A fascinating combination of music and dance with Alistair Wroe and Raffaello Moretti at the Ghione Theatre in Rome. A programme that will be repeated in London on the 21st April at St John’s Smith Square. An eclectic choice of music superbly played by a pianist trained at the renowned International Piano Academy in Como with a Masters degree too from the Royal Academy in London. A dancer with a honours degree in contemporary dance from Trinity Laban music Academy in London. Raffaello Moretti also has a degree in Philosophy from Milan University and has just completed his PHD at Kings College London with a thesis on Alfred Cortot. A true renaissance man.And indeed it was a new art form that was reborn on the ‘wings of music’. Alastair Wroe has worked with many of the most important contemporary dance companies in Europe.
There was a very eclectic programme that was slightly modified after the interval due to the after effects of Covid on the artists a few weeks ago.Instead of the six short contemporary pieces that were in the programme we were treated to Chopin Preludes op 28 n1-12 and the Fourth Ballade op 52.Amazingly a change only decided after the fatigue of the first half on the dancer .These complex masterpieces by Chopin were performed with masterly style and authority and it should also be noted that Raffaello played the entire programme without the score.Even the complex transcription of the Shostakovich Quartet n. 8 in C minor which Boris Giltburg himself plays with the infamous I pad unfortunately too much in vogue these days !
The first impression listening and watching them perform together is almost like that of Eurythmics. A lost art form which has gone completely out of fashion these days but in the 20’s and 30’s was very much in vogue with Isadora Duncan the inspiration for many less professional would be dancers! This obviously was just a first impression but looking at the carefully constructed programme and the professionalism of these two artists they were able to shed much new light on classical music both old and new. It made this combination a fascinating art form and a ‘new route’ to a ‘recital’. It brings the message of music to an audience who also derive much enrichment from having a visual element synchronising and enhancing the musical performance.
D. Scarlatti. Sonate K 99,87, 155. These three sonatas were carefully chosen from Scarlatti’s output of over 500 and were played with scintillating style and clarity.From the simple beauty of K.99 to the beating of the drum and hypnotic dance rhythms of K.87 to the mellifluous outpouring of K.155 which led without a break into the bleak world of Shostakovich
D.Shostakovich. Quartetto in do minore ( trascrizione B. Giltburg).A long and complex work played without the score as they were both involved in interpreting this strange wondrous landscape that Shostakovich describes with such overwhelming power.
The promised second half that will be performed next time but today had to be substituted with:Chopin Preludes op,28 n. 1-12 and the Fourth Ballade op 52.A much requested encore was a very atmospheric performance of Satie’s Gnossienne n.1
T.Riley. Etude from the old country
J Adams China Gates
M. Price. Easter G.Ligeti Musica ricercata N 7 T. Riley. Simon’s Lullaby
E. Wild. Tre Studi da Gershwin
Alistair Wroe: Originario del Worcestershire, Alistair Wroe ha iniziato la sua formazione di ballerino presso il Center for Advanced Training di Birmingham e la Worcestershire Youth Dance Company. Ha completato un-BA (Hons) in Danza Contemporanea al Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Durante la sua laurea ha lavorato con diversi coreografi tra cui Gary Lambert, Struan Leslie e Marie Gabrielle- Rotie. Inoltre, Alistair ha lavorato a stretto contatto con Alison Curtis- Jones e la Dott.ssa Valerie Preston-Dunlop, in particolare su nuove realizzazioni delle opere di Rudolf Laban Nacht e Green Clowns. Ha quindi continuato la sua formazione presso la London Contemporary Dance School, dove ha conseguito il suo Master of Arts, seguito da un tour internazionale come membro di EDge. Alistair ha avuto l’opportunità di lavorare con Philippe Blanchard, Alexander Whitley, Dazed Magazine per Craig Green, Tom Rosenthal, Tom Roden e Joseph Toong, rivelandosi come uno degli artisti più̀ talentuosi ed interessanti della nuova generazione di ballerini britannici, per carisma, presenza scenica, tecnica, eclettismo e profondità̀ di interpretazione.
Si è esibito a livello internazionale in Svizzera, Malesia, Norvegia e Italia. Attualmente continua ad esplorare ulteriormente il suo ruolo di interprete ed é inoltre interessato ad acquisire una profonda comprensione della pratica coreografica.
Raffaello Moretti: Diplomatosi a 18 anni con il massimo dei voti e la lode, Raffaele Moretti é stato allievo prima a Parigi di Aldo Ciccolini e Marie- Françoise Bucquet, ed in seguito di Alicia de Larrocha (Master triennale presso l’Academia Marshall- Barcellona) e Tatiana Sarkissova (Master biennale presso la Royal Academy of Music – Londra).Ha inoltre studiato per quattro anni presso la International Piano Foundation- Lake Como, presediuta da Martha Argerich, seguendo le lezioni di William Grant Naboré, Leon Fleisher, Claude Franck, Menahem Pressler, Charles Rosen, Dmitri Bashkirov, Fou Ts’ong ed Andreas Staier. Ha quindi lavorato intensivamente con Galina Eugiazarova, a Madrid. Masterclasses press il Mozarteum di Salisburgo (Andrzej Jasinski), la Foundation Yamaha di Parigi (Elisso Virsaladze) e lo Schwelzig Holstein Musik Festival di Lubecca (Bruno Leonardo Gelber). Laureato della Fondazione Cima in Toscana, ha inoltre vinto il Primo Premio assoluto presso diversi Concorsi Internazionali (tra cui Moncalieri e Mondovì). Concerti in Italia, Francia, Spagna, Germania, Inghilterra, USA, Messico ed Argentina. Ha inoltre collaborato per diversi anni con il Quintetto de I Solisti Aquilani. Laureato in Filosofia con il massimo dei voti presso la Università Statale di Milano, dove ha discusso con Carlo Sini una tesi su Nietzsche, ha seguito altresì le lezioni di Jacques Derrida presso l’HESS di Parigi. Sta completando un PhD su Alfred Cortot presso il King’s College di Londra con Daniel Leech- Wilkinson.
Alistair Wroe & Raffaello Moretti in the green room after their performance Nice to see music gradually returning after the historic Euromusica seasons of the 80’s and 90’sIleana Ghione -Constance Channon Douglass e marito Cesare Marinsanti -Lydia e Guido AgostiGuido Agosti -Virgilio Mortari-Arrigo Tassinari ( first flute of Toscanini at La Scala )-Ileana GhionePaul and Maud Tortelier- their favourite photo taken in Rome on one of their many visits to the Ghione Theatre William Grant Naboré founder of the International Piano Academy in Como and linked in its early years with the Ghione Theatre.A pianist who played many times in the theatre and is mentor of Raffaello Moretti Peter Frankl who together with Fou Ts’ong were regular visitorsThe historic return to the concert platform of the High Priestess of Bach One of many seasons of Euromusica Teatro Ghione
Sarah Giannetti making her debut for Roma Tre University with a passionate outpouring of Romantic masterpieces.I had heard Sarah four years ago when she gave a full blooded account of Rachmaninov’s 3rd Concerto when only in her early twenties.I remember it was impressive for the passion and fearless courage with which she threw herself into the fray and came out a winner!
I had met her again at the piano festival organised by Roberto Prosseda in that magic town of Barga,well known for its Opera Barga annual festival.Now thanks to Roberto this jewel in the crown of Tuscany is also known for Piano Barga.Sarah was one of six distinguished pianists invited by Roberto and his wife Alessandra Ammara who together with the internet phenomenon Valentina Lisitsa were conducted by Jan Latham Koenig in a repetitive work for six grand pianos by Steve Reich.
The Appassionata sonata flowed from her hands today with the same energy and authority that I remember from four years ago.But now it is allied to a maturity and a technical assurance that she has gained from her studies since then with Leonid Magarius and Alberto Nosé in the International Piano Academy of Imola.
One of Beethoven’s greatest and most technically challenging of his 32 sonatas the Appassionata was considered by Beethoven to be his most tempestuous piano sonata until the Hammerklavier op 106 .1803 was the year Beethoven came to grips with the irreversibility of his progressively deteriorating hearing.Written in 1804/6 op 57 was published in 1807 and was not given the name during the composer’s lifetime (1770-1827),but in 1838 by the publisher of a duet arrangement of the work.Beethoven’s autograph manuscript of the sonata though has “La Passionata” written on the cover, in Beethoven’s hand.One was immediately impressed by the very robust playing of this quite frail looking young artist who gives such a strong rhythmic drive to all that she does.The opening trills were given immediately a rhythmic urgency as was the first tumultuous cascade of notes that she played very courageously with one hand as Beethoven had written them.There was drama too in the sudden chordal interruptions as she brought a broad sweep to the melodic line in the beautiful second subject that was just the calm before the storm.Sarah played these tumultuous interruptions with courage and technical prowess leading to the tempestuous declamation of the opening motif at the extremes of the keyboard .The flourishing cadenza before the coda was played with the anchor in the bass resounding so magnificently on this beautiful Fazioli piano.The treacherous scale passages she chose this time to split between the hands,as most pianist do.There is a school of thought via Arrau and Serkin that the risk – like in the opening of the Hammerklavier – adds to the animal excitement that the composer obviously intends and to play safe is not part of Beethoven’s game!I am surprised that such a lioness as Sarah did not rise to the challenge this time!
The Andante con moto was played with a forward movement as this chordal procession wends its way to the dramatic interruption that heralds the arrival of the last movement.I would not have deliberately underlined the left hand on each repeat though,but let the music speak naturally for itself as it moves in an almost religious way much as the chorale does in Chopin’s third scherzo.Any added inflections or rubato take away from the poignant beauty of the music.The Allegro ma non troppo was played with an architectural shape and relentless drive that was quite exhilarating.The coda too was played with overwhelming conviction but I would not have held up the tempo on the first two long chords of which the second is sforzando not ritardando and I would have had the courage to follow Beethoven’s long final pedal marking to the very end.But Sarah’s temperament and technical prowess just underlined that she is indeed ‘La Passionata ‘that Beethoven wrote on his score.
Chopin’s elusive Scherzi were played with sumptuous colours and scintillating virtuosity.Six year old Arianna applauded her mother with great enthusiasm as did the audience in a hall I have rarely seen so full. A magnificent new Fazioli concert grand allowed Sarah to share all Chopin’s deepest thoughts with kaleidoscopic colours of velvet richness.
Tumultuous applause also from her daughter Arianna
Unlike the classical model of the Scherzo the musical form adopted by Chopin is not characterised by humour or elements of surprise, but by highly charged “gestures of despair and demonic energy”.Schumann wrote about the first scherzo: “How is ‘gravity’ to clothe itself if ‘jest’ goes about in dark veils?”Although various Beethovenian features of the scherzo are preserved—an A–B–A structure with sections A and B contrasting, triple time, pronounced articulation and sforzando accents—in terms of musical depth, Chopin’s four scherzos enter into a different and grander realm. They are all marked presto or presto con fuoco and “expand immeasurably both the scale of the genre and its expressive range”. In these piano pieces, particular the first three, any initial feeling of levity or jocularity is replaced by “an almost demonic power and energy”.The first three are all in a minor key and the major key to the fourth brings a radiance and lyricism that was to be such a mark of Chopin in his later years.
The opening chords at the extremes of the keyboard of the Presto con fuoco B minor first scherzo were a call to arms with which Sarah threw herself with courage and technical prowess.The Old Polish Christmas Song ‘Lulaze Jezunin’ that Chopin quotes in the middle episode was played with a serenity and beauty and contrasted so well with the cry of the fortississimo chords that lead to the animal excitement of the coda.The second scherzo was played with contrast between the impish opening and the chordal replies.There was beauty and a delicate sense of balance in the lyrical episode marked ‘con anima.’The explosions of passion and heroism as Sarah swept effortlessly across the keys led to a coda of great exhilaration bringing a spontaneous round of applause even from her own six year old daughter.There was drama in the opening of the third scherzo with its continuous outburst of octaves but it was the sumptuous beauty of the chorale that will remain in my memory with the gentle cascades of bells never allowing the architectural line to waver as it moved so mysteriously to the minor and a passage that is reminiscent of Debussy’s submerged cathedral.The coda marked con fuoco allowed Sarah to throw caution to the wind as she brought this scherzo to a truly majestic ending.The fourth scherzo, the only one in a major key was full of lyricism and almost Mendelssohnian lightness.The beautiful middle episode was allowed to sing so simply and with such a subtle sense of balance. Chopin is in the realm of the ‘Gods’ here that together with the Fourth ballade and the Barcarolle these are three of the finest works ever written for the piano.Sarah played this final scherzo with all the aristocratic style and poetry that brought her Rome debut to a triumphant ending.
Arianna congratulating her mother at the end of her Rome debut recital .
The Etude Tableau op 33 n.2 from her new CD of the complete set op 33 was her way of thanking her new Rome public that had turned out in unusually large numbers to applaud this young Tuscan artist.
Arianna with Giovanni Andrea Pisanu
Poche opere segnano come l’Appassionata quel mutamento di tendenza che si è prodotto nel corso degli anni nei confronti dell’interpretazione di Beethoven. Considerata a lungo, e per motivi non solo squisitamente musicali, il capolavoro più rappresentativo del periodo eroico, la sonata op 57 passa da un climax al successivo con un senso di assoluta e irrefrenabile progressione, fino alla fine. Beethoven, dopo aver sperimentato in sonate precedenti una diversa successione dei movimenti, torna nell’op. 57 ai tre movimenti classici, ma ne sovverte dall’interno gli equilibri, perché il movimento lento centrale non è una pausa che interrompa la drammaticità dei due movimenti estremi quanto un’introduzione al finale, cui è direttamente collegato. Il finale acquista proporzioni imponenti e intensa drammaticità, paragonabili a quelle dell’Allegro assai, che a sua volta supera quanto si era mai scritto prima per il pianoforte. Fu l’editore Cranz di Amburgo che pubblicò dopo la morte di Beethoven la Sonata sotto il nome di “Appassionata”, cercando di evidenziare il carattere drammatico della musica, immersa in un gioco contrastante di due stati d’animo diversi. Non per nulla Romain Rolland, analizzando la struttura del primo tema dell’Allegro assai iniziale, giunse alla formulazione di una chiara indicazione di perfetta antitesi, così formulata; «Due facce opposte dell’io. L’io-forza selvaggia e l’io-debolezza tremante». Chopin scrisse quattro Scherzi in tonalità diverse (in si minore op. 20; in si bemolle minore op. 31; in do diesis minore op. 39; in mi maggiore op. 54) che non si richiamano affatto agli analoghi tempi inseriti nelle Sonate e nelle Sinfonie beethoveniane, ma riflettono un tipo di composizione dalla fisionomia tutta particolare, dove la fantasia dispiega la propria libertà di espressione nei modi e nelle forme più opportune. Secondo l’opinione di qualche critico autorevole, come il polacco Jachimecki, gli Scherzi presenterebbero alcune analogie stilistiche e formali con le Ballate per quel carattere rapsodico e dai sentimenti contrastanti che caratterizza questa “forma” pianistica chopiniana.
Artistic director of Roma Tre Orchestra – Valerio Vicari -his Young Artists Piano Solo Series give opportunities to so many gifted young artists to perform in Rome.
Con noi la pianista toscana Sarah Giannetti, al suo debutto assoluto a Roma.
Sarah with companion the pianist Giovanni Andrea Pisanu
Alexander Gadjiev at the Wigmore Hall with a monumental performance of the Schumann Fantasie of a radiance and beauty where his passionate and compassionate soul brought the words of Schlegel vividly to life:’Resounding through all the notes ….there sounds a faint long-drawn note for the one who listens in secret’. I have not heard the Fantasie played with such freedom and sensitivity since the very first time I heard it played that was by Rubinstein in the 60’s.
A Prokofiev 7th Sonata where Schumann is quoted but was of a desolation and desperation of quite overwhelming emotional effect.Whispered sounds echoed around the Wigmore Hall as rarely before.The insistence of the precipitato brought him to superhuman feats of exhilaration and animal excitement – the same playing for the moment of Rubinstein where empty note picking has no place in the overall power of the musical message they have to share.The simplicity and glowing beauty of the Chopin Prelude in E minor was quite unforgettable as was his Etude op 10.n.8.Thrown off with nonchalant charm and ease like the great artists of the Golden age of piano playing.Art that conceals Art or maybe just having something to say and not being afraid to share it
The Goldberg Variations in the National Liberal Club played for the first time by Daniel Grimwood on the magnificent new Steinway concert grand that sits so proudly in the hallowed halls of this illustrious club.
Alderman Tim McNally chairman of the National Liberal Club
As the chairman Tim McNally said this was the musical equivalent of scaling Everest and he made reference to Rosalyn Tureck who was described by the critics as the High Priestess of Bach.A mantle that passed to that eclectic and eccentric Canadian pianist Glenn Gould.It has now passed to another Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt who shares the accolade with Andras Schiff.
It was in the early nineties that I was able to persuade Rosalyn Tureck to return to the concert platform after years of dedicating herself in Oxford to the study of Bach and his absolute genius. She agreed to play in my theatre in Rome in late September after a brief workman’s holiday break in Sorrento. Of course I agreed even though it is still very much a holiday period and thought there would probably not be the public that she deserves. The theatre sold out and it was again the triumph reborn that she had known since having had a mystical experience about Bach in her early 20’s.
I took her all over Italy where she became once again the undisputed diva above all in Florence,the universal centre of culture. We became great friends during her Indian summer and I became a trustee of her Oxford Bach research institute.Her annual Symposia became a much awaited appointment for not only musicians but above all scientists and mathematicians all delving deep into the genius of Bach.
In that season a month later I invited Tatyana Nikolaeva to play the Goldberg Variations and was much criticised in unmusical circles for not having a more adventurous programme ! The comparison was enlightening and unique. Tureck like a monument carved in stone and Nikolaeva based on the more human song and the dance .
Daniel Grimwood and the magnificent new Steinway D that the chairman decided was an investment for the next 100 years replacing the previous worn out instrument that had been played by Rachmaninov and Moiseiwitch
So it is always with great interest and spiritual awakening that I listen to performances of the greatest set of variations ever carved in music. Let me say straight away that Daniel Grimwood gave a very fine performance that was remarkably the first time he had dared approach this monument.
A full hall for the greatest variations ever written. Daniel Grimwood persuaded to play them for the first time by Rupert Preston Bell
Playing with the score it was of a clarity and intelligence with discreet ornamentation,never overstepping the mark of good taste and genuine respect.
Having explained the significance of keys in Bach’s period where the key of G had a great meaning and the few times it entered the minor key was of great significance .There were some memorable moments from this very fine musician who every so often revealed the soul and sense of fantasy that is in every true artist. The end of the 21st variation disappearing into the infinite as he left the pedal on for the whispered entry of the sun appearing on the distant horizon in the 22nd. The glorious glissando type effect of the ornamentation in the ritornello of the French Overture – the half way mark where things start to get more serious and involved as we move to the glory of the 29th variation. The great organ stops in this penultimate variation resounding with such majesty on this magnificent Steinway. But then a moment of breathtaking beauty as the Quodlibet was allowed to enter in a mist of sound as these two popular melodies that Bach adds build to a passionate climax only to die to a whisper. Leaving the pedal ,a masterstroke that I have only experienced from Andre Tchaikovsky ,allowing the return of the aria to literally float on the magic cloud of G.
Yisha Xue presenting Daniel with flowers applauded by Chairman Tim McNally who had specifically asked for the Goldberg Variations to be performed at the Liberal Club
A full circle like in life. ‘In the beginning is our end’ – T.S.Eliot What a universal genius Bach is
I had never forgotten this performance that I heard in London in my student days and can do no better than to include her own programme notesRosalyn Tureck with my wife Ileana Ghione at our country home of Circeo Off her pedestal she was a dear and faithful friend Tatyana Nikolaeva on stage with Ileana Ghione
Meeting Igor Levit I am reminded of Victor Borge’s greeting to Kissin who he encountered in a New York restaurant after his sensational concert at Carnegie Hall. ‘A pleasure to meet you Mr Kissin I read you reviews’ he quipped,’They make me sick!’ All the young generation of pianists that I know have for a long time sung the praises of Levit and Sokolov ad nauseam. Sokolov I never miss his annual recital in Rome but Levit I have never heard live until today. I am very pleased to say that there is no doubt for me either today that we are in the presence of someone with such phenomenal energy and total mastery together with an all consuming passion for all he does. Some might call it genius and he has much in common with that other phenomenon Andras Schiff who is on record as calling Levit a genius. Takes one to notice one as they both share their knowledge and art with aspiring young musicians as well as gracing the most important concert halls throughout the world with enviable amounts of the piano repertoire. A three hour Masterclass on his day off from performing the complete Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues and performing the 90 minute Stevenson Passacaglia. There was no sign or tiredness or irritability.On the contrary there was a man inspired as he was inspiring and with selfless kindness and consideration proceeded to illuminate all that the three remarkable students set before him.
He had asked for Beethoven and got a magnificent Chinese pianist Yuzhang Li, playing the most beautiful of all concertos n. 4 .
Followed by Aidan Mikdad with the most beautiful of the Sonatas op 110.The promised Emperor was changed due to illness to the scintillating youthful n 2 with Gabrielé Sutkuté .As Levit said a cadenza that is a lesson how not to write a fugue!
What a morning as we all left on the crest of a wave of such inspiration …..no wonder Schiff or Levit never sleep,a life in music is too precious to waste on sleep
Petar Dimov playing in this new venue today two masterworks of the keyboard literature. Played with unusual intelligence and musical integrity that brought refreshing new life to a well worn friend like the Italian Concerto. It was interesting to see a gleaming new grand piano mounted on a stage like plinth in this Methodist Church in the centre of Acton in west London.Looking at the name of the piano I was surprised to see a name unknown to me……I have known many makes of piano even including a Barenboim but the name Pinkham was new to me.The very informed church master of music ,Jane Schopf,suggested I look on google for information about this piano made in Cornwall – something I was glad to do as you will see below. But it is Petar Dimov’s playing that was so interesting.
A Bach with such subtle ornamentation that gave character to the outer movements bringing them vividly to life with a real sense of joie de vivre in the Presto and of the grandeur of concerto in the Allegro moderato.The Andante by contrast was of a disarming simplicity allowing Bach’s beautiful aria to sing with such purity over the continual bass heart beat.The hushed re entry of the solo voice where a mere murmur drew the audience in to marvel at the simplicity of Bach’s genius where so few notes could mean so much. The beauty of the piano sound too was remarkable for its purity and penetration where the kaleidoscope of sounds in the Brahms was remarkable for its warmth and clarity.
Of course Petar’s masterly musicianship had much to do with that but was helped rather than hindered by an instrument that responds so readily. There was a sense of orchestral colour as the majestic opening chords of the Brahms F minor Sonata rang out only to be answered by the gentle palpitations of the horn and cello’s or the grandiose chorale with the non legato bass comments. Such grandeur that was to dissolve into liquid sounds of ravishing beauty before the grandiose development episode that gave way to palpitations in which a dialogue emerges between bass and tenor registers. The Andante was of luminosity and a constant flow of beauty gradually leading to the magic of the ‘poco più lento’ where the tone that Petar was able to share was of a whispered confession of such delicacy. Gradually increasing in intensity until the explosion of passion that Brahms himself marks ‘con passione e molto espressivo’.The consequent gradual disintegration was enhanced by the care that Petar took over the rests in the final gentle pulsating left hand before the coda that Brahms marks ‘Andante molto espressivo pianississimo’.This is surely one of the marvels of all piano literature that Petar played with the same absolute simplicity and beauty that all those that heard Rubinstein or Curzon have never forgotten.
A scherzo that flew out of his fingers but with such attention to detail where the great bass melodic line was commented on by gently cascading streams of notes in the treble with a clarity and care of phrasing that was rare indeed.The trio too was played with the full rich sound of a string orchestra where all the voices had an importance that created a sumptuous whole. There was a stark mystical atmosphere to the Intermezzo introduction to the last movement that was played with an improvisatory quality that was both tender and terrifying with its thunderous bass notes relentlessly insistent.Leading to the final gasps played miraculously without any ritardando or pedal.The finale was played at a deliberate pace where the syncopated chords acted as break like interruptions before the final abandonment and mellifluous outpouring of melody.The rich and glowing sound of the chorale was of a beauty worthy of the Philadelphia orchestra as it gradually built up to the frenzy of the coda on which floats the melodic line in a sort of whirl of almost Irish merriment! Finally the frenzy giving way to a passsionate climax in an explosion of grandiose full orchestral sounds of sumptuous beauty. An encore of one of Petar’s own compositions just went to demonstrate the complete musician that he is.
Matthew McLachlan Damir Duramovic Petar Dimov Ross Koopmans
It was refreshing too to see his musician friends present to admire and salute their colleague on one of his all too rare public performances .
Clive Pinkham’s love and passion for the piano started from a very young age. The enthusiasm for the instrument gave him a lifetime of dedication striving for perfection. He used to do ten hours a day piano practice and found it frustrating having to play on poor pianos. From this a burning desire was born to make a piano that would respond accurately to what he asked of it. His aim was to create a piano that was affordable to all. A piano that would respond accurately to what he was asking from it, and a piano that would produce an effortless long rich sweet singing tone. Clive Pinkham gave his first piano recital at the age of eight and went on to win the prestigious August Holmes scholarship to the London College of Music. He has given recitals at the Purcell Room of the Royal Festival Hall, at the Wigmore Hall and has appeared on American and British television. “My philosophy is a total commitment to quality and customer satisfaction. For me it is important for my pianos to be of the very best as it is my name that is on the front of each piano, and I know myself first hand how much pleasure can be given by a piano that is a dream to play.” Telephone: +44 (0) 845 0703833 / +44 (0) 1579 370423 clive.pinkham@pinkhampianos.com
Jun Lin Wu may have complained of an early start today but Elton John’s piano certainly had no complaints. In the hands of this young Chinese pianist it was seduced ravished and conquered as rarely it can ever have imagined in its most wildest history. A world of such sublime beauty and demonic energy combined with such an aristocratic sense of style and irresistible sense of rubato. Bar lines did not exist as there was a sense of recreation with sounds that seemed so refreshingly spontaneous with a technical mastery that knew no limits.
A very spacious opening to Chopin’s late masterpiece op 61 Polonaise Fantasie that was exactly that.An opening of such spaciousness and subtle colour with a gradual build up to the sumptuous passionate final climax. The gentle opening arpeggios of Chopin were immediately answered by the savage animal attack of Scriabin’s opening of his 5th Sonata.Instantly dissolving into a magic world of mystery and kaleidoscopic colours.A luminosity of sound that gently penetrated the multicoloured world it inhabited and was played with a clarity and quite remarkable sense of balance. Interspersed with demonic bursts of energy as it led so unrelentingly to the final glorious star of Scriabin’s unique magic world . It is one of the marvels of the world how the Chinese soul mirrors that of Chopin. It is the same heart that throbs with nostalgia and an irrepressible sense of rhythm that is inborn.It was infact Fou Ts’ong who astonished the public in the Warsaw competition all those years ago playing the mazurkas as we had only thought possible from Chopins compatriots. Such sense of aristocratic charm and heartfelt nostalgia interspersed with infectious rhythmic elan that sounded so sincere and natural. Something so in born that it cannot be taught or added as it comes from within.This fresh faced looking young man certainly has a soul of a quite extraordinary poetic depth.
Agosti’s famous Firebird was unleashed on an unexpecting public with a demonic energy that was quite breathtaking. This has long been one of the most challenging of all transcriptions even out doing Stravinsky’s own Petrouschka that the composer dedicated to his friend Artur Rubinstein to try to appease the Ragtime that Rubinstein had commissioned from his friend but refused to play as Stravinsky was intent on demonstrating that the piano could not sing but was purely percussive. This transcription written in 1928 by Agosti who was to live until the ‘80’s and where every summer the musical world would frequent his studio in Siena where sounds never to be forgotten were to be cherished.
Lydia and Guido Agosti with my wife Ileana Ghione in the Teatro Ghione in Rome
Agosti had abandoned the concert stage very early to dedicated himself with religious zealousness to the masterworks that his teacher Busoni had shared with him in his youth. After such a frantic attack of the Firebird the sun suddenly appeared in a magical cloud of sounds that led to the final triumph of the Firebird. Jun Lin Wu had no need to ask if his audience would like more. Cordoba by Albeniz was his thank you farewell of sultry sounds and rhythms played as to the manner born in a masterly performance that I expect his mentor Dmitri Alexeev had imparted to him. The same mastery that Alexeev one of the greatest pianist of our day generously shares with a select few at the Royal College of Music just a few steps away from the Albert Hall
Some ravishing playing from Hao Zi Yoh at the LSE .Playing of such clarity and purity,sensibility and intelligence that brought everything she played vividly to life.It was in Mozart’s simple C major sonata K.330 that this ability to make the music speak brought operatic life to a work that Schnabel famously said was too easy for children but too difficult for adults. The ornaments in the first movement unwound like a spring of real jewels allowed to glisten and gleam with such ease and simplicity. Art that conceals art was indeed the hallmark of this refreshingly innocent young artist who could imbue everything she touched with a life of its own.
From the golden sounds of Debussy’s Pagodes to the sultry seductive atmosphere of Soirée dans Grenade.Has the rain ever been so insistent as in Jardins sous la Pluie where even the gentle patter of rain and the eventual tempestuous torrent that followed could not diminish the radiance of the little children’s melody and the crystalline clarity of innocence that Debussy so magically allows to sing out during such a downpour .The ending is so similar to Ravel’s Jeux d’eau where the water is obviously continuing into the distance and we are only allowed a brief glance while the water continues on to some distant land
Glissandi played with transcendental ease
‘Ondine’ too sang so happily in such clear waters and even the impending turbulence did not disturb Hao Zi’s extraordinary sense of balance and a technical command at the service of the musical line .Glissandi on white notes and black were played with such ease as streams of sounds swept over the keys before cascading down like a great waterfall The tolling bell in ‘Le Gibet ‘ was with a relentless luminosity despite all the cloudy atmosphere of the desolate landscape .A technical control of sound that was remarkable as it was unnoticeable. The devilish imp ‘Scarbo’ streaked across the keyboard like strokes of lightning as he went on his devilish way with an unstoppable rhythmic drive.Only stopped by the great chimes that Hao Zi struck from above as this devilish thing burnt himself out
A fascinating programme from a real thinking musician with a crystalline technique. Giulio Biddau brought the sonatas by Domenico and Alessandro Scarlatti vividly to life with just a minimum of ornamentation helped a little by Von Bulow.Always in such good taste and style and was a good visiting card for his new CD. Standing in at the last minute for an indisposed colleague he gave a recital of impeccable style and technical prowess.
Not only Scarlatti but Haydn Andante and variations were played with a simplicity and clarity that reminds me of Alicia de Larrocha. Brahms Handel Variations were played with the same refreshing clarity where Brahms’s sometimes orchestral sounds were given a refreshing sense of line never overwhelming these intricate variations with unnecessary volumes of sound or grandeur. A masterly performance of Chopin’s revolutionary study was his way of thanking his enthusiastic public in this interesting series in Viterbo directed always by Professor Franco Ricci.
Scarlatti to Scarlatti is the title of the new CD of Giulio Biddau and I print some of the very interesting notes from the very serious study that has gone into these interpretations
Released: 28 January 2022 Reference: AP283 Buy this album Label Aparté Credits Enregistré par Little Tribeca les 29-30 juin et 26-27 novembre 2020 à la Salle Colonne, Paris Direction artistique, prise de son : Nicolas Thelliez / Hugo Scremin Montage, mixage et mastering : Ambroise Helmlinger Enregistré en 24 bits/96kHz
Editions of Domenico Scarlatti’s almost 600 keyboard sonatas were for a long time based on uncertain sources. The resulting editorial confusion gave rise to different readings at different times and in different places. A prime example is Hans von Bülow’s selection of eighteen of the sonatas (published in 1864), viewed through the prism of Romanticism. On this double album the pianist Giulio Biddau compares that version with a recent critical edition. Each sonata is played twice, thus alternating the perspectives and shedding light on two different approaches to Scarlatti’s work.
Se scrivo così alla buona, e non con eleganze di bel dire, mi contento, e non sarà poco, che mi consideri come Musico, non come Rettorico.
Francesco Gasparini, L’armonico Pratico al Cimbalo, Venezia, 1708 1 ”If I write plainly and without the niceties of a cultivated style – so be it; I shall not be hurt if you consider me a musician, not a rhetorician.” (trans. Frank Stuart Stillings, New Haven: Yale School of Music, 1963)
Scarlatti: sources and the modern piano By recording Domenico Scarlatti’s keyboard repertoire, one is inevitably confronted to the problem of source materials: no autograph manuscript of his sonatas has ever been found. Only 30 pieces of Scarlatti’s vast output were ever published; these appeared in 1738 in a volume entitled Essercizi per Gravicembalo. Posthumous editions of his compositions were often ‘Revised with a Variety of Improvements’, as Ambrose Pitman’s 1785 edition of The Beauties of Domenico Scarlatti put it. Not until the 20th century did research carried out by specialists establish more faithful texts. Thanks to Maria Barbara of Braganza, the prescient Spanish queen who was Scarlatti’s student and benefactor, modern editors possess reliable and complete sources of the sonatas in two series of manuscripts that were probably copied from originals that were subsequently lost. The manuscripts are preserved in the Biblioteca Palatina in Parma and the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice. They form the basis for the critical edition I chose for my recording, which was published in 1978 by Emilia Fadini, the recently deceased Italian harpsichordist and musicologist who accompanied me throughout my research on Scarlatti.
One must wonder, however, whether there is a contradiction between the desire for authentic sources and the adaptation of Scarlatti’s music to the modern piano. For many years it was thought that his sonatas had been primarily written for the harpsichord; the organ was sometimes considered as a possible instrument for their performance, and the fortepiano not at all. Ralph Kirkpatrick, who spearheaded the philological rediscovery of Scarlatti, unambiguously reaffirmed this hypothesis in 1953. Certain musicologists still share his opinion today, despite the fact that historians have established a surprising correlation between the spread of Bartolomeo Cristofori’s Gravicembalo col piano e forte on the Iberian Peninsula and the movements of Scarlatti and Maria Barbara’s court, where the presence of this instrument is well documented. Perhaps one day we will know more about the instrument for which these works were written. In the centuries following their composition, Scarlatti’s sonatas were not played on the harpsichord and were adapted several times, first for the fortepiano and then for its modern counterpart. This pattern began in 1791 with Muzio Clementi’s edition of Scarlatti’s Chefs-d’oeuvre, in which the musical text was appended for the first time to include dynamics (piano and forte), new phrasing, and suggestions about rhythm. Scarlatti’s music was published ‘in colour’ until the 1950s: the most important editions, those of Carl Czerny for Haslinger (1839) and Alessandro Longo for Ricordi (1906), were still intended for pianists, and included an arsenal of indications dealing with articulation and expression on their instrument. But it was after 1850 that indications in the score reached their greatest density; Bülow’s anthology belongs to this generation of publications. I discovered his edition, which had never been recorded before, during my research on the fortunes of Scarlatti’s work. The encounter was enlightening for me, because it provided the answer to another question I had been asking: how to choose among Scarlatti’s sonatas? While Kirkpatrick catalogued 555 sonatas by Scarlatti, further discoveries have brought the tally up to around 600 keyboard pieces. Almost all of them are one-movement works, and musicologists have long debated about how they should be grouped. First Kirkpatrick and then Joel Sheveloff identified correlations between successive sonatas in the Parma and Venice manuscripts, which led to the conclusion that Scarlatti sometimes imagined his sonatas as bi- or tripartite works, which were common at the time. Other solutions appeared in revised editions. Alessandro Longo, for example, suggested groups of sonatas that he termed suites, and these sequences, although they are completely arbitrary, are often quite successful.
The Bülow edition A commercial adaptation The most surprising procedure was carried out by the legendary pianist and conductor Hans von Bülow in the anthology of Scarlatti sonatas he published in 1864. In order to make the repertoire more interesting to the German public, Bülow selected 18 sonatas from the Czerny edition and arranged them in groups based on key signatures (sometimes transposing them into new keys2) to form three six-piece suites. In these new configurations the term sonata, which Scarlatti had used in keeping with Baroque practice, was often replaced with the name of the dance with which Bülow associated the music. These adaptations of course also altered tempo indications. Examples include K. 83, which was changed from Allegro to Moderato, ma deciso, and K. 446, which Scarlatti labelled Pastorale: Allegrissimo and Bülow modified to Siciliano: Andantino.4 Tempo changes like these, which appeared during the same period in pianist Carl Tausig’s edition, were not without consequences: for many years Scarlatti’s sonatas were performed at these slower tempos, and what had originally been editorial remarks evolved into a performance tradition. Indications in the score The most interesting thing in the Bülow edition for the modern performer is the phrasing. Bülow’s indications in the score correspond quite precisely to the advice given in the treatises of Quantz, Leopold Mozart, and Türk. Although the overall effect is sometimes rather muddled by an excess of romantic dynamics, this edition contrasts with those of the early 20th century, in which the lovely phrasing is replaced with staccato markings that aim to mimic the sound (but not the playing technique) of the harpsichord. Unfortunately, Bülow sought only to perpetuate the German tradition, probably because he was unaware of 17th and 18th centuries Italian tutors like the one written by Francesco Gasparini, one of Scarlatti’s teachers. He therefore missed out on certain performance practices that Gasparini explains, such as the suonar pieno (and the acciaccatura) – the simultaneous playing of a chord with other short nonharmonic notes – and deviations from the rules of counterpoint like doubling certain octaves and fifths.5 Corrections Since Bülow did not understand the originality of and the traditions associated with Scarlatti’s writing, he systematically corrected it.His wish to make Scarlatti resemble J.S. Bach should not be seen as an outrage, as the philological precautions of today were not in place at the time. The dissemination of earlier repertoires inevitably took place through new editions and on the stage, and performances of these works, including Hummel’s Mozart and Busoni’s and Godowsky’s Bach, very often brought them up to date. In light of our current historicist sensibilities, it would be better to refer to the Scarlatti-Bülow score as a transcription rather than an edition. Confronting such transcriptions can be quite fruitful for today’s performer, because their attention to dynamics and widely varied phrasing is the most authentic and faithful route back to the performance tradition, unlike the editions of the early 20th century. Bülow’s interventions are also interesting to analyze because they suggest ways of varying the repeats in the sonatas, such as by adding counterpoint.7 Although Bülow’s variants are often a far cry from Scarlatti’s style, they sometimes result in charming hybrids. One of these can be heard in Sonata K. 96,8 in which passages of repeated notes metamorphose into an almost Mozartian style. It should be mentioned in closing that, among the 18 sonatas included in Bülow’s anthology, two of them were not written by Domenico Scarlatti: the Fugue in F minor and the Prelude in G major9 are by Alessandro Scarlatti, his father. I chose to include them in the present recording, however, in order to preserve the structure of the suites.
The Fadini edition The critical edition I felt the need to base a second recording of these Scarlatti sonatas on more up-to-date critical editions: it was crucial to blend the problems of the Bülow edition with historical and musicological information acquired since his time. Emilia Fadini’s edition struck me as the most complete: its critical apparatus is wide-ranging and brimming with information; it faithfully reproduces the original notation; and most importantly, it preserves the Andalusian harmonies that other editions misinterpreted. Once I had solved the problem of which text to use, I concentrated on the performance questions posed by the Bülow edition, developing them in my second reading. Varied repeats Although musicians of the past abstained from varying repeats – perhaps also because of Kirkpatrick’s indications –, it has become more common to do so nowadays. This parallel with Bülow’s edition encouraged me to vary each repeated passage with slight or more elaborate modifications, sometimes developing a contrapuntal passage, sometimes using a different affect. I gave myself permission to feel free in these instances, as musicians did in the baroque period, and in contrast with the romantic era, when such matters were the prerogative of the composer – or the editor…
Questions of tempo My comparison of the two Scarlatti editions also dealt with tempo choices. My research showed me how much the meaning of tempo indications has changed over the centuries. After the baroque era these indications gradually became steps on a scale of speeds stretching from Largo to Prestissimo, whereas earlier they had been more flexible, and defined more the character of a piece than its pace. In the baroque period the word Andante, for instance, was much closer to its literal meaning (“at a walking pace”), and indicated performance speed as well as the mood of the music. In Bülow’s edition, however, it is used as a synonym for Langsam. A second aspect I considered was the sonatas’ brilliant, virtuoso side, which I feel is often exaggerated. Many of these works were written for pedagogical purposes, and it is necessary to put certain anecdotes – like Charles Burney’s description of Scarlatti’s music as “ten hundred devils at (the) instrument” – and partisan readings – such as those of the “futurists”, who feel that Scarlatti was a precursor of their modernity – into a different perspective. I chose not to exaggerate the virtuosity of Scarlatti’s music, and instead opted for speeds that were guided by the Andalusian rhythms, and by their at times dizzying repetition. The Spanish element The necessity of underscoring the Spanish element also informed my decision to present the original text side by side with the version from Bülow’s anthology. Apart from the following description of Sonata K. 377 – “composed in Aranjuez, the Spanish King’s palace, 1754” – Bulow did not show much interest in Iberian elements, and reserved his praise for sonatas that prefigured romantic music.10 The research and the critical apparatus included in Emilia Fadini’s edition are, on the other hand, extremely thorough, and allow us to grasp the importance of the Spanish influence. Certain sonatas – for instance K. 96 and K. 17311 – provide meticulous descriptions of the Andalusian universe. The listener experiences the zapateados of the bailadora, the clicking castanets, and the rasgueados and punteados of the guitar accompaniements. The repetition of these figures often results in accelerandos, tempo changes, and sudden pauses, after which Scarlatti catches the listener with a new type of expression. These sudden and intensely lyrical passages are reminiscent of the cante jondo tradition, the melismata through which persecuted Andalusian minorities expressed their despair and rebellious feelings. Although García Lorca acknowledged the influence of the cante in Debussy’s music (in La Puerta del Vino and La soirée dans Grenade), we should also recall that the first great composer to illustrate this tradition was Scarlatti. Pairing the same pieces as mirror images of one another enabled me to demonstrate two visions that travel between Spain and Germany, the court to the inn, and the baroque to the romantic. This double interpretation of these sonatas, this toing and froing between the transparence of the Urtext and the perspective of Bülow, projects Scarlatti’s music into the kaleidoscope of history. 10 This includes Sonata K. 525 which corresponds to the Scherzo, the last piece in Bülow’s second Suite, and which in his opinion anticipated the music of Beethoven.
Born in Cagliari, Sardinia, in 1985, Giulio Biddau took up the piano at the age of twelve with Arlette Giangrande Eggman (a pupil of Dinu Lipatti and Nikita Magaloff) at the Cagliari Conservatory, and with Boris Petrushansky in Genoa. He then moved to Paris to attend classes with Jean-Marc Luisada at the École Normale de Musique, where he obtained his Diplôme Supérieur de Concertiste. In 2007 he continued his studies at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome with Sergio Perticaroli, and for the past two years, he has been coached by Aldo Ciccolini, whom he meets regularly in Naples and Paris.Giulio Biddau has won several international competitions, including the Casagrande Competition in Terni, the Iturbi Competition in Valencia, the Porrino Competition in Cagliari. In September 2009 he won first prize at the Concours international des Nuits Pianistiques – Lauréats SPEDIDAM in Aix-en-Provence, as a result of which he has been invited to take part in some of the most important festivals in France, including the Festival de Radio France-Montpellier, the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades and Piano en Valois in Angoulême.He has given many concerts in Europe, playing for such institutions as the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari, the Dino Ciani Festival in Cortina, the William Walton Foundation of Ischia, the Villa Medici in Rome; in France he has played at the Salle Cortot in Paris, the Grand Theatre de Provence in Aix, and in Pontoise, Nancy, Rouffach, Gerberoy; in Spain, at the Palau de la Musica of Valencia and Leon; in Sweden, at the Berwaldhallen, Stockholm; and in Slovenia, Austria, etc.He has appeared with orchestras including that of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Orchestre National de Montpellier, the Orquesta del Palau de la Musica in Valencia, the Orchestra del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Les Siècles, the Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese… under Lawrence Foster, Francois-Xavier Roth, Tan Dun, Max Bragado…As a chamber musician Giulio Biddau plays in duo with the violinist Anna Tifu and he works with singers Lisa Visentin and Alessandra Martirossyan.His repertoire includes many composers of the second half of the twentieth century, including Ligeti, Gubaidulina and Dutilleux, and he is also committed to contemporary music. In March 2010 he gave the first performance of The Banquet Concerto for piano, orchestra and chorus by Tan Dun at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome with the composer conducting. The concert was broadcast by RAI Radio Tre. He has also played for France Musique and for Japanese television, NHK.
Mozart: Sonata in F K 332 Allegro / Adagio / Allegro
Brahms: Sonata no 2 in F sharp minor Op 2 Allegro / Andante / Scherzo / Finale
Prokofiev: Sonata no 3 in A minor Op 28 (single movt)
A dash across London from Ho Zi Yoh at L.S.E https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2022/03/31/hao-zi-yoh-at-the-l-s-e-puritysensibility-and-elegance-simply-expressed/. ……………..and with no pistol pointed but just the pleasure to hear this remarkable pianist again at St Mary’s Perivale just an hour later. Some remarkable playing with a masterly control of the keyboard and an intelligence that could make such sense of Brahms’ early second sonata that in lesser hands can seem rather rambling.There is a great architectural line and orchestral sense of colour but also a sense of improvised beauty that Dmitrii Kalashnikov showed with such mastery. There was clarity too in the Mozart Sonata but one felt that he did not delve deep enough into the keys to extract the full subtle meaning hidden within.
It was Prokofiev’s third sonata that ignited in Dmitri such fire and energy that was breathtaking.He seemed to be enacting a great drama such was the overpowering impact of his physical contact with the keys. He had already struck some keys in Brahms with his fist but nothing like the assault he saved for Prokofiev.
This was the same controlled frenzy that I remember from Gilels or Richter where the music of Prokofiev was part of their DNA and their power of communication was overwhelming as it was today. What could he play after that he seemed to be thinking as Dr Mather pressed him for more.
What better than a scintillating performance of Chopin’s revolutionary study …….Prokofiev was born in the Ukraine so it seemed like a fitting musical tribute in these disturbingly turbulent times especially when played with such extraordinary passion and technical prowess that would be difficult to equal.
Dmitrii Kalashnikov was born in Moscow in 1994. He graduated with distinction from the Gnessin Moscow Special School of Music (2012; classes of Ada Traub and Tatiana Vorobieva) and the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory (2017; class of Elena Kuznetsova). In 2021 he completed his postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Music in London (class of Vanessa Latarche). He was a prize-winner at the Concours International de Piano du Conservatoire Russe Alexandre Scriabine (Paris, 2008; 1 st prize), the Jaques Samuel Pianos Intercollegiate Piano Competition (London, 2019; 1 st prize) and the Beethoven Senior Intercollegiate Piano Competition (London, 2021; 1 st prize). He is a grant-recipient of the New Names foundation, the Yuri Rozum International Charitable Foundation and the Homecoming Culture Development Fund, and has received the Prize of the Support for Talented Youth of the Government of the Russian Federation, the City of Moscow Prize and the George Stennett Award. He was also supported by a Neville Wathen Scholarship. He gives recitals at the Moscow Conservatory, the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, the Moscow International Performing Arts Centre, London’s Wigmore Hall and at various venues in France, Austria, Poland, Estonia, Italy, Belgium and the United Kingdom. He has appeared on several occasions with the Russian National Orchestra under the baton of Mikhail Pletnev and in a duet with Pletnev on two pianos (conducted by Mischa Damev). He regularly performs at the Mariinsky International Piano Festival. In December 2018 he appeared at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre with the Mariinsky Orchestra. He has taken part in various projects of the State Tretyakov Gallery. For several years he ran artistic soirees with the artist Gavriil Kochevrin for charitable events for orphans at the Marina Tsvetaeva House Museum (Moscow). These concert performances have seen the participation of Yevgeny Knyazev, Alexander Rudin and Boris Andrianov. In September 2019 he took part in the opening of the season at the Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after A.S. Pushkin.
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 