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Giordano Buondonno for Roma Tre Orchestra Young Artists Series kept us enthralled with a clarity and luminosity of playing that I have not heard since the Michelangeli sound that was likened to ‘drops of crystal’.
Particularly suited to French music where clarity and atmosphere are united and the cloudy mists that are so often inflicted on this music are cleared,opening a window on a whole new world.
The Chopin Andante Spianato was particularly poignant as jewel like bel canto notes were floated on a sumptuous wave of fluid sounds.
Particularly noticeable was the arch of his hand and the flat fingers drawing the sounds out of each key.
Debussy Images Book one,a great speciality of Michelangeli’s together with Gaspard de la Nuit,where Giordano produced sounds that were not a pale imitation of the great master but highly intelligent interpretations of ravishing beauty.
He even convinced me that Rachmaninov’s highly personal transcription or reinvention of three movements from Bach’s violin suite is a sumptuous feast basking in Rachmaninovian sounds combined with Bach’s absolute genius.Similar to the Busoni transcriptions but with a voice that is unmistakably Rachmaninov.With Giordano’s aristocratic playing ,similar to Weissenberg’s in Rachmaninov,that was a sumptuous romantic feast indeed.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/06/20/giordano-buondonno-crystalline-clarity-and-mastery-at-st-marys/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/05/18/giordano-buondonno-at-the-solti-studio-masterly-performances-of-searing-intensity/

Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante in E flat op 22 was composed between 1830 and 1834. The Grande polonaise brillante in E-flat, set for piano and orchestra, was written first, in 1830-31. In 1834, Chopin wrote an Andante spianato in G, for piano solo, which he added to the start of the piece, and joined the two parts with a fanfare like sequence. The combined work (both orchestrated version and solo piano version) was published in 1836, and was dedicated to Madame d’Este.The Andante spianato (spianato means “even” or “smooth”) for solo piano was composed as an introduction to the polonaise after Chopin received a long-awaited invitation to perform in one of Habeneck’s Conservatoire Concerts in Paris. This was the only time Chopin had ever used the term spianato as a description for any of his works.

Images is a suite of six compositions for solo piano by Debussy.They were published in two books/series, each consisting of three pieces. The first book was composed between 1901 and 1905, and the second book was composed in 1907.With respect to the first series of Images, Debussy wrote to his publisher, Jaques Durand :”Without false pride, I feel that these three pieces hold together well, and that they will find their place in the literature of the piano … to the left of Schumann, or to the right of Chopin… “

“Reflets dans l’eau” is one of the many pieces Debussy wrote about water;in particular, light reflecting off its surface. The piece creates an image of water being not quite still, then becoming rapid, then decreasing in motion again. “Reflets dans l’eau” is also an example of the new tone colours Debussy discovered for the piano in this part of his life, and it is considered to be one of his greatest works for the instrument.

“Hommage à Rameau” is more subdued. It is a sarabande honouring the memory of Jean-Philippe Rameau^.

“Mouvement” is the most abstract designation of the pieces. It is a perpetuum mobile meaning that it is built around a continuous stream of notes.

Gaspard de la nuit (subtitled Trois poèmes pour piano d’après Aloysius Bertrand), was written in 1908. It has three movements each based on a poem or fantaisie from the collection Gaspard de la Nuit – Fantaisies à la manière de Rembrandt et de Callot.and was completed in 1836 by Aloysius Bertrand .The work was premiered in Paris, on January 9, 1909, by Ricardo Vines.The piece is famous for its difficulty, partly because Ravel intended the Scarbo movement to be more difficult than Balakirev’s Islamey.Because of its technical challenges and profound musical structure, Scarbo is considered one of the most difficult solo piano pieces in the standard repertoire.The name Gaspard is derived from its original Persian form, denoting “the man in charge of the royal treasures”: “Gaspard of the Night” or the treasurer of the night thus creates allusions to someone in charge of all that is jewel-like, dark, mysterious, perhaps even morose.Of the work, Ravel himself said: “Gaspard has been a devil in coming, but that is only logical since it was he who is the author of the poems. My ambition is to say with notes what a poet expresses with words.”Aloysius Bertrand author of Gaspard de la Nuit (1842) introduces his collection by attributing them to a mysterious old man met in a park in Dijon who lent him the book. When he goes in search of M. Gaspard to return the volume, he asks, “Tell me where M. Gaspard de la Nuit may be found”.”He is in hell, provided that he isn’t somewhere else”,comes the reply. “Ah! I am beginning to understand! What! Gaspard de la Nuit must be…?” the poet continues. “Ah! Yes… the devil!”his informant responds. ‘Thank you, mon brave!… If Gaspard de la Nuit is in hell, may he roast there. I shall publish his book.”

Nato a La Spezia nel 1995, Giordano Buondonno si diploma al Conservatorio Giacomo Puccini con il massimo dei voti e la lode. Ha studiato con Fabrizio Giovannelli, Vincenzo Audino e Folco Vichi. Nel 2021 ha completato un Master in Music Performance con Distinction presso il Trinity Laban Conservatoire a Londra, seguito da Sergio De Simone e Deniz Gelenbe. Nel 2022 nello stesso istituto completa un Artist Diploma, sempre con il massimo dei voti.
I suoi studi in questi anni sono stati finanziati da numerose borse di studio, tra le quali la Leverhulme Trust Scholarship, Jacqueline Williams Scholarship, Arthur Haynes Scholarship e da Dr. Prince Donatus Von Hohenzollern.
All’età di 19 anni ha vinto il primo premio al concorso Clara Schumann. Ha vinto il primo premio al PianoLink Concerto Competition, suonando il Concerto di Chopin in Mi minore con la PianoLink Philarmonic Orchestra diretta da Massimo Fiocchi Malaspina, nella Palazzina Liberty a Milano.Si è esibito in concerto in importanti sale londinesi come Steinway Hall, Kings Place Concert Hall, Saint James’s Piccadilly,South Hill Park Arts Centre, Polish Heart Club, Old Royal Naval College.
Ha suonato un recital sullo Steinway D “Fabbrini” appartenuto ad A.B Michelangeli, nella residenza londinese di George Solti.
È stato inoltre finalista alla Trinity Laban soloist competition e quarto premio alla Sheepdrove Intercollegiate Piano Competition. Ha rappresentato il Trinity Laban nella finale della Beethoven Intercollegiate Piano Competition.

Andrzej Wiercinski at St Marys A masterly recital of refined sensibility and artistry

Two afternoon recitals by Andrzej Wiercinski took place in the concert room that Susana Walton had built next to her husbands music room.It had been Sir William’s wish to create a space where music could be performed and heard.It was designed by their friend the Architect John O’Connell with special attention to the acoustical properties of all material used.In Sir William’s later years they had discussed the future of La Mortella and agreed that a trust should be formed to preserve La Mortella and to provide help and opportunities for young musicians.Young musicians from some of the major institutions worldwide have since been invited to perform in these wonderfully suggestive surroundings.The hall now boasts two Steinways and the concerts are also recorded for study purposes for the young artists.Not content with having built this 130 seat concert room after her husband’s death even though she had to sell off five holiday houses that surround the principal property to raise the necessary funds.The indomitable Susana has added to this magnificent hall an amphitheatre seating 400 ,where in the summer months Youth Orchestras from around the world can have a platform too.

Susana is buried next to her husband overlooking the garden in the Paradise that they had shared for so many years together and is now a living monument to them both.Andrzej had been invited to perform by the artistic director of the ‘Incontri Musicali’ the distinguished musician Lina Tufano.

Alessandra Vinciguerra,the director of La Mortella and President of the Foundation had made an opening welcoming speech on behalf of the ‘Walton’s’,as were Susana’s wishes.In her own words Susana stated that ‘I was created to take care of William’ and she continued to do that after his death in March 1983 until her own in March 2010 and their legacy will live on for generations.

Superb playing from a real artist offering some master works from the piano repertoire in the two afternoon concerts .Visitors to the gardens had been delighted to hear this young man rehearsing the Chopin Second Piano Concerto and were entranced by his ravishing sound and aristocratic style.An artist is always an artist even in the rehearsal studio and many of the visitors to the gardens had thanked him as he had a well earned rest between rehearsal and concert.It was though in the second recital that Andrzej reached the heights that I knew he would.I had told Lina about this remarkable young man and I was very touched that she trusted my opinion and invited him to Ischia.Lina has been organising concerts for over twenty years at La Mortella and knows that it is always the second recital that really takes ‘wing’.Could it be the shadow of Sir William in the green room with his special Bechstein piano where he composed many of his masterworks that intimidates the artists.Willie would be chuckling at that indeed!Andrzej had felt uncomfortable in his first recital but gave a fine recital,missing that magic that only the truly great artists possess.Playing that is like recreation and creates a rapport between the music and the public where the pianist is just a medium that can point out the beauty and detail in a journey that they are sharing together.Je sens,je joue ,je transmets. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/01/21/jonathan-ferrucci-in-vicenza-je-joueje-sens-je-transmets-a-timeless-search-in-music/

In the second recital Andrzej had decided to wear smart but casual clothes following in the tradition of Igor Levit and Juan Perez Floristan https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/05/07/levit-and-volodin-the-likely-ladsstrike-gold-with-debussy-and-rachmaninov/. and had freed himself from the straight jacket of more formal clothes. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/10/09/juan-perez-floristan-takes-london-by-storm/. ‘Clothes maketh man’ is a very English proverb but on this occasion oh so true!From the very first notes Andrzej created the magic that I knew he was capable of and took us on a sumptuous journey that held us in his spell.An artist who knew he could do what he liked and we would follow every move.It is one of those rare occasions that I would often experience in Rubinstein’s performances.Kantarow and Floristan,of Andrzej’s generation ,are those that can spin a web like the one we were caught up in today.It is the web of great dedicated artists- supreme stylists – of which Andrzej is most certainly one of the few that truly ‘dare’ in public performance.

Andrzej Wiercinski in Warsaw Sfera Sacrum Easter Festival

In the summer of 1819, Adolf Martin Schlesinger from the Schlesinger firm of music publishers based in Berlin sent his son Maurice to meet Beethoven to form business relations with the composer.The two met in Modling,where Maurice left a favourable impression on the composer.After some negotiation by letter, the elder Schlesinger offered to purchase three piano sonatas for 90 ducats in April 1820, though Beethoven had originally asked for 120 ducats. In May 1820, Beethoven agreed, and he undertook to deliver the sonatas within three months. These three sonatas are the ones now known as Op. 109,110, and 111 the last of Beethoven’s piano sonatas.

The composer was prevented from completing the promised sonatas on schedule by several factors, including his work on the Missa solemnis (Op. 123),rheumatic attacks in the winter of 1820, and a bout of jaundice in the summer of 1821.Op. 110 “did not begin to take shape” until the latter half of 1821.Although Op. 109 was published by Schlesinger in November 1821, correspondence shows that Op. 110 was still not ready by the middle of December 1821. The sonata’s completed autograph score bears the date 25 December 1821, but Beethoven continued to revise the last movement and did not finish until early 1822.The copyist’s score was presumably delivered to Schlesinger around this time, since Beethoven received a payment of 30 ducats for the sonata in January 1822.

Kreisleriana, Op.16, is a composition in eight movements that Schumann claimed to have written in only four days in April 1838 and a revised version appeared in 1850. The work was dedicated to Frederic Chopin but when a copy was sent to him he commented favourably only on the design of the title page.It is a very dramatic work and is viewed by some critics as one of Schumann’s finest compositions.In 1839, soon after publishing it, Schumann called it in a letter “my favourite work,” remarking that “The title conveys nothing to any but Germans. Kreisler is one of E.T.A Hoffmann’s creations, an eccentric, wild, and witty conductor.In a letter to his wife Clara,Schumann reveals that she has figured largely in the composition of Kreisleriana:”I’m overflowing with music and beautiful melodies now – imagine, since my last letter I’ve finished another whole notebook of new pieces. I intend to call it Kreisleriana. You and one of your ideas play the main role in it, and I want to dedicate it to you – yes, to you and nobody else – and then you will smile so sweetly when you discover yourself in it.”

Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante in E flat op 22 was composed between 1830 and 1834. The Grande polonaise brillante in E-flat, set for piano and orchestra, was written first, in 1830-31. In 1834, Chopin wrote an Andante spianato in G, for piano solo, which he added to the start of the piece, and joined the two parts with a fanfare like sequence. The combined work (both orchestrated version and solo piano version) was published in 1836, and was dedicated to Madame d’Este.The Andante spianato (spianato means “even” or “smooth”) for solo piano was composed as an introduction to the polonaise after Chopin received a long-awaited invitation to perform in one of Habeneck’s Conservatoire Concerts in Paris. This was the only time Chopin had ever used the term spianato as a description for any of his works.

 

Andrzej Wiercinski in Poland from the ridiculous to the sublime

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ludwig van Beethoven

Sonata no. 4 in E-flat major, Op. 7

I. Allegro molto e con brio

II. Largo, con gran espressione

III. Allegro

IV. Rondo: Poco allegretto e grazioso

 

Ferenc Liszt

Totentanz: Paraphrase on Dies Irae, S. 525

Recueillement. Vincenzo Bellini in memoriam, S. 204

Hungarian Rhapsody no. 12 in C-sharp minor, S: 244/12

Sonata no. 4 in E flat major, opus 7: Beethoven himself named this pianoforte sonata Grande Sonate because it was published by itself in 1797 – unusual for the time. It remains his second-longest sonata, behind the Hammerklavier Sonata op 106. Beethoven’s pupil (and Liszt’s teacher) Carl Czerny wrote: “The epithet appassionata would fit much better to the Sonata in E flat op. 7, which he wrote in a very impassioned mood”. It may be that the reason behind such passionate music was the composer’s attraction for his dedicatee, the then 16-year-old pupil Anna Luise Barbara Countess von Keglevich, and it is possible be that her father had commissioned Beethoven to write the work for her.

Totentanz (Dance of the Dead): Paraphrase on the ‘Dies irae’, S126 for pianoforte and orchestra is notable for being based on the Gregorian hymn Dies irae as well as for its many stylistic innovations. The piece was completed and published in 1849, and later revised twice (1853-9 and early 1880s. All these versions were also prepared for two pianos). In the late 1860s, Liszt published a version for pianoforte solo, S525. Some of the titles of Liszt’s pieces, such as Totentanz, Funérailles, La lugubre gondola and Pensée des morts show the composer’s obsession with mortality, as well as his profound Christian faith, these things being apparent from Liszt as a teenager right up until his last days – more than 50 years later.

In the last movement of the Symphonie fantastique by Berlioz the medieval (Gregorian) Dies Irae is quoted in a shockingly modernistic manner. In 1830 Liszt attended the first performance of the symphony and was struck by its powerful originality. Liszt’s Totentanz presents a series of variations on the Dies irae – a theme that his will have known since 1830 at the latest from Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique. As an early biographer noted, “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 second theme, beginning at variation 6 – taken from the Prose des morts in the Catholic breviary – is itself varied before the first theme returns at the end of the work.

Recueillement (Recollection), S204 (1877) was a gift to the Italian composer Lauro Rossi. It weaves arpeggios around a rising scale before settling into very simple, chordal writing. Written in memoriam Vincenzo Bellini (of whom Liszt had made famous paraphrases of his opera Norma, La sonnambula and I puritani, as well as the variations Hexaméron, on another theme from I puritani). Simplicity and sensitivity before a final salute from the older Liszt, dispelling any image of earlier keyboard wizardry, but revealing nonetheless the author of some of the most naturally grateful and percipient pianoforte music of all time.

The twelfth of the nineteen Rapsodies hongroises, S244/12 (c1847) is dedicated to Josef Joachim (who was Liszt’s principal violinst in the Wemar court orchestra, and with whom he later made a version of the piece for violin and pianoforte) is one of the most often played in recital and was a work that Anton Rubinstein and other great virtuosi would often include in their programmes. Liszt draws on five different folk themes to produce one of his most ingenious Hungarian Rhapsodies. It offers a unique mix of melancholy, glittering keyboard acrobatics and stormy, rousing dance. It became so popular that the original version was later arranged for orchestra, and for pianoforte four hands. Liszt collected Hungarian folk-songs and Zigeunermusik over many years – without particularly distinguishing between folk-song and gypsy band ‘standards’, and he was strongly influenced by this music that he had heard from his earliest days, with its unique gypsy scale, rhythmic spontaneity and direct, seductive expression. He went on major song collecting expeditions in 1840 and 1846, and he knew many composers of gypsy tunes, who often transpired to be members of the Hungarian upper middle class. The large scale structure of each was influenced by the verbunkos, a Hungarian dance form in several parts, each with a different tempo. Within this structure, Liszt preserved the two main structural elements of typical Gypsy improvisation―the lassan (“slow”) and the friska (“fast”).

Giovedì 11 maggio ore 20 Accademia di Danimarca.
La Musica è una cosa meravigliosa: César Franck, parte seconda
Sonata in la maggiore (versione per violoncello e pianoforte); Quintetto in fa minore per pianoforte e archi
Ruben Micieli, pianoforte vincitore Young Artists Piano Solo Series 2020 – 2021
Roma Tre Orchestra Ensemble

In questo omaggio a César Franck le eccellenze della nostra orchestra si uniscono ad una delle eccellenze della nostra Young Artist Piano Solo Series: Ruben Micieli è stato il vincitore dell’edizione 2021-2022 della nostra rassegna per giovani pianisti e con lui sono coinvolti per il Quintetto in fa minore alcuni dei migliori giovani musicisti che fanno regolarmente parte delle produzioni sinfoniche.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/04/20/ruben-micieli-triumphs-in-london-for-the-keyboard-trust-at-steinway-hall/

Roma Tre Orchestra vuole essere un’unica grande famiglia che supporta i giovani musicisti di tutta Italia nello sviluppo di una carriera musicale, permettendo loro di percorrere tutte le possibili vie professionali messe a disposizione da ciascuno strumento, dal repertorio sinfonico, a quello solistico e alla musica da camera.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/02/03/mozart-gala-for-roma-3-orchestra-the-vieni-vedivinciof-valerio-vicari/

Marvels at Roma 3 guests of the Danish Academy in one of the most beautiful parts of Rome where amongst others are the British,Romanian ,Egyptian and this splendid Danish Academy.It was a week dedicated to César Franck with these two chamber works and one of his greatest works for piano:the Prelude Choral and Fugue played by Alessio Santolini the 20 year old prize student of Roberto Prosseda.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/05/08/alessio-santolini-at-roma-3-the-fantasy-and-invention-of-a-composer-pianist/

Roberto Prosseda together with Maurizio Baglini are two important musicians that work together with Valerio Vicari and Prof.Pujia to help aspiring young musicians to reach their goal. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/11/10/roberto-prosseda-a-phoenix-hovers-over-roma-3/

And what a goal it is indeed with the orchestra created twenty years ago and beginning to make a mark all over Italy where it is regularly invited.Of course an orchestra does not create itself but is created by it’s talented players who unselfishly listen to each other and weld together for the glory of the music that they are creating together.It was Pappano who almost twenty years ago was invited to direct the S.Cecilia Orchestra which he has turned into one of the great orchestras of the world.It was done by creating opportunities for the orchestral musicians to play chamber music together and to learn how to really listen to each other rather than just following the man at their helm with the stick!The responsibility lies with each and every musician in an orchestra and it is the joining together of each individual player to create a whole that is the real secret behind every important ensemble.It was refreshing today to hear some of the members of the orchestra playing chamber music together with a star pianist who had also played concertos with them.Alessandro Guaitolini,the right hand man of Valerio Vicari,today gave a remarkable performance of the Franck Sonata.I have often thought that it’s passion and romantic sounds are better suited to the cello than the violin and was glad to discover that it may have been the original inspiration for the composer.Alessandro and Ruben gave a remarkable performance each one listening to the other as their passions raged and seduced.Never overpowering the other but sustaining the overall architectural line of this great work.The deep brooding sounds of Alessandro ‘s cello were answered by the ravishing beauty of Rubén’s playing.There was great virtuosity and excitement in the Allegro second movement especially from the piano with it’s notorious difficulty and unrelenting drive.The weight that Alessandro brought to the Recitativi brought to mind the Tortelier’s who had asked me if I knew what they meant by weight!The beautiful overlapping of the last movement was of pastoral beauty as it built up to the final passionate outpouring from them both united as they brought the sonata to fever pitch of excitement.

Daniele Sabatini’s beautiful romantic violin playing with such eloquent discreet slides was just one of the wonders in a superb performance of the piano Quintet.Alessandro uniting with Carlotta Libonati to reply to the passionate beauty of both Daniele and Enrico Massimiliano Cuculo.But they were all united around Ruben who gave a musicianly performance integrating and creating a sumptuous whole with his colleagues.The actual technical difficulties disappeared in a picture of passionate drive and a real ‘explosion’ of sumptuous music making .

The Violin Sonata in A was written in 1886, when César Franck was 63, as a wedding present for the 28-year-old violinist Eugene Ysaye .Twenty-eight years earlier, in 1858, Franck had promised a violin sonata for Cosima von Bulow .This never appeared; it has been speculated that whatever work Franck had done on that piece was put aside, and eventually ended up in the sonata he wrote for Ysaÿe in 1886.Franck was not present when Ysaÿe married, but on the morning of the wedding, on 26 September 1886 in Arlon,their mutual friend Charles Bordes presented the work as Franck’s gift to Ysaÿe and his bride Louise Bourdeau de Courtrai. After a hurried rehearsal, Ysaÿe and Bordes’ sister-in-law, the pianist Marie-Léontine Bordes-Pène.played the Sonata to the other wedding guests.The work is cyclic in nature, all the movements sharing common thematic threads. Themes from one movement reappear in subsequent movements, but usually transformed. Franck had adapted this technique from Liszt – his friend, and Cosima von Bülow’s father.Vincent d’Indy described the Sonata as “the first and purest model of the cyclical use of themes in sonata form”, and referred to it as “this true musical monument”.

The setting for cello and piano was the only alternative version sanctioned by Franck.This was created by the renowned cellist Jules Delsart.After thorough historical study based on reliable documents, Delsart’s transcription for cello (the piano part remains the same as in the violin sonata) was published by G.Henle Verlag as an Urtext.Based on oral history (Pablo Casals)and written document (letter written by Antoine Ysaye, Eugène Ysaÿe’s son),it has often been speculated that the work was first conceived as a sonata for cello and piano, and only later reset for violin and piano when the commission from Eugène Ysaÿe arrived.

The Sonata was given its first public concert performance on 16 December of that year,at the Museum of Modern Painting) in Brussels.Ysaÿe and Bordes-Pène were again the performers.The Sonata was the final item in a long program which started at 3pm. When the time arrived for the Sonata, dusk had fallen and the gallery was bathed in gloom, but the museum authorities permitted no artificial light whatsoever. Initially, it seemed the Sonata would have to be abandoned, but Ysaÿe and Bordes-Pène decided to continue regardless. They had to play the last three movements from memory in virtual darkness. When the violinist Armand Parent remarked that Ysaÿe had played the first movement faster than the composer intended, Franck replied that Ysaÿe had made the right decision, saying “from now on there will be no other way to play it”. Ysaÿe kept the Violin Sonata in his repertoire for the next 40 years of his life, with a variety of great pianists, and his championing of the Sonata contributed to the public recognition of Franck as a major composer.This recognition was quite belated; Franck died within four years of the Sonata’s public première, and did not have his first unqualified public success until the last year of his life (on 19 April 1890, at the Salle Pleyel , where his String Quartet in D was premiered).

Piano Quintet in F minor was composed in 1879 and has been described as one of Franck’s chief achievements alongside his other late works such as Symphony in D minor ,the Symphonic Variations,the String Quartet and the Violin Sonata ^.The work was premiered by the Marsick Quartet with Camille Saint-Saens playing the piano part, which Franck had written out for him with an appended note: “To my good friend Camille Saint-Saëns”. A minor scandal ensued when at the piece’s completion, Saint-Saëns walked off stage leaving the score open at the piano, a gesture which was interpreted as mark of disdain.The work has been described as having a “torrid emotional power”, and Lalo that it as an “explosion”.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2021/11/27/peter-the-great-peter-frankl-with-the-kelemen-quartet-in-budapest/

It was Peter Frankl one of the great chamber music players of our time who confided that the Franck Quintet was one of the most challenging of all the chamber repertoire.He was alarmed that the late Menahem Pressler had chosen to learn it and play it in Berlin at the age of 90.It turned out to be Peter’s last public performance and one of his greatest too in this historic performance only two years ago.

La musica per un mondo nuovo

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Alessio Santolini, al suo debutto nelle stagioni di Roma Tre Orchestra

In collaborazione con il Master Rec&Play del Conservatorio di Rovigo
Martedì 9 maggio 2023 ore 19 Convitto Vittorio Locchi
Alessio Santolini – Young Artists Piano Solo Series 2022 – 2023
F. Chopin: Notturno (n. 8 op. 27 n. 2 ) op posth in do diesis minore in omaggio a Prof Piero Rattalino
F. Chopin: Ballata n.1 op. 23
C. Franck: Preludio, Corale e Fuga
E. Casale: Piove vita
G. Taglietti: Sette piccole storie
A. Santolini: White flavours

Alessio Santolini è stato selezionato dalla Direzione Artistica di Roma Tre Orchestra nel luglio del 2022, tra i partecipanti al Master Rec&Play del Conservatorio di Rovigo coordinato dal Maestro Roberto Prosseda, amico da tanti anni di Roma Tre Orchestra.

Ecco un un interessante video dove Roberto Prosseda ci illustra il tipo di lavoro fatto con Alessio Santolini, anche in vista del concerto di martedì: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr8AzPqLwAx/

Fascinating to be able to see the remarkable Roberto Prosseda at work sharing his extraordinary multi faceted musicianship with his twenty year old student .I remember when Roberto was barely the same age and studying in the Cafaro household of the much loved Sergio Cafaro and Mimmi Martinelli.Roberto would often walk down the hill to the Ghione theatre to ask if he could try out new programmes for the obligatory competitions and auditions that are part of the arduous training to enter the music profession.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2021/01/13/roberto-prosseda-pays-tribute-to-the-genius-of-chopin-and-the-inspirational-figure-of-fou-tsong/

Fou Ts’ong would come once a year to play and give masterclasses that were a true inspiration to generations.He was always pleased when I told him that Roberto would play.Ts’ong admired the young Roberto for the way he could immediately do whatever he suggested they could try.Roberto went on to study with Fou Ts’ong at the International Piano Academy in Como that William Naboré had created on the Lake where Artur Schnabel had made his home.Karl Ulrich Schnabel,the son,was still alive and together with Leon Fleischer was one of the first of the important teachers at ‘Bill’s’ newly founded Academy.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/09/26/william-grant-nabore-thoughts-and-afterthoughts-of-a-great-teacher/

It was born ten years after I had realised my dream at the Ghione theatre in Rome.

Bill’s wish was to give the most talented young pianists the possibility to work in harmony and peace and spend time working alongside the great master of our time.Naturally Bill asked me if I could persuade Ts’ong to join this new adventure – he stayed twenty years and was joined by Rosalyn Tureck,Alicia de Larrocha,Peter Frankl,Murray Perahia,Alfred Brendel,Moura Lympany etc etc ……..Once the word had spread there was a queue at the door with all the greatest musicians and the most talented of young hopefuls who wanted to be part of this Academy of inspiration and ideas.By the nature of the Academy numbers were limited to the few super talented pianists.Roberto was one of these and it is where he met his wife another supertalented pianist Alessandra Ammara.Together they now have a music academy of their own ‘Music Felix’ in Prato and a career of such musical activity it would take a page or two just to make a list!Poliedric might be the term!

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2021/01/22/duo-prosedda-amara-french-women-composers-for-four-hands-from-palazetto-bruce-zane-in-venice/

It was the Intermezzo op 117 n.1 by Brahms offered as an encore that showed of Alessio’s sensitivity to sound and the beauty of a cantabile that had a fluidity created by his stroking of the notes and use of pedal.It was in this little work that his fantasy was contained within the framework that Brahms had so clearly etched.He chose a very slow tempo for the middle section which made for an unusually poignant contrast to the simplicity of one of Brahms’s most tender thoughts.It was the same fantasy and kaleidocopic sense of colour that brought the three contemporary works in the second half of his programme vividly to life.’Piove Vita’ by Casale and ‘Sette piccole storie’ by Taglietti showed a sensitivity to sound as their whispered secrets were shared by a convinced interpreter.His own work ‘White flavours’ was a triumphant virtuoso piece that brought this very interesting recital to a refreshing conclusion.

The Chopin Nocturne in C sharp minor had some ravishing moments but the dramatic contrasts were of a composer digging too deeply into a work that is already formed by others and just needs to be played simply.It was the same with the First Ballade that was played with some ravishing moments but with contrasts that did not keep in mind the architectural shape of one of Chopin’s greatest works.The Franck Prelude Choral and Fugue suited more Alessio’s sense of improvisation and voyage of instant discoveries.The Choral was played with beautiful sounds built up from the bass that gave great resonance to the melodic line.There was a strange distortion to the melodic line that had me checking the score to see what I might have missed but it was only Alessio’s fantasy at work.The mighty fugue was played with a driving rhythmic energy and the appearance of the opening theme on a wave of sounds was a moment of magic before the tumultuous build up to Franck’s great affirmation of faith.

Alessio (nato a Recanati nel 2002, ma residente da anni a Senigallia) inizia a studiare pianoforte a 5 anni. A otto risulta tra i primi idonei ammessi al Conservatorio di Musica G. Rossini di Pesaro dove nel 2020 consegue il diploma di pianoforte (vecchio ordinamento) con il massimo dei voti con la prof. Maria Picciafuoco. Ha studiato con i maestri Giovanni Valentini e Annamaria Raffa. Ha partecipato a Masterclass (interne ed esterne con i maestri Andrea Lucchesini, Maria Cristina Carini, Alexander Romanovsky, Francesco Libetta, Roberto Prosseda) ed ai Concerti Finali, organizzati dal Conservatorio e riservati ai migliori allievi dell’istituto.In ambito pianistico ha ottenuto il 1° premio in concorsi nazionali e internazionali, e si è esibito in occasione di manifestazioni pubbliche e private. Ha partecipato al progetto ”Zoom Beethoven”, la rassegna di concerti organizzata dall’Associazione Appassionata e Marche Concerti. In ambito compositivo, nel 2019 vince il 2° premio del Concorso Nazionale di Composizione “Poesia in Musica: Verso l’assoluto di Mauro Crocetta” con la composizione per violoncello e pianoforte titolata Spark and roses eseguita in prima esecuzione assoluta ad Ascoli Piceno il 28 settembre 2019, e nel 2020 partecipa al progetto ”Oltre l’ascolto – esperienze di diversa abilità nella dimensione della Musica” – Accademia d’arte lirica di Osimo, Lega del Filo d’Oro, Museo Tattile Statale Omero – realizzando una composizione per pianoforte e voce musicando la poesia All’alba eseguita in prima esecuzione assoluta il 12 dicembre 2020 al Teatro La Nuova Fenice di Osimo.Parallelamente all’ultimo anno di liceo, nell’anno 2020-2021 ha frequentato il corso di perfezionamento pianistico presso la scuola “Musica Felix” a Prato con il maestro Roberto Prosseda, il 1° anno del Triennio di composizione e il 1° anno di tirocinio di pianoforte previsto dal vecchio ordinamento presso il Conservatorio Rossini. Attualmente studia perfezionamento pianistico con il maestro Roberto Prosseda ed è iscritto al 2° anno del Triennio di composizione presso il Conservatorio Rossini sotto la guida del maestro Lamberto Lugli.

Igor Levit piano
Alexei Volodin piano
Two leading pianists come together for a programme of three major works for piano duo, ranging from Mozart’s 1781 sonata to Debussy’s 1915 suite via Rachmaninov’s 1893 ‘Fantaisie-tableaux’ suite; in addition, each also performs one solo work.

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Allegretto in C minor D915
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Arabeske in C Op. 18
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Sonata in D for 2 pianos K448
INTERVAL
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
En blanc et noir
Sergey Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Suite No. 1 Op. 5 ‘Fantaisie-tableaux’

Ravishing playing from Igor Levit opening with Schubert’s Allegretto in C minor.The simplicity and control of sound brought this seemingly innocuous piece vividly alive.In his sensitive hands it became a miniature tone poem with it’s whispered question and answer of such poignant beauty.

Alexei Volodin chose the Schumann Arabesque as his solo contribution to a two piano concert between friends.A much brighter sound had me thinking it might be a Fazioli piano instead of Levit’s Steinway.On closer inspection in the interval it turned out to be a twin Steinway.Playing of a stylist who had to ‘do things’ rather than let the music speak for itself.Some beautiful effects trying to find a new inflection for Schumann’s hauntingly returning rondo theme.An ending etched with a bright sound that made me think it must be a different instrument as it became an epic drama instead of a luminous dream.

The Mozart Sonata for two pianos found the two contrasting styles joining in a performance of agility and rhythmic energy rather than charm and grace.
The genius of Mozart shone through as they brought exhilaration and control with the outer movements that after all Mozart does mark Allegro con spirito and Allegro molto.But surely there are many moments in Mozart’s operas with the same indication but the singer has to breathe and shape the florid passages in what is a musical conversation.
It was in the Andante that they found peace and harmony as the music unfolded with a simplicity with only the slightest hint of embellishing Mozart’s purity of melodic outpouring.The coda was pure magic as one friend answered the other in a whispered conversation of ravishing beauty.

It was this beauty and a kaleidoscopic range of sound that they brought to Debussy’s En Blanc et Noir.Playing as one with a sense of colour and character that was astonishing in its range and emotional impact.
A superlative performance of Rachmaninov’s first suite had the audience justly on their feet cheering these two great artists to the rafters.

Of course hoping for an encore but what could they have possibly added to their transcendental performance of the peeling bells in Paques on this day of great celebration?

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/04/05/igor-levit-at-the-royal-academy-of-music/

Angela Gheorghiu showing the aspiring young singers at the Royal College how to embrace their audience from the moment they step on stage.

Her magnetic stage presence and emotions had Solti persuade the BBC to change their schedule to transmit live her Traviata from Covent Garden in 1994.Considered by many to be the true heir to Callas she has thrilled opera audiences around the world ever since.A beauty of voice and technical perfection but above all a hypnotic personality that knows how to possess the stage and absorb the personality of the part she is playing.

Emotion,emotion emotion she implored her young colleagues.Music is something live and vibrant even the long held notes make them live ….and wow she certainly showed them ……what it means to live every moment on and off the stage …….in fact she held us all in her spelll for almost three hours that passed all too quickly.She brought magic to us and a lesson that will remain more importantly for the stars of tomorrow who hope to follow in her footsteps!

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/05/09/dinara-klinton-at-the-wigmore-hall-rcm-benjamin-britten-fellow-recital/

Wonderful to see the Festival Hall full and to see Dinara Klinton on the stage where she truly belongs.
With two very fine musicians at her side who were both trained at the Menuhin School where Dinara is now a Professor.
Eunsley Park and Ella Rundle joined Dinara in a sumptuous performance of Tchaikowsky’s monumental Piano Trio à la mémoire d’un grand artiste.

A superb sense of ensemble but this is very much a Trio with a virtuoso piano part that in the wrong hands can lead to a very one sided match.
Dinara with the piano lid fully open never overpowering her colleagues but blending in with them in a musical conversation as the musical line was passed from one to another.
But there were moments when the piano was allowed to shine and it was here that Dinara’s ravishing playing carried into this vast hall as I have rarely heard from others.
There were cascades of notes from the piano as the Violin and Cello took over the melodic line and Dinara sustained them offering shimmering glowing accompaniments.

But it was the magic Dinara brought to the Theme of the Andante con moto that will remain in my memory.A pianist with a diaphragm that like a singer can send a tender message to the front row and make it resonate to the very last.It is called mastery and artistry and Dinara has both.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2021/06/04/dinara-klinton-in-perivale-and-washington-dancesongtalesflowers-and-romance/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2021/11/16/thibaudet-in-rome-the-supreme-colourist/

What a treat to have this great pianist at last in London.
Occasional performances with orchestra that last less than half an hour are not the same as two hours with a giant of our time.
His rather flamboyant appearance hides his technical mastery and a consideration for the students that played for him.He was such a refreshing change from the tyrannical goings on from the late Dmitri Bashkirov.

Thanks to Vanessa Latarche and Ian Jones that entice these great artists to London to share their secrets with the talented young musicians in their care.

Of course the greatest secret is not the most popular option for the young and beautiful .Work,work,work was also the same message that we heard yesterday from Angela Gheorghiu.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/05/06/angela-gheorghiu-technical-perfection-and-hypnotic-personality-ignite-the-rcm/

Curzon was famous for saying that music was 90% hard work and 10% talent.Serkin of course was the personification of this motto and woe betide anyone who did not think the same .
If only Thibaudet could have also been persuaded to play all the Debussy Preludes as he did for us in Rome recently.
What a revelation to find the secret of those opening few bars of Ancapri.Just flat fingers that barely touch the keys but that assumes you have ten wonderful trained fingers like steel and arms and wrists like rubber.Or the glissando in diminuendo in Feux d’artifice just allowing the hand to glide over the keys without any unnecessary gymnastics to compensate for fingers that aren’t both strong and flexible.

Firoze Madon was added to the list of students at the last minute and he gave a ravishing performance of Ravel’s Ondine .Thibaudet was happy to share some subtle ideas with a fellow artist.The long pedal at the end or the sudden change of dynamic with a cleanliness and purity that allowed him to rebuild the phrases and join chains together.

Peiyao Su played a beautifully clean and clear account of Ravel’s Alborada with astonishing double glissandi but steamy decadence and seductive beauty were not part of her world.

Xindi Zhu played three Debussy Preludes with great precision and musicality but the blinding sunlight of Anacapri,the tongue in cheek poking fun at General Lavine or even the Marseillaise heard in the distance through a haze of smoke she could not possibly be expected to understand.

Shunta Morimoto in Reading with the RPO under Antony Hermus.
Liszt’s First Piano Concerto shorn of all excess and rhetoric as Shunta restored it to the aristocratic nobility and scintillating brilliance that Arrau used to bring to it.

Partnered by the Dutch conductor Antony Hermus with infectious joie de vivre and dramatic flair,together with the RPO they were a formidable team.
If the Adagio was not ‘quasi’ as the composer asks it was because there were so many sumptuous sounds to distill with an orchestration remarkably like Grieg’s inimitable concerto that Liszt famously read from sight.Shunta soon picked up the tempo with playing of ravishing beauty where every note was a jewel in a crown floating on a wave of golden arpeggios.

In the rhetorical outbursts of the outer movements Shunta lived every moment of the drama as he not only played but also acted the part as the music took possession of him.
An audience and orchestra that were astounded by the volume of rich sounds this young man could draw out of the piano.Octaves that were shaped and coloured as the drama unfolded with extraordinary immediacy.

Yesterday in Hull the audience was treated to an encore of Chopin’s Mazurka op 17 n 4.
Today in Reading Shunta was totally exhausted after an all or nothing performance that all those present will remember for a long time.

Before the concert hours of work and after,total collapse.I remember that I brought a metronome each time Rosalyn Tureck came to us and she like Shunta would spend hours resetting her performance After, like Shunta,she would be totally exhausted from the complete giving of herself to the music.

Work,work,work is the only way.
Of course God given talent and methodical scholarship helps too!

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/05/23/shunta-morimoto-a-colossus-bestrides-villa-aldobrandini-as-it-had-when-liszt-was-in-residence/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/03/23/shunta-morimoto-takes-london-by-storm-i-have-a-dream-a-poet-speaks-through-music/