords of Canope Harmonies mingling in the refined air and the shrill comments of such aching nostalgia high in the distance so reminiscent of the atmosphere created in the sea preludes from Grimes by that other great British composer Benjamin Britten.
But the true miracle was yet to come.
After Yuanfan Yang’s own prize winning composition ‘The Waves’ he gave a truly inspired performance of Chopin’s 24 Preludes.

The Waves – written ten years ago describes in sound a rock thrown in the water that produces waves of ever growing intensity.There were such subtle colours and ravishing cascades of notes very much inspired by the sound world of Debussy with maybe even a touch of Messiaen.A remarkably descriptive work of great effect.

Indeed on the same crest of a wave the first prelude of Chopin created immediately an atmosphere that was to hold the audience spellbound through the long journey that Chopin too had been inspired to write on an island ,that of Majorca.There was such beauty in the second prelude with the brooding murmuring bass and the swirling left hand of the third on which the innocent melody rode unimpeded.The gentle inflections in the fourth just added to the ravishing atmosphere with it’s three sumptuous final chords.The busy meanderings of the fifth we’re played with fleeting lightness leading to the touching melancholy of the tenor melody with its gentle sighing accompaniment in the sixth.A pity he did not note Chopin’s final pedal marking which would have taken him to even more ravishing heights.Chopin knew best!There was grace and charm in the seventh played with a touching simplicity.The passion of the eighth was disguised in a haze of romantic sounds shaped with such care and breathing control and there was some wonderful tenor pointing that gave a subtle pregnant meaning to this sudden outpouring of romantic fervour.There was a rich sound from the very first notes of the ninth,with some wondrous changes of colour and it’s passionate build up of such aristocratic poise .The tenth ,as contrast was thrown off with consummate ease and charm leading to the radiant sounds of the eleventh.Passion and virtuosity combined in the twelfth played as a true musician with real control and shape -the final phrases played with moving dignity.There was poise in the thirteenth – a beautifully shaped melodic line and a middle section that shone like jewels as a subtle duet was allowed to play out so naturally.The fourteenth crept in with is gradual build up before blowing itself out and leaving the field to the heart melting beauty of the so called’Raindrop’prelude.I have never heard the middle section chorale played so poetically with almost religious dedication.

The treacherous sixteenth prelude was thrown of with great virtuosity , swirls or waves of sound of breathtaking brilliance led so inevitably to the two final mighty chords.It was the same virtuosity that he had brought earlier in the recital to the study op 10 n.1 with cascades of notes accompanying the deep bass melody .There were magical bass notes too in the seventeenth over which the melodic line reappeared as if in a dream ‘un sentiment de regret ‘as Cortot would have described it .A remarkably operatic recitativo followed that could have been straight out of a bel canto opera.The mellifluous melodic line of the nineteenth was allowed to hover over the ever changing harmonies as it had in the study op 10.n.11 that Yuanfan had also played earlier in the recital.There was majestic dignity to the great C minor prelude as it gradually died away to a whisper showing Yuanfan’s quite superb control of sound. Subtle rubato in the magical cantabile of the twenty first was followed by the octaves of the twenty second creeping in with passionate fervour.The gentle streams of pure gold in the twenty third only prepared the scene for the youthful passion of the great twenty fourth prelude.Wonderfully shaped the initial subdued passion boiling over with some extraordinary changes of colour before the final desperate ending.
The spirit of Chopin was evidently hovering in the air as each prelude revealed jewels that glittered and shone as they led to the crowning glory of the last prelude.
The final three mighty D’s deep in the bass resonated with an emotional force that was the culmination of this extraordinary journey that we had been treated to today.

https://youtu.be/et3nbeoVL-4

A standing ovation was greeted with Yuanfan asking the audience to take part themselves in this party atmosphere that had been created.
Fur Elise in Scott Joplin style was greeted by Night and Day in Straussian style .
Yuanfan proceeded to improvise on these themes that had the audience on their feet cheering this young musician and the miracles that he had created in this paradise…….

His first recital had included the Haydn’s sonata in E minor Hob XVI:34 played with great character and charm with crystal clear ornaments .The last movement played with impish good humour after an Adagio of great clarity and simplicity.Chopin’s Polonaise Fantasie the second Ballade and the F sharp minor Polonaise were given very robust performances of startling virtuosity and poetry.The Polonaise Fantasie one of Chopin’s last works was played with a vibrant sense of magical sounds from the very first great chords that were allowed to vibrate over the whole keyboard.The F sharp minor Polonaise was given a performance of heroic proportions and the contrasts between the gentle opening of the second Ballade and the tempestuous interruptions was quite overwhelming in its intensity and sheer brilliance.The four Mazurkas op 33 were played with touching simplicity and aristocratic control as was the Waltz op 42 with which he ended the programme.

And so on to the mainland and Sorrento,just an hours journey on the hydrofoil passing by the smaller island of Capri.The opening of a new series invented by the indefatigable deus ex macchina of all things musical in Sorrento – Paolo Scibilia.

‘Homage to Chopin’ on the terrace of the Villa Fondi de Sangro overlooking the bay of Naples.

This was the culmination of the short tour of the bay of Naples before Yuanfan flies off the Paris – the Salle Cortot and at the end of the month to Warsaw where he has been selected to take part in the International Chopin Competition presided over in by the legendary Martha Argerich astonishingly in her eightieth year.

Yuanfan’s Chopin is not the sickly delicate Chopin of a certain tradition but a Chopin of aristocratic strength.Delicacy,tenderness and nostalgia have their part to play but with vigour,strength and above all respect for what Chopin actually wrote.Rubinstein and Pollini have long been our guiding light out of a tradition of sickly charm and disrespect for the score and a thing called rubato that became,in many traditional hands, complete distortion!

Throwing down the gauntlet with the study op 10 n.3 .One of Chopin’s most played (excluding the transcendental middle section,of course) and best loved melodies ,which even became a best seller song.It was often given the title ‘Tristesse’ which was certainly not Chopin’s as is evident from his indications in the score – an invitation not to drawl indeed

Yuanfan played it with aristocratic beauty and simplicity and it created a special atmosphere on this balmy night with water all around!

There was no terror of the middle episode that grew so naturally out of the first,dissolving into the magic return of what Chopin himself considered one of his most beautiful melodies.The mellifluous study op 10 n.11, the melodic line was allowed to float over the gentle harp like harmonies similar to the study op 25 n.1.The study op 10.n.1 was played with astonishing clarity and a sense of musical line in the bass accompanied by arabesques thrown off with the sumptuous ease of a master musician.

The group of four Mazurkas op 33 are miniature tone poems and part of the 56 jewels that Chopin penned over his short life.Works where he could say so much in such a short space.The first, just disappearing into the heights followed by the stamping rhythms of one of his most popular mazurkas before the pure theatricality of the third (hardly surprising it was used for the ballet Les Sylphides) .The last of the set is one of the longest with it’s captivating melody that returns over and over again after each varying episode.

The three ‘major’ works on the programme included the Ballade n.2, op 38,the Polonaise Fantasie op 61 and the Polonaise in F sharp minor op 44.They were played with scrupulous attention to Chopin’s very precise indications and with an authority and transcendental command that never excluded the supreme poetry or ‘canons covered in flowers’ to quote Schumann.An exquisite flexibility that allowed this ‘bel canto’ to sing so naturally without any distortion or unrelated showmanship.These were great performances of pianistic masterpieces played with love,respect and passion.

The waltz in Aflat was played with scintillating jeux perlé of beguiling charm and grace – the same that was so unforgettable from the hands of Artur Rubinstein.The final comment in the bass just bringing this hour of music to a noble end.

By great demand a series of improvisations suggested by the audience – ‘O sole mio’ was an obvious choice as was ‘Torna a Surriento’.Astonishing ability to play in any style gave him another standing ovation.Ending with his own composition : ‘The Waves’ surrounded as we were in the magic Bay of Naples,surrendering to the sheer beauty of it all.-Torna a Surriento -yes please!……per la vita!

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2021/07/31/sorrento-crowns-marcella-crudeli-a-lifetime-in-music/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2020/02/01/yuanfan-yang-in-italy-part-1-vicenza-and-rai-radio-3-part-2-viterbofrascati-and-rome/

Grand Final of the Busoni International Piano Competition
1st prize Jae Hong Park
2nd Do-Hyun Kim
3rd Lukas Sternath

Should music be put on the Olympic stage and have musicians competing against each other for a medal?
For what ?
For playing faster,slower,louder or quieter something that can be anyway very subjective.
In every competition there is always a winner and that is the Circus element that can creep in.

But as both Louis Lortie,president of the jury and Peter Paul Kainrath,Artistic director pointed out,a competition must be a global platform for the great young talent that come with programmes that demonstrate their interpretative skills.
It is exactly for this reason that Louis Lortie praised the Italian public television for their live relay of the final of the competition.
Of course the media usually look at the number of spectators that can be captivated as this in turn is what interests the sponsors who contribute to the all important financial aspect.
Quantity rather than quality is often the guiding light.
So it is very refreshing when enlightenment raises its head and a cultural event can be given the same attention as a football match!

Dott. Kainrath has for some years been convinced of the world platform that a competition should offer to young musicians.It is,in fact,via the superb streaming of the Busoni that every note from the first to the last day can be listened to worldwide.

I had written earlier in the week listening from the comfort of my own home :
‘To put pianists trained in the east from birth with ours in the west who are trained too late means that they play better because they are better pianists not better musicians.Look at many great pianists on the world stage like Paul Lewis,Angela Hewitt or Imogen Cooper with their definitive performances but can you compare their sound to a Richter or a Gilels?
I think each performance should be judged for what it is in that moment and not placed side by side with others.
This of course is the bad thing of competitions…..how fast is your Feux Follets and all that nonsense’

I had also written after the selection of the final 7 to a very fine young pianist who at this point had be excluded :
‘…your performances were superb and will be remembered by many.I did not hear many of the other contestants,a refined Liszt Sonata,a monumental Hammerklavier or astonishing Petroushka but find it hard to imagine more beautiful performances than yours.’

And so the Busoni competition via its inspired use of streaming and information on social media is helping to launch so many young musicians.
During the lockdown, streaming was the only way forward when live performances were not possible when suddenly the presence of public augmented as a great void had been opened.
I know of one small but distinguished music society which usually have a public of at most a few hundred but can now boast via streaming of thousands worldwide.
This was one of the very few good things to come out of the pandemic.
But now the worst seems to be over and public is being allowed back to live performances ,streaming should not be considered an optional but a necessity.
Live performances with public but also streamed seems a logical conclusion.
Of course nothing can take the place of a live performance and the atmosphere created in the concert hall can be vibrant and stimulating for both performer and public.
And so it was that I left home at four in the morning to be able to be present at the final concerto round of the Busoni Competition.
Having listened to many of the contestants from the comfort of my home I wanted to be part of the atmosphere that had been created by these young artists over the past couple of weeks.
The excitement of a competition can also stimulate young musicians into giving performances that inspire them to even greater heights.
And so it was to the final chosen three to do the honours for the 31 young musicians who had given some memorable performances during their stay in Bolzano.

Of course it is not easy for these young artists when they come to the competition not knowing how much of their prepared repertoire they will actually be called on to perform.
Pacing themselves becomes another hurdle they have to face as they advance through the rounds.
So hats off to the valiant final three that were called on at a days notice to perform their chosen concerti.
And what concerti they were: Rachmaninov 3,Prokofiev 2 and Beethoven Emperor.With the superb Haydn Orchester under Arvo Volmer they gave very professional performances but on this occasion did not create that electric atmosphere that we were all hoping for.

Jae Hong Park,who was awarded first prize, is from the school of Daejin Kim in South Korea.He had given a monumental performance of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier and had been given the Schumann Quartet’s own prize for his Brahms Quintet.He will perform his ‘ Hammerklavier’ in London at Steinway Hall on the 12th October 2022 as winner of the Keyboard Trust Career Development Prize.So it was no surprise that the Rachmaninov concerto was missing some of the colour and excitement that will come in later more considered performances.

Do-Hyun Kim,his fellow countryman,was awarded second prize for his performance of Prokofiev’s second piano concerto.He threw himself into the enormous difficulties with animal like participation that was greatly appreciated by an audience who gave him an ovation.
He is a young virtuoso who seems to know no difficulties as we had seen from his performances of Schumann Toccata,Stravinsky Petrouchka and Chopin studies op 25.
Rachmaninov 3rd and Prokofiev 2 were both works that were considered insuperable hurdles when I was a student.That is until Vladimir Ashkenazy appeared on the scene and made his London debut playing both on the same night!
It has now become part of the standard repertoire of young pianists.

The young Austrian Lukas Sternath was given third prize for his musicianly performance of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto.
A youthful performance that will grow in weight as this twenty year old musician grows in stature.
It must be said that the orchestra was an exhilarating partner playing with real weight and fervour under the superb baton of Arvo Volmer.

Vladimir Petrov was voted the favourite of the audience on line and he was awarded fifth prize by the jury too.

Serena Valluzzi was awarded fourth prize having given some fine musicianly performances of Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit and Rachmaninov second sonata.

Iliia Ovcharenko was awarded 6th prize,together with Francesco Granata, with Illia’s refined performances of Les Adieux and Liszt Sonata and Francesco’s irresistible jazz studies by Kapustin

A recent article of 2014 winner Chloe Jiyeong Mun including articles about past competitions

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2021/08/31/the-sublime-perfection-of-chloe-jiyeong-mun-in-warsaw/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2019/09/07/viva-busoni-the-final-parts-1-2-3-with-interlude/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2017/09/02/the-busoni-competition-all-the-fun-of-the-circus/

Chloe Jiyeong Mun in Warsaw with playing of such subtle artistry,ravishing colours and passion.

From three Mazurkas op 56 played with an improvisatory freedom of such colour and fantasy with a pervading feeling of nostagia and yearning.There was frenzy too in the folk dance of the second but such a wondrous sense of the subdued passion of a great statement in the last.

This was just a preparation for the 24 Preludes op 28.
A series of jewels that were allowed to sparkle and shine with such subtle poetry.An aristocratic sense of line that allowed her to shape what Fou Ts’ong described as 24 problems into an architectural whole that was quite enthralling.

The opening improvisatory statement was followed by a barely whispered second prelude.The third of a melodic line over a gentle breeze to be followed by the almost heartbreaking simplicity of the fourth.The gentle unravelling of the 5th led so naturally into the yearning beauty of the 6th with it’s sublime final breathtaking comment.The little waltz that follows just bridged the gap to the passionate outpouring of the 8th spilling over to the ecstasy of the 9th.

Such beauty and subtle colouring of the 11th before unleashing the controlled passion of the 12th.Sublime beauty and aristocratic shaping of the 13th led to the breeze that takes us to the simplicity and subtle beauty of the so called ‘raindrop’ prelude .Sokolov turns this into a great drama but Chloe’s vision is of a more pastoral and intimate scene.The B flat minor was thrown off with such passionate assurance and led to deep bass notes of rare eloquence of the seventeenth.Passion was unleashed with the octaves of the 22nd before the gentle mellifluous stream of sounds of the twenty third that just unleashed all the turbulent passion of the twenty fourth and the final three great gongs each played with growing intensity.

The two books of Images by Debussy were played with a luminosity of sound,crystal clear purity,subtle colouring and startling changes of mood.Have Gold-fish ever been treated to such a luxuriant bath with water reflecting radiance and bells appearing as if by magic as the moon glowed over the temple?Sounds and movements of jewel like precision and beauty and the Hommage à Rameau had the same aristocratic perfection and simplicity that was so unforgettable in Artur Rubinstein’s performances.

The same passion and colour that she brought too,to Scriabin’s fourth Sonata were reminiscent of Emil Gilels with its undercurrent of energy about to explode.It was Rubinstein who was beseeched to listen to a teachers star pupil.On hearing the young red headed boy he announced that if he ever came to the west he would pack his bags and disappear.There was room for them both and as today has proven artists of such inspiration are a rarity and a joy forever in any age Ravishing fragments,in this sublime Scriabin sonata,gradually uniting with the building up of turbulent energy played with such subtle transcendental mastery until the ‘star’ is unleashed shining with burning intensity.

Claire de l’une as an encore was of such wondrous magic and subtle control of sound as her unshakable concentration kept us mesmerised throughout all these performances of quite sublime beauty.
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2021/03/08/chloe-mun-in-budapest/

Zilberstein Masterclass final concert at the Chigiana
CONCERTO DEL CORSO DI PIANOFORTE
LILYA ZILBERSTEIN docente Nel corso del concerto saranno attribuite le Borse di Studio “Matilde Neri Sclavo”

Fryderyk Chopin
Żelazowa Wola 1810 – Parigi 1849
Scherzo n. 3 in do diesis minore op. 39 (1839)
Francesco Maria Navelli (Italia) Fryderyk Chopin.Some fine very solid playing maybe misjudging the very resonant acoustic of this beautiful hall in the Chigiana Academy.He gave however an architectural shape that kept the rhythmic energy from the first to the last note.Very assured playing missing the finer filigree of the cascades of shimmering sounds that accompany the great choral that appears so magically out of the exuberance of the outward octave declarations .

Barcarole 9op. 60 (1846) Giulia Toniolo (Italia).Some beautiful playing of great musicality as one would expect from the school of Maddalena De Facci ( teacher of Elia Cecino) .There was a spaciousness to her performance that allowed the music to breathe so naturally as this song born on gentle rippling waves was allowed to unfold with great beauty.A pianist who listens to herself and plays with such loving care as she coaxes such ravishing sounds in what is surely Chopin’s most perfect work.The sumptuous climax was born on the most exquisite bel canto melody that Perlemuter described as being in heaven.The final washes of sound that Ravel admired so much were played with real musicianship and the final four chords played as the very opening note had been – sounds resonating without a trace of any percussiveness.

Franz Liszt
Raiding 1811 – Bayreuth 1886
da Années de pèlerinage. Deuxième Année. Italie, S 161
V. Sonetto 104 del Petrarca (1858) Agitato assai – Adagio
Gabriel Giannotti (Italia)A very assured performance but one that made me wonder if he had ever heard the song.The opening was rather slow and do not think a singer would have thanked him for such a tepid introduction.But as soon as he reached the melodic line he played with a great sense of balance and colour with the great embellishments thrown of with the ease of a true musician.

VI. Sonetto 123 del Petrarca (1846-1849) Lento placido – Sempre lento – Più lento Louyiheng Yang (Cina)From the very first note there was a fluidity and sense of line with a natural sense of colour and flexibility.There was a clarity as the melodic line was allowed to shine with jewel like precision as she built up to the inevitable romantic climax

Johannes Brahms
Amburgo 1833 – Vienna 1897
dalle Danze ungheresi per pianoforte a quattro mani (1852) n. 1 in sol minore – Allegro molto
n. 6 in re bemolle maggiore – Vivace
n. 5 in fa diesis minore – Poco sostenuto
CHISTIAKOVA & BENOCCI PIANO DUO Diego Benocci (Italia)
Gala Chistiakova (Russia)I have heard this duo many time before and listening to their new CD I could only comment that they play as one.Husband and wife team with their own remarkable festival in nearby Grosseto their performance of Brahms illuminated this beautiful hall with all their assurance and natural musicality.It should be mentioned that Gala like la Zilberstein was trained at the Gnessin school in Moscow for talented young children (she met her husband in the class of Petrushansky in Imola.)Together with Diego they invite hundreds of young talented children to Grosseto from Russia filling every corner of their home town with music from these remarkably talented children.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2021/08/05/elia-cecino-in-grosseto-the-birth-of-an-artist/

Unfortunately I was not able to hear the entire concert and missed the following students chosen to perform in this concert which started at 9.15 and was still continuing at 10.30 when I had to leave .I did however bump into them all in the streets with a celebratory pizza around mid-night.It reminded me of my old teacher Guido Agosti whose 80th birthday concert at the Chigiana finished around 1.30!

Claude Debussy
Saint-Germain-en-Laye 1862 – Parigi 1918
dai Préludes

10. La Cathedrale engloutie (Premier livre) (1888) 8. Ondine (Deuxième livre) (1911-1912)
    Maya Oganyan (Russia)
11. 
    Aleksandr N. Skrjabin
    Mosca 1872 – 1915
    Sonata n. 9 op. 68 “Messa nera” (1912-1913)
    Bella Schütz (Francia)
12. Sergej S. Prokof’ev
    Soncovka 1891 – Mosca 1953
    dalla Sonata n. 2 in re minore op. 14 (1912) I. Allegro ma non troppo
    II. Scherzo. Allegro marcato
    Eden Lorenzen (Israele / Germania)
13. 
    Paul Hindemith
    Hanau 1895 – Francoforte 1963
    dalla Sonata n. 3 (1936) III. Mäßig schnell
    IV. Fuge. Lebhaft
    Virgilio Volante (Italia)

Sergej V. Rachmaninov
Semenovo, Velikij Novgorod 1873 – Beverly Hills 1943
Sonata n. 2 in si bemolle minore op. 36 Allegro agitato – 2a versione (1931)
Matteo Giuliani Diez (Spagna / Italia)
Non allegro – 1a versione (1913) L’istesso tempo – Allegro molto Tommaso Boggian (Italia)

Lilya Zilberstein ha iniziato lo studio del pianoforte con Ada Traub all’età di 6 anni presso la Scuola di Musica Gnesin di Mosca, per perfezionarsi con Alexandr Satz all’Istituto Gnesin (oggi Accademia) fino al 1990. Nel 1987 ha vinto il Concorso Busoni di Bolzano e ha intrapreso una intensa attività concertistica internazionale, che la vede suonare con grandissimo successo in tutto il mondo. Dal debutto a Berlino nel 1991 sotto la direzione di C. Abbado ha suonato con i più importanti direttori e le più prestigiose orchestre, incidendo un vasto repertorio per l’etichetta discografica Deutsche Grammophon. Ha svolto tournées internazionali in duo con M. Vengerov, M. Quarta e M. Argerich, con la quale nel 2009 ha festeggiato 20 anni di attività. Nel 1998 le è stato attribuito il Premio Internazionale “Accademia Musicale Chigiana”. Dal 2009 al 2013 ha insegnato alla Hochschule für Musik und Theater di Amburgo ed ha tenuto corsi alla Royal Academy di Londra, alla Musikhochschule di Weimar e in numerose Università di Corea del Sud, Taiwan e Stati Uniti. Dal 2014 insegna alla MDW-Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst a Vienna.
È docente presso l’Accademia Chigiana dal 2011.

Elia Cecino in Grosseto – a superb recital from a pianist who has acquired in the past year an authority and mastery way beyond his 20 years. The Indian Diary n.1 by Busoni was played with an extraordinary sense of architectural line and a kaleidoscopic sense of colour that immediately brought these rarely heard pieces vividly to life and made one wonder why they have been neglected for so long.
His Scriabin 3rd Sonata I have heard many times but never as today,when he played with a clarity of vision that brought this extraordinary brooding work to life with a sensuality of impending drama and doom that was like sitting on a knife edge waiting to see what would happen next.
Mendelssohn’s Variations Serieuses were thrown off with all the jeux perlé charm of another age -the golden age of piano playing of Rosenthal Lhevine or Godowsky .
Prokofiev’s 7th was played with a demonic barbarity that took us by surprise as did the remarkable sensuality and simplicity of the hollywoodian slow movement before the unrelenting energy exploding with such force in the last movement.
A sublime transcription by Busoni of Bach’s Ich ruf zu dir was answered by the spotless precision of Shostakovich’s Prelude and Fugue in B flat.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2021/03/16/elia-cecino-a-star-is-born/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2021/06/20/elia-cecino-takes-piano-city-pordenone-by-storm/

The final two concerts in the summer series of Recondite Armonie organised by the remarkable Benocci family in the beautiful little town of Grosseto in Tuscany.Diego and his wife Gala Chistiakova were in the front row with their child Leonardo to applaud this remarkably talented young pianist from the school of the indefatigable Maddalena De Facci.Tomorrow it will be the husband and wife duo who will close the season with a concert of works taken from their new CD.

It is refreshing to see all these talented people dedicating their time to encouraging the next generation.Vitaly Pisarenko is little Leonardo’ s God father who was playing and giving Masterclasses yesterday in Colombia!Gala and Diego were just back from the Chigiana in Siena where they will play on Friday mentored by Lilya Zilberstein.

Maddalena fresh from Stradella Academy and on her way to Rome where she has a series of concerts with Elia and his sister Vera before accompanying Elia to the International Busoni Competition in Bolzano,which Zilberstein won many years ago.

Small world that of music – but the one thing they transmit and is so rare and uplifting these days is the absolute passion which drives them to superhuman feats as they are able to share it with the next generation who today have a real need of direction and dedication.

Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) began composing in his early years in a late romantic style, but after 1907, when he published his Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music, he developed a more individual style, often with elements of atonality. His visits to America led to interest in North American Indigenous tribal melodies which were reflected in this remarkable work written in 1915 :Indianisches Tagebuch. Erstes Buch. [Indian Diary. First Book],BV 267 in four sections:Allegro affettuoso,un poco agitato;Vivace;Andante;Maestoso ma andando.The tribes and song names in the four sections are :Hopi: “He-Hea Katzina Song”,Cheyenne: “Song of Victory”,Pima: “Blue-Bird Song” and Lagunas: “Corn-Grinding Song”Wabanakis: “Passamquoddy Dance” and Hopi: “He-Hea Katzina Song”.His original works are catalogued in Busoni Verzeichnis from n.1 in 1873 to 303 in 1923 with his unfinished masterpiece Doktor Faust.

This work by Busoni was quite a discovery when played with the authority and a melodic line beautifully shaped with a true sense of style and subtle colouring.But it was the architectural shape and rhythmic energy that allowed for unusual clarity of line and direction of a deep mature understanding.The washes of colour in the final section allowed a platform for the almost desperate melodic explosion with which the work finishes.

It led to the imposing opening of Scriabin’s 3rd Sonata that I have written in detail about in the recent recitals streamed live by Elia during the pandemic.Today,though,there was an unexpected maturity where the architectural line was so clearly etched that the subtle kaleidoscopic colours from the luminous whispered confessions to the vehemence of Romantic declarations never lost it’s overall sense of line.The Allegretto was of a fleeting lightness alternating with a melting fluidity of melodic line that prepared the way for the extraordinary Andante. It gave the unmistakable sense that this is the very core of a work that is conceived in one large breath.The beauty of the tenor melodic line accompanied by shimmering golden sounds of sumptuous beauty was really quite sublime as this young man managed to reveal the very heart of the work with such disarming simplicity and sincerity.The subtle menacing reappearance of the opening motif allowed the Presto con fuoco to take flight in a scintillating display of transcendental pianistic fireworks that was pure magic.

The Variations Sérieuses op 54 was Mendelssohn’s contribution to the Beethoven monument in Bonn that Liszt had taken in hand- Schumann contributed his Fantasie op 17.These variations are masterly crafted and something of a showpiece for pianists with it fluidity and trasparent flights of scintillating virtuosity.But there are also moments of great beauty that in the right hands can add a profundity to a work that can all too often be thrown of with a nonchalance of only great effect.In Elia’s hands there was a simplicity and subtle sense of phrasing from the very opening where Mendelssohn’s very detailed indications were scrupulously noted.An unrelenting rhythmic drive did not preclude detail of extraordinary sensitivity.There was pure magic in the almost whispered quieter variations before the exultation of the final excitement generated with ever more rhythmic impetus.Mention must be made of the tenor melody in the variation of such subtlety as it was accompanied by a fleeting staccato every bit as worthy of a Midsummer night’s dream!

Prokofiev 7 I have written about in Elia’s past streamed performances but it was again the absolute authority and brazen sense of character that took me by surprise.I had noticed this change in a performance of Chopin first piano concerto streamed from an International piano competition in Spain having heard it just six months before with string quartet in his home town near Venice.It is the difference between a top of the class student and a real artist.Someone who has scrupulously followed the indications of his teachers but that now he has absorbed them into his own being as he allows the music to flow through him .There was an interview with Shura Cherkassky in Le Monde de la Musique back in the days where quality not quantity was the rule for the media.’Je joue,je sens,je trasmet’.It was exactly this that was so evident in Elia’s playing today.Even Gala Chistiakova who knows this fine Kwai piano – the best instrument to be found in Grosseto- was astonished by the sounds and colours that Elia could coax as if by magic out of this box of hammers and strings.It was the barbaric rhythmic drive of Prokofiev that never before has been so evident that this was part of the war trilogy of sonatas.A brazen sense of character and the menacing melodic meanderings played with a fluidity and sense of line that was quite extraordinary.There was a masterly sense of balance as he was able to expose the bass melody even on this seemingly weak piano.An Andante caloroso of such subtle sensitivity without a trace of sentimentality that allowed the melodic line to sing with a disarming sensitivity and simplicity.A depth of sound and control with a kaleidoscopic sense of colour in constant change.The extraordinarily whispered return of the opening melody allowed to disintegrated before our very eyes before the subtle entry of the precipitato (similar to the control that is needed in Chopin’s B minor sonata)led to a gradual crescendo of enflamed vehemence and energy to the final desperate outburst with which the sonata ends.

‘Ruf su dir ,Herr Jesu Christ‘BWV 639 was the only answer to the declaration of war as Elia’s hands brought sublime peace to reign once more in the magic atmosphere of this cloister of San Francesco.The Prelude and Fugue op 87 n.21 in B flat was thrown off with a clarity and simplicity that made us realise that the recital had been just a dream from which we were awoken refreshed and enlightened and just thankful of the cultural events that Gala and Diego are bringing to this beautiful town.

Elia Cecino dal 2014 si esibisce con continuità in recital spaziando nel repertorio presso numerose sale europee quali il Teatro Verdi di Trieste, Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Fazioli Concert Hall di Sacile, Teatro Toniolo di Mestre, Teatro Olimpico di Vicenza, Conservatorio di Bolzano, Sala dei Giganti di Padova e molte altre. Nel 2016 ha preso parte a un tour di concerti negli Stati Uniti.Si è proposto da solista con la Simfònica del Vallès, Sinfónica de Galicia, Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, Sichuan Philarmonic, Bacau Philarmonic, FVG Orchestra, Orchestra Vivaldi di Morbegno, Joven Orquesta Leonesa, Orchestra Busoni di Empoli, Complesso d’Archi del Friuli e del Veneto, Orchestra Concentus Musicus Patavinus, Orchestra San Marco di Pordenone.Nell’ottobre 2020 la casa discografica Suonare Records ha pubblicato il suo CD di debutto e un secondo album monografico su Chopin é stato pubblicato da OnClassical nell’aprile 2021. Sue interpretazioni e interviste sono state trasmesse da Rai Radio 3, Radio Popolare, Rai Friuli Venezia Giulia e Radio MCA. Nel dicembre 2020 ha collaborato con il violoncellista Mario Brunello in occasione del 250esimo anniversario della nascita di Beethoven.Vincitore del XXXVI Premio Venezia, Elia si è affermato in Italia e all’estero in concorsi internazionali tra i quali spiccano il Viñes di Lleida, Ciudad de Ferrol, Pozzoli di Seregno, Casagrande di Terni, Schumann di Düsseldorf, Luciani di Cosenza, Città di Albenga, Bajic di Novi Sad, Chopin di Budapest, Marciano di Vienna, Brunelli di Vicenza, Bramanti di Forte dei Marmi.Nato nel 2001 a Treviso, Elia comincia lo studio del pianoforte a 9 anni con Maddalena De Facci sotto la cui guida si diploma da privatista con 10 e Lode presso il conservatorio di Cesena nel 2018. Nel 2020 ottiene il Diploma di Specializzazione dell’Accademia del Ridotto di Stradella studiando con Andrzej Jasinski. Si sta perfezionando con Elisso Virsaladze presso la Scuola di Musica di Fiesole.

Elia Cecino and Maddalena De Facci