Astonished ,amazed and completely exhausted by a performance of staggering proportions by Thomas Kelly of Rachmaninov third piano concerto. I have heard Thomas play many times over the past four years since winning so unexpectedly the Schumann prize at the RCM .I heard him recently play in Hastings this very concerto but today he was like a man possessed. In fact it was the same unbridled passion of his teacher Alexeev whose performance in Rome thirty years ago has remained with me ever since. The reports of Rachmaninov from my old teacher Perlemuter who would often say of Rachmaninov coming on stage looking as though he had just swallowed a knife but would then produce the most wondrous sounds he had ever heard.
St James’ Church Sussex Gardens Lancaster Gate
Today Thomas showed no outward signs and did not seem to look at the conductor even once but my God he was listening with an eagle eye that did not miss a trick. A devilish almost demonic energy that was so assured and with such authority that it was breathtaking in its sweep and total commitment.There was sumptuous beauty as the left hand would mirror the melodic line and inner counterpoints would be generously shared giving such depth of sound and endless possibility of colour.At some moments his flat fingers and low wrist reminded me of Rachmaninov’s close friend Horowitz.
A performance where there was no doubt about a great musical personality on the crest of a wave . I am much looking forward to his recital in Florence in a few weeks time for the Keyboard Trust series with Rachmaninov second sonata. An orchestra of young professional musicians played remarkably well and the young conductor brought real passion and style to the beautiful opening of the second movement.
Thomas Kelly with Daniel Hogan
But this was Thomas’s night as even the orchestra realised as they cheered him to the rafters too.The Nimrod Orchestra of young colleagues from the Royal College of Music were superbly conducted by Daniel Hogan following Thomas’s every move and playing with sumptuous sounds and youthful passion.
Enescu Decet for winds
The Decet for Winds by Enescu was a very adventurous choice for the opening of a concert but showed off the precision and musicianship of nine superb players with a sense of architectural shape from Daniel Hogan’s intelligent and sensitive baton. A single candle wrapped in ribbons of the colours of the Ukrainian flag and placed by the front door was a beautiful way to end such a richly rewarding performance .
Roberto Doring Pinho da Silva,Minister Counsellor applauding the two soloists
A wonderful evening in celebration of Brazil 200 and the Keyboard Trust 30.It is the second concert in this series generously promoted by the Brazilian Embassy .A series in which the music of Brazil is part of the project ‘Brasil em Concerto’ developed by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to promote music by Brazilian composers dating back to the 18th century.A marriage made on wings of song in the historic Cunard Hall now restored to its antique splendor and rechristened Sala Brazil. Damir Durmanovic and Can Arisoy filled this hallowed hall with sumptuous music of Alberto Nepomuceno ,Villa Lobos and a Brazil inspired Milhaud.
Damir Duramovic and Can Arisoy
Playing with such superb performances by two pianist on the threshhold of a professional career having both been students of Marcel Baudet at the Menuhin School since their teens.Damir now a graduate of the class of Alexeev at the Royal College of Music and Can about to graduate from the class of Ronan O’Hora at the Guildhall, they both gave performances of such musicianship and technical command that made one wonder why these works of Nepomuceno have ,remained in obscurity for so long.
Preparing for Milhaud’s Le Boeuf sur le Toit op. 58
Le Boeuf sur Le Toit – Brazil inspired by Milhaud brought these two superb musicians together with a performance of irresistible elan and style …..it must be the longest encore piece ever.Milhaud said that he composed Le Bœuf sur le toit as “fifteen minutes of music, rapid and gay, as a background to any Charlie Chaplin silent movie”.The composer spent two years in Brazil in the French diplomatic service during the First World War , and was influenced by its music in his own compositions. There have been various explanations of the title: that the title was taken from the sign-board of a tavern, and another, that it is from an old Parisian legend of a man in a top-floor flat who insisted on keeping a calf, which grew into a large ox, too big to be removed. Milhaud himself said that it was the title of a Brazilian folk dance.The music cycles through all the major keys and some minor ones and Milhaud quoted extensively from Brazilian tunes. There are more than 20 pieces by 14 Brazilian composers referred to in the score but the lively opening motif is Milhaud’s own invention and recurs throughout.Jean Cocteau persuaded Milhaud to let the music be used for a ballet that made its first appearance in 1920 at the Teatre de Champs -Elysées The only thing to do after such a scintillating performance was to open a bottle or two of superb Brazilian wine and toast to the next voyage of discovery of this treasure trove of Brazilian music
The Brazilian pianist Clelia Iruzun with the distinguished critic Bryce Morrison on the left
Alberto Nepomuceno (July 6, 1864 – October 16, 1920) began to study music with his father, a violinist, organist, teacher and chapel-master at the Fortaleza Cathedral. In 1872, he and his family moved to Recife, also in Northeastern Brazil, where he started to study the piano and violin. In 1888 he left for Europe where in Rome he took lessons from Sgambati and moving to Berlin in 1890 he studied composition with Heinrich von Herzogenberg and piano with Theodor Leschetizky. In Leschetizky’s class, he met Norwegian student Walborg Bang, whom he married in 1893. Bang had been a student and friend of Edvard Grieg and after the wedding, Nepomuceno moved to Bergen and lived in Grieg’s house. As Grieg was also an advocate for nationalism in composition, the friendship was instrumental in convincing Nepomuceno to write music which reflected Brazilian culture. Before leaving Europe, he visited Paris, where he met Saint-Saens and d’Indy and on his return to Brazil, he taught at the Instituto Nacional de Música (National Music Institute) in Rio de Janeiro.He returned to Europe in 1910 for a series of concerts in Brussels, Geneva and Paris and during this trip, he became friends with Claude Debussy. Back in Brazil, he championed the use of Portuguese in opera and song and remained the leading musical figure in the country until his death at age 56. Heitor Villa-Lobos was one of his students.
Alberto Nepomuceno 1864-1920Damir Duramovic playing Nepomuceno op.11 and Villa Lobos Valsa da dor
The Suite Antiga op 11
Prélude (Allegro commodo G minor)
Menuet (Minuet I. Allegro con spirito — Minuet II — Minuet I da capo; G major)
Air (Andante espressivo; G minor)
Rigaudon (Allegro con brio; G minor)
The first performance in 1893 was in Bergen (piano version) The orchestral version which omits the Prélude was in 1894 with the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by the composer.An infectious sense of rhythmic energy invaded the Prelude,Minueto and Rigaudon.There was grandeur in the Rigaudon and sense of dance with flourishes of great effect in Damir’s musicianly hands.But there was a more reflective middle episode of great nostalgia before the final joyous eruption of dance.It was the sublime beauty of the Aria though,that made such a striking contrast, played with a great sense of colour where the melodic line glowed with a radiance that was most touching.
Villa Lobos 1887-1959
Damir’s improvisatory link joined the Suite to Valsa da dor by Nepomuceno’s pupil Villa Lobos.It was played with subtle seductive sounds with it’s central passionate outpouring before the gentle surrender of touching beauty.The Valse de la douleur was written in 1932 but not published until 1972 and is a very effective concert piece that deserves to be better known.Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887 – November 17, 1959 ) underwent very little formal training in Brazil and after a few abortive harmony lessons, he learnt music by illicit observation from the top of the stairs of the regular musical evenings at his house arranged by his father. He learned to play cello,clarinet and guitar and when his father died suddenly in 1899 he earned a living for his family by playing in cinema and theatre orchestras in Rio.European influences inspired Villa-Lobos and in 1917 Diaghilev made an impact on tour in Brazil with his Ballets Russes.In that same year Villa-Lobos also met the French composer Darius Milhaud who was in Rio as secretary to Paul Claudel at the French Legation. Milhaud brought the music of Debussy,Satie and Stravinsky ; in return Villa-Lobos introduced Milhaud to Brazilian street music. In 1918, he also met the pianist Arthur Rubinstein , who became a lifelong friend and champion and prompted Villa-Lobos to write more piano music.
Can Arisoy playing Nepomuceno Sonata op 9 in F minor
Nepomuceno’s Sonata in F minor, Opus 9, is the first such work by a Brazilian composer, its three movements suggesting at times the style of Brahms, a reminder that he had studied in Berlin with Brahms’s friend Herzogenberg. Composed in 1893, the sonata was first performed in Rio at the Instituto Nacional by the composer in August 1895 and not published until 2016!
Sonata in F Minor, Op. 9 Allegro con fuoco -Andante espressivo -Allegro con spirito
In Can Arisoy’s hands the sonata was give a performance of great rhythmic energy with its long Brahms like melodic lines in the tenor register played with a noble sense of architectural line.With great authority and technical command it was indeed very like Brahms with its thick almost orchestral texture.
Minister Counsellor Roberto Doring Pinho da Silva with Can Arisoy and guests
Allemande; Courante; Gigue en rondeau I; Gigue en rondeau II; Le rappel des oiseaux; Rigaudons I,II,double; Musette et rondeau; Tambourin; La villageoise
Scriabin: Poèmes Op 32 no 1 and 2
Scriabin: Etudes Op 42 no 4 and 5
Chopin: Ballade no 3 in A flat Op 47
Liszt: ‘Dante’ Sonata from Annees – Italie
Some superb playing from Konstantin Lapshin,a true poet of the piano. A world of ravishing sounds of luminosity and clarity but with an infinite variety of subtle sounds. From the delicacy and exquisite ornamentation of Rameau where the clarity together with luminosity of Rappel des oiseux together with the magic of La villageoise was of such ravishing beauty that was breathtaking as it was unexpected. There were a kaleidoscopic range of sounds as the poèmes op 32 and two studies op 42 by Scriabin unwound with a mystical and passionate outpouring of such purity where Konstantin’s hands just seemed to caress the keys.There was passion,power and explosions of sound but never hardness or ugliness.It was a lesson in how to disguise the fact that the piano is after all just a box full of hammers and strings.In Konstantin’s delicate hands however it became a celestial harp full of glowing sounds.A very spacious and personal account of Chopin’s third ballade allowed the music to unfold as if a great story was being told. And of course the greatest story was the one he told in one of the finest performances of the Dante Sonata by Liszt that I have ever heard. Gone was all the usual rhetoric and bombastic sounds replaced by an architectural sense of sound that for once this work astonished,bewitched and overpowered as one of the great masterpieces that Liszt was to write in his years of pilgrimage. The ravishing beauty from the very first notes of the Petrarch Sonnet 104 was elaborated into a tone poem of rare passion and beauty and offered as a thank you to the very enthusiastic audience at St Mary’s today.
An impressive technique, and the impulsive, Romantic expression that has been a hallmark of so many Russian pianists, including Rachmaninov and Horowitz”- said ‘Fanfare’ magazine (USA) about Konstantin Lapshin, a multi award – winning Russian concert pianist who has in his collection more than 15 International and National prizes. Konstantin moved to London in 2007 to study at the Royal College of Music, where he won all the competitions and prizes available for pianists, including the most coveted Chappell Gold Medal and the College’s highest prize The Queen Elizabeth Rose Bowl. He subsequently played for HRH The Prince of Wales. Since then, he has given performances at various concert halls across the Europe, Russia and America, including the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre, Cadogan Hall, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, the Salle Cortot in Paris, Piano Salon Christophori in Berlin, Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire and others. In 2014 Konstantin was invited to play Rachmaninov’s Concerto no.3 with Odessa Philharmonic and Grammy award-winning conductor and pianist Mikhail Pletnev In Odessa (Ukraine). Konstantin holds Doctoral degree and teaches at the Royal College of Music, giving masterclasses around the world and adjudicating International festivals and competitions.
The Chopin Society full to the rafters to salute a master Stephen Kovacevich’s aristocratic style and search for the perfect legato were the hallmark of a recital that included Berg op 1 and Beethoven op 110 but also the intimate luminosity of Chopin in two nocturnes op 48 n. 2 and op.62 n.2 and three mazurkas op 41 n.1,op 56 n.3.op17 n. 4
When as teenager in London and I began to realise that music was to be the most important thing in my life there appeared on the scene an amazing group of friends who would meet up regularly at Fou Ts’ong’s house in Hermitage Lane on the edge of Hampstead Heath.It was there that Daniel Barenboim first played Brahms with Jaqueline Du Pre and joined ranks in playing chamber music with Itzhak Perelman,Pinchas Zuckerman,André Tchaikowsky,Vladimir Ashkenazy,Nelson Freire,Martha Argerich,Radu Lupu and of course Stephen Kovacevich (Bishop in those days) who was an athletic young man fresh from California studying in London with Dame Myra Hess.Madame Tillett was proud to present Stephen and Jaqueline together in duo and as soloists with Barbirolli and Boulez -Stephen in Beethoven 4 and Jaqueline with Elgar they were her young stars.The recording of their Beethoven Sonatas is one of the recordings that I have most cherished for the past sixty (!) years.
Madame Tillett was known as the Empress of agents who was loved and feared in equal measure.When Jackie decided to stay by the side of Daniel Barenboim,the man she loved,during the war in Israel the idea that her stars could renounce engagements for such a thing was completely incomprehensible.All these artists have gone on to illustrious careers but in that formative period there seemed to be more time for them to have fun together and they could regularly be seen playing together in the Southbank Summer Festival and Brighton Festivals both directed by an as yet almost unknown energetic young Daniel Barenboim.The summer school in Dartington too was a favourite haunt and I well remember the arrival of Stephen in his coupé sports car with a tennis racquet and beautiful companion on the seat next to him ready to spend a week with us students sharing music and fun with us whilst enjoying the wonder that was Dartington under Glock and Amis in that period.
A few years later I set up home in Rome and side by side with my actress wife we created the Ghione Theatre next to St Peter’s Square .For thirty years it became a much needed cultural centre in the eternal city that in the 80’s and 90’s lagged much behind the rest of the major European capitals.(With the opening of the Renzo Piano concert halls since 2005 that has all changed and Rome is now one of the major beacons for classical music).I remembered all the wonders I had experienced in London and in between producing my wife’s plays I would squeeze in many of the artists that were virtually unknown to Rome audiences.Together with my old teachers Vlado Perlemuter and Guido Agosti, we invited Shura Cherkassky,Annie Fischer,Paul Tortelier,Rosalyn Tureck ,Ruggiero Ricci and even Stockhausen .I had never forgotten Fou Ts’ong and Stephen Kovacevich though and they became firm favourites in Rome and through their masterclasses inspired the same passion in young musicians that I had known.Stephen came to us via a charming old world agent in Milan.Donatella Brizio was an elderly lady with such integrity and honesty where in those days an agents word was her bond(!).She was happy to persuade Ruggiero Ricci,Dmitri Alexeev and Stephen to come to us in Rome as she together with her equally noble colleague Gabriella Giordano would bring Alicia de Larrocha ,Shura Cherkassky and Rosalyn Tureck as they in turn would applaud my wife in our productions when on tour in Milan.
I remember Stephen coming one year to play the Schubert B flat Sonata and in between asking if I would mind chopping off a good portion of the piano stool legs he asked if I minded if he played the A major Sonata instead as he thought it more suitable for the piano.I used to video record the concerts just for the archive and one year he asked me not to as he felt he could be much freer if it was not frozen onto a video tape.He is the only artist that has ever commented on how much money I must have lost through having a poor audience when in May his concert coincided with a football final in Rome!
It is just this honesty and integrity in his artistry that shone through all that we heard today at the Chopin Society.It is thanks to Lady Rose Cholmondeley and Gillian Newman that we are able to hear such artists who are excluded for some extravagant reason from the ‘business’that the concert profession has become.In the past years I have been able hear such artists as Janina Fialkowska,Dmitri Alexeev and an unforgettable ninety year old Abbey Simon.An atmosphere where they play amongst friends and feel happy to be able to share their music and experience in an un pressured way just as the artists did for us in Rome.Gillian is not only a wonderful organiser but is equally renowned for her home made marmalade!Lady Rose is there side by side with the artist as they play their heart out for her and are often offered tea and cakes afterwards .The Artist is even entrusted with the key to the bathroom in the vestry- green room.(Janina inadvertently took it to Bavaria with her and was quickly reminded to return it for the next artists relief!)
Wonderful to be able to hear Stephen again and see him sitting almost on the floor with his hands uplifted to the keys.And it was obvious that like Wilhelm Kempff ,he was searching for the perfect legato where the sounds could blend into each other without any percussive or athletic interventions .Sounds that melted into each other with a luminosity and sense of balance which was so noticeable from the very first knotty strands of Berg’s remarkable op 1 Sonata.There was passion too but always within the sheen that was created by a subtle and sometimes even excessive use of the pedal.It allowed the music to grow from the initial gentle idea through a world of anguish and passion before resolving or at least resting ,in peace.It was remarkable to note too that there was no I pad or aide memoire necessary where the music was ingrained in the soul and no longer on the page!Young musicians please take note!
The vast and distinguished audience young and old at the Chopin Society.
It was not only refreshing to hear Stephen but also to admire his undemonstrative stillness at the keyboard as he was totally engrossed and concentrated on transmitting with such intelligence and humility the composers wishes.This concentrated composure has always been the hallmark of the young American teenager who was adopted by Myra Hess as the true disciple of her integrity and artistry that made her so loved and cherished.I think that she was proudly present at his debut recital at the Wigmore Hall when he astounded the musical world with his performance of the Diabelli variations.In fact it was in late Beethoven and in particular op 109 and 110 that Dame Myra will always be remembered.
It was in the performance of the Sonata op 110 that we heard today that we too were reminded of how beautiful the piano can sound and how Beethoven’s minute details can be transformed into the same magic that the composer himself was only able to hear in his head.If some of the detail was no longer as precise as it would have been it is a small price to pay to hear such magic pour from the hands still of Stephen Kovacevich unbelievably in his eightieth year.The vision of the lythe young American in Dartington springs to mind but it is his music that has remained in my heart and which is still very much present.The unforced sheen he gave to the small group of ‘obligatory’Chopin was a wonder of colour and mystery almost as though on a voyage of discovery into a world of whispered sounds.The middle section of the F sharp minor nocturne I have rarely heard so subtly teasing with kaleidoscopic sounds,the same wondrous sounds that he miraculously ended the mazurka op 17 n.4 with.Sounds that were barely audible but that shone like the jewels they truly can be.
Lady Rose presenting her book about Chopin’s piano to Stephen
Tea and cakes afterwards with Stephen and most of the audience was one of the wonders that can still be found in certain corners of a great city if one wants to look.
The only empty seat is mine whilst taking this photo!
Vieni,vedi vinci indeed …….Hats off to the Chopin Society and all those that sail with her.
“To remain silent today is to betray our conscience and our values, and ultimately what defines the nobility of human nature.”Semyon Bychkov
Czech Philharmonic/Semyon Bychkov & Yuja Wang A tribute to the people of Ukraine A Yuja Wang in scintillating form in Rachmaninov’s first piano concerto with the sumptuously free strings of this historic orchestra.Semyon Bychkov’s extraordinarily fluid magic wand creating a continuous stream of sounds from an orchestra of the grandest of traditions.It was from the very opening romantic sounds of Rachmaninov that there was a flexibility of shape and style of operatic proportions with a richness of sound and colour that I have only ever heard from Rachmaninov’s favourite orchestra in Philadelphia.Yuja Wang’s absolute authority from the opening octaves was breathtaking as was the sumptuous way she could draw the audience in to eavesdrop on such ravishing musings or take us by storm with her scintillating energy in the last movement.The great first movement cadenza she built up the rich sonority from a mere whisper in such a masterly way that one would not have thought the amount of sound and power possible from the elegant lady in the flaming red dress .Piano playing of the Golden age bequeathed to her by her great mentorGary Graffman.
Throughout the concert Semyon Bychkov’s authority artistry and above all humanity and integrity illuminated a sold out Barbican and we left uplifted and resolved as never before.
A short speech and the Ukrainian National Anthem was a very dignified way to open such a poignant occasion.’A music that is an identification with the land that brought us into this world.We hear this music now at a time when people are suffering in a way that is hard for us to imagine,somehow the notes sound differently’
It was in the spring of 1902 that the Czech Philharmonic first took up residency in London,the first to do so ,and today more than a hundred years (and several visits) later, they come with their chief conductor and musical director since 2018,Semyon Bychkov bringing a message of solidarity and peace in light of the tragedy that is unfolding in the past few weeks in the Ukraine.
Sergei Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 1 1. Vivace – Moderato 2. Andante 3. Allegro vivace Bedřich SmetanaMá vlast (My Fatherland) 1. Vyšehrad (The High Castle) 2. Vltava (The Moldau) 3. Šárka 4. Z českých luhů a hájů (From Bohemia’s Woods and Fields) 5. Tábor 6. Blaník
Sergei Rachmaninov, newly graduated from Moscow Conservatory in 1892 premiered the first movement of this work but was never quite satisfied with it and it was in 1917 after writing his Second and Third Piano Concertos,that he began the revision whilst blocking out the Revolutionary turmoil all around him.It was the last major work he composed before leaving Russia for ever .Rachmaninov’s changes were quite extensive especially in the last movement but it still balances the extraordinary virtuosity and a romantic lyricism that was characteristic of Rachmaninov one of the great virtuosi of his day.These two sides can be heard, for example, in the first movement, where, after a brass statement combined with cascading piano double octaves, the orchestra launches into the broadly lyrical main theme.
Bedřich Smetana (2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884 )was a German speaking Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people’s aspirations to a cultural and political “revival.” He has been regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music.He is best known outside his homeland for his opera The Bartered Bride and for the symphonic cycle Mà vlast (“My Fatherland”), which portrays the history, legends and landscape of the composer’s native Bohemia .In 1861, it was announced that a Provisional Theatre would be built in Prague, as a home for Czech opera and Smetana saw this as an opportunity to write and stage opera that would reflect Czech national character.At this stage in his career, Smetana’s command of Czech was poor as his generation of Czechs was educated in German,and he had difficulty expressing himself in what was supposedly his native tongue.To overcome these linguistic deficiencies he studied Czech grammar, and made a point of writing and speaking in Czech every day.By the end of 1874, Smetana had become completely deaf but, freed from his theatre duties and the related controversies, he began a period of sustained composition that continued for almost the rest of his life. His contributions to Czech music were increasingly recognised and honoured, but a mental collapse early in 1884 led to his incarceration in an asylum and subsequent death already from 1879, Smetana had written to friends revealing fears of the onset of madness and by the winter of 1882–83 he was experiencing depression, insomnia, and hallucinations, together with giddiness, cramp and a temporary loss of speech.His family, unable to nurse him any longer, removed him to the Kateřinky Lunatic Asylum in Prague, where he died on 12 May 1884.The hospital registered the cause of death as senile dementia.However, Smetana’s family believed that his physical and mental decline was due to syphilis.
The State Opera in Prague
The State Opera is part of the National Theatre of the Czech Republic, founded by Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic in 1992. It was originally opened in 1888 as the New German Theatre and from 1949 to 1989 it was known as the SmetanaTheatre . More recently it was renamed the Prague State Opera And is home to approximately 300 performances a year. It regularly plays Smetana’s nine operas in the original Czech.I was present at a performance of ‘The Kiss’ where the whole audience was participating totally and applauded wildly when the ‘Kiss’ actually occurred much as in England with the Pantomime or in Italy and Vienna with Operetta.A very stirring and moving experience indeed.
‘My Fatherland ‘ contains the famous symphonic poem “Vltava”,also popularly known by its German name “Die Moldau”and is a cornerstone of Czech repertoire. Though inspired by the Lisztian ideal of the symphonic poem Smetana only slowly came to the idea of a cycle of ‘poems’ extolling his homeland.The first ‘poem’ – ‘Vyšehrad’ – was completed in November 1874 and premiered on 14 March 1875. Portraying the mythical birthplace of Prague, the legendary and historical fortress which stands on a rock east of the river Vltava, the piece begins with a solo harp playing the ‘Vyšehrad motif’. As Smetana said, ‘a poet sings of the events on Vyšehrad, of glory and splendour, of tournaments and battles, and of eventual decline and ruin. The poem ends on an elegiac note.’Janáček described the reaction to Smetana’s second poem ‘Vltava’ when in 1875 he first heard it: “At the end a tumultuous roar fused into the name Smetana!” ‘Vltava’ is the most popular of Ma vlást’s movements. It depicts the course of the mighty Czech river (in German: ‘Moldau’) that flows through much of Bohemia, from its source as two rivulets, past a woodland hunt, peasants’ wedding, and mermaids in moonlight, to St. John’s Rapids. The ‘river’ theme blazes forth in major mode, setting up a victorious return to Vyšehrad, before fading away. The Vltava eventually joins the Elbe. The third movement depicts the legend of Šárka who avenged herself on men for an earlier infidelity. We hear the approach of Ctirad and his men, the cry of anguish Šárka feigned to lure Ctirad’s men to her maidens’ trap, love music, carousal, slumber and then a horn, Šárka’s signal to start the massacre. ‘From Bohemia’s Woods and Fields’, denotes Smetana’s love of the Bohemian countryside. He basks in generous melody though making prominent use of fugue.By 1878, Smetana had decided to expand his original concept of three to six movements, ending with a pair inspired by the Hussite period in Czech history. Both make use of ‘Ye who are God’s Warriors’, a hymn that supposedly struck fear in the enemy. ‘Tábor’, named after the Hussite stronghold, depicts the Hussites’ faith and resolve. ‘Blaník’ refers to the hill under which Czech warriors are thought to sleep until rallied to save the nation under St. Wenceslaus. The cycle ends with the ‘Vyšehrad motif’.Ma vlást premiered on 5 November 1882,by which time Smetena was completely deaf and it was immediately an important national emblem that has gained worldwide appeal.
Semyon Bychkov’s tenure as Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Czech Philharmonic was initiated in 2018 with concerts in Prague, London, New York and Washington, marking the 100th anniversary of Czechoslovak independence. With the culmination of The Tchaikovsky Project the following year, Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic turned their focus to Mahler.With a repertoire that spans four centuries, Bychkov’s highly anticipated performances are a unique combination of innate musicality and rigorous Russian pedagogy. He holds honorary titles with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Academy of Music and is a frequent guest with all the major international orchestras. International Opera Awards named him ‘Conductor of the Year’ in 2015 and this year he will receive an Honorary Doctorate from the Royal Academy of Music.
On 1 March, Semyon Bychkov and members of the Czech Philharmonic took part in a benefit concert for Ukraine.Thirty thousand people gathered together at Prague’s Wenceslas Square and more tuned in in solidarity, donating over 180 million in CZK. “I came to this sacred place in Prague to honor the memory of 1968. Today, 54 years later history repeats itself once again. This time in Ukraine. I want to say to Vladimir Putin who doesn’t deserve to be addressed as Mr. Putin: Look at the images of Ukrainians you are killing. Look in the eyes of Russian soldiers you sent to kill and be killed. Look in the eyes of their mothers, fathers, wives and children. You will see tears, pain and hatred. The world has cried too many tears. The world has felt too much pain. The world has seen enough of hatred. You must stop destroying Ukraine. You must stop destroying Russia. Your dream of having a place in History is already achieved. You will be remembered for crimes against humanity.”
It is with a heavy heart that Semyon Bychkov has had to withdraw from his concerts this summer with the Russian Youth Orchestra. Here he explains why:”The Russian invasion of Ukraine brought unthinkable devastation and human suffering. There can be no winners whatever the outcome of this unjust and artificially created war.Under these circumstances I must withdraw from conducting the Russian Youth Orchestra in Moscow next June. This is a painful decision as I was looking forward with enormous joy to making music with the exceptionally gifted young Russian artists.Yet doing so under the present circumstances would be an unconscionable act of acquiescence.I want the spirit of this decision to be unmistakably clear: it is in no way directed at the orchestra or its public. The emotional suffering of ordinary Russian people at this time, the feeling of shame and economic losses they experience are real. So is a sense of helplessness in face of repression inflicted by the regime. Those individuals who dare to oppose this war put their own life in danger. They need us who are free to take a stand and say: ‘The guns must fall silent, so that we can celebrate life over death’.”
Silence in the face of evil becomes its accomplice and ends up becoming its equal. Russian aggression in Ukraine brings us to what my generation hoped would never happen again: War.Russia still mourns some 27 million citizens who perished at the hands of the Nazis in World War II, when Hitler delivered what he promised years earlier in Mein Kampf. How ironic that, while celebrating its victory over Nazi Germany in 1945, Russia chooses to forget its non-aggression pact with Hitler. Signed in 1939, the pact made Russia one of the co-authors of World War II; becoming one of the winners when the war ended in 1945 doesn’t acquit those who made it possible. The post-war Nüremberg Trials of leading Nazis brought atonement in German society for crimes committed against humanity, which continues to this day.What about Russia’s atonement for the genuine genocide of tens of millions of citizens killed by its own communist regime in the two decades preceding war with Germany? That was a physical genocide. And, what about the mental genocide that continued for decades after the war? The methods of the murderers and their hunger to destroy anything and anyone who refuses to obey have passed to their successors. Today they rule the country again. Born after the war, they have no concern and no interest in understanding what war brings. After all it won’t be their children who are sent to the front lines Their knowledge of history extends only to abstract geopolitical ideas of the instruments needed to acquire and keep power, whatever the cost to human life and, whatever destruction it brings. One has to be demented to refer to the collapse of the Soviet Union as the greatest tragedy of the 20th century, which is how Putin defined it, rather than rejoice at the fact that it happened without bloodshed and brought an end to the kidnapping of many nations in addition to Russia itself.If only the end of Russia being held hostage by its ruling elite weren’t temporary! One of many signs and symbols that the country has returned to pre-Perestroika times is the dissolution of the Memorial Society founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Andrei Sakharov in 1989. Its mission was to research every single victim of repression and keep the memory of the dead alive. Through the dissolution of the Memorial on 29 December 2021 victims of repression were killed once again. This too is a form of genocide. Not in the Russian-occupied Donbas of Ukraine as Putin claims.The Russian regime wants to obliterate the memory of its victims. If we forget them we will betray them. They may no longer care about being betrayed, but we should if we don’t wish to suffer their fate. History always repeats itself if and when it is forgotten.I was born in St. Petersburg in 1952 and lived there for 22 years before emigrating to the United States. My paternal grandfather went to war and never came back. My maternal grandfather’s family members were exterminated by the Nazis in Odessa. My father fought in the war and was twice wounded. My mother survived the 900-day siege in Leningrad.Russian culture, its language, its noble traditions are in my blood. They always have been and always will be. Having gifted the world with extraordinary artistic creations and scientific discoveries realized by its sons and daughters, it pains me to see how Russia is unable or maybe unwilling to escape its dark past.Russians are capable of endless sacrifice and endurance, and truly know the meaning of friendship, generosity and compassion, some of the best qualities present in human nature. Yet those qualities are systematically destroyed by the regime that governs their life on all levels, unable to escape it for lack of mechanisms that allow for change without resorting to violence.I don’t know if Russia will discover how to live in peace with itself and the world in my lifetime. What I do know is an ancient Russian saying: ‘Words are silver, and silence is gold’. Yes. but there are moments in life when silence in the face of evil becomes its accomplice and ends up becoming its equal.
Yuja was born into a musical family in Beijing. After childhood piano studies in China, she received advanced training in Canada and at the Curtis Institute of Music under Gary Graffman. Her international breakthrough came in 2007, when she replaced Martha Argerich as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Two years later, she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, and has since established her place among the world’s leading artists, with a succession of critically acclaimed performances and recordings. She was named Musical America’s Artist of the Year in 2017, and in 2021 received an Opus Klassik Award for her world-premiere recording of John Adams’ Must the Devil Have all the Good Tunes? with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel.
The 126 year-old Czech Philharmonic gave its first concert – an all Dvořák programme conducted by the composer himself – in the famed Rudolfinum Hall on 4 January 1896. Acknowledged for its definitive interpretations of Czech composers, the Orchestra is recognised for its special relationship to the music of Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Mahler, who conducted the world première of his Symphony No 7 with the Orchestra in 1908. Throughout the Czech Philharmonic’s history, two features have remained at its core: its championing of Czech composers and its belief in music’s power to change lives. As early as the 1920s, Václav Talich (Chief Conductor 1919–1941) pioneered concerts for workers, young people and voluntary organisations. The philosophy continues today and is equally vibrant. A comprehensive education strategy engages with more than 400 schools bringing all ages to the Rudolfinum. An inspirational music and song programme led by singer Ida Kelarová for the extensive Romany communities within the Czech Republic and Slovakia has helped many socially excluded families to find a voice. In addition to an international education exchange with the Royal Academy of Music in London, over lockdown the Orchestra gave seven benefit concerts which were live streamed internationally in 4K by Czech Philharmonic’s producing house Czech Phil Media, raising funds for hospitals, charities, and healthcare professionals. An early champion of the music of Martinů and Janáček, the works of Czech composers – both established and new – remain the lifeblood of the Orchestra. Initiated by Semyon Bychkov, nine Czech composers have been commissioned to write works for the Orchestra alongside five international composers – Detlev Glanert, Julian Anderson, Thomas Larcher, Bryce Dessner and Thierry Escaich. The Orchestra additionally holds an annual young composers’ competition launched in 2014 by Jiří Bělohlávek (Chief Conductor 2012–2017).
To remain silent today is to betray our conscience and our values, and ultimately what defines the nobility of human nature.”
Two scintillating Scarlatti sonatas taken from his very interesting collection on his new CD.They opened the programme by the 23 year old Italian pianist Andrea Molteni to be streamed at a later date for the Keyboard Charitable Trust from Steinway Hall. Luigi Dallapiccola’s impish Sonata Canonica based on Paganini’s Caprices was his eclectic choice and was played with astonishing clarity of brilliance and contrasts. But this was just the preparation for a monumental performance of Beethoven’s daunting ‘Hammerklavier’ Sonata.It was played with such resilience and sterling musicianship.A technical command where all the treacherous difficulties that Beethoven demands were met with such clarity and fearless command.From the opening leaps played with enviable assurance by one hand through the quixotic Scherzo and the deep meditation of the Adagio,one of Beethoven’s most poignant almost operatic statements.But it was the fugue that astonished and amazed for it relentless drive with all the many hurdles that Beethoven throws in the path .A veritable challenge to all those that dare to enter in a movement almost at the limit of technical possibility that Andrea met with fearless abandon. He even had the energy for an encore after almost forty minutes with the most thought provoking and transcendentally difficult of all Beethoven’s thirty two sonatas. A sparkling performance of his favourite Scarlatti sonata taken from his CD collection which is receiving high critical acclaim. The booklet that accompanies this new CD contains a very interesting discussion with Leslie Howard on the authenticity of improvisation and ornamentation that Scarlatti would have expected from the performer .We we’re privileged to have the conversation live at the end of this concert that will be streamed and made available by the Keyboard Trust at a later date.
Ilaria Cavalleri on her first trip to London and judging from the reception she received today it will be the first of many more. The musicality from the school of Maurizio Baglini and Davide Cabassi illuminated everything she did.A refined musicality that allowed her to return a much abused masterpiece into the outpouring of mellifluous sounds that only the genius of Schubert could conjure.
A technique at the service of the music with a refined musical palette that brought the rarely heard Mendelssohn Fantasy to life with its scintillating quantity of notes spun into a golden web of sublime beauty and dexterity. The more usual barn storming that passes for the fantasia quasi sonata that Liszt etched in his Dante Sonata was returned in her sensitive hands to the poetic realm from which it was born.
An interesting discussion between this twenty year old pianist and Elena Vorotko ,one of the artistic directors, brought enthusiastic comments from illustrious members of the public too. All to be admired and enjoyed in the live stream in the near future on the Keyboard Trust web site .
Axel Trolese in London for a live stream performance for the Keyboard Trust.A young musician mentored by Benedetto Lupo and Louis Lortie is certainly worth hearing and he certainly did not disappoint today. Four of the most complex works for the piano,either for reasons of breaking with tradition or coping with transcendental demands, that saw this young artist fearlessly and sometimes even recklessly in total command. A Chopin first ballade played with beauty and simplicity and if it could have had a little more time to breathe it was surely the same youthful passionate outpouring with which the young Polish emigre would have stolen the hearts of the noble ladies in the Parisian salons. Shorn of all traditional rhetoric it was a refreshing example of how Chopin’s own aristocratic passion can still speak so eloquently without any external intrusion from lesser hands. As Barbirolli said of the youthful Jaqueline Du Pre;’if you don’t play with that sort of passion in your youth what do you pare off in old age?’ With Jaqueline we were sadly but to catch an all too short glimpse but with Axel this is obviously just the beginning of a long and fulfilling career.
Fete Dieux a Seville is part of an on going project to record all of Albeniz Iberia (the first CD has already received high critical acclaim). This Spanish repertoire showed off his ravishing sense of colour and balance that allowed the melodic line to shine out clearly above all the transcendental hurdles that Albeniz places in its path. Scriabin’s deeply troubled third sonata was played with remarkable technical command and attention to detail whilst never sacrificing the overall ominous architectural shape. Gaspard de la Nuit where Ravel deliberately tried to out do the technical high jinx of Balakirev’s Islamey with his depiction of the goblin Scarbo. It was exactly the extraordinary characterisation he gave to this movement in particular,that I have never heard played with such attention to the meticulous dynamic indications of the composer without any lack of clarity or rhythmic drive. Ondine too have I rarely if ever heard in such fluid untroubled waters and if Le Gibet slightly lacked the same tension it certainly created the atmosphere of a gallows. Granada by Albeniz was Axel’s way of thanking the audience present for this live stream recording.
The talk with Leslie Howard ,one of the three artistic directors and founder member of the Keyboard Trust now celebrating its thirty years,will be available shortly together with the recital on the Keyboard Trust website.
Wonder of wonders at the Wigmore Hall where the star of Mahler was shining brightly tonight. With the generosity that only truly great artists can offer Alice Coote and Graham Johnson shared the stage with two artists from the next generation Marta Fontanais-Simmons and Fleur Barron.
A range of emotions as Mahler digs deep into the soul and it was in the overpowering emotion of Um Mitternacht that Alice had the people of the Ukraine in mind …..’the beating of my heart …I fought the fight ‘…..the tension was overwhelming for us all as she barely whispered ‘I am dead to the world’s tumult …I live alone in my heaven ,in my loving ,in my song’ moments of aching silence and an emotion I have only once felt before from Schwarzkopf and Hugo Wolf. We know how the land lies only too well these days!
Maria Fontanais-Simmons
There was beauty too from Maria in Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen and great emotion from Fleur Barron in Kindertotenlieder.
Fleur Barron
But it was the fun they shared together as a ‘farewell’ encore that brought the house down and a release of tension that had been almost unbearable in its intensity.
Graham like a great German orchestra presided at the piano producing colours and sounds with a sense of balance and architectural shape that only augmented and illuminated the searing intensity of Mahler’s deep journey into our soul .
Beethoven and Schumann Piano Trios: Ariel Lanyi, Charlie Lovell-Jones, Yoanna Prodanova
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Trio in E flat op.70 no.2 Poco sostenuto allegro ma non troppo – Allegretto-Allegretto ma non troppo -Finale Allegro
Robert Schumann – Fantasiestucke op. 88 Romanze-Humoreske-Duett-Finale
Interval
Robert Schumann Piano Trio no.2 in F major op.80 Sehr lebhaft – Mit innigem Ausdruck-In massager Bewegung -Nicht zu rasch
close friends on and off the stage as was evident from the music they made together .
Was it the shadow of Fou Ts’ong or the sumptuous hospitality of Oleg and Polina Kogan but there was truly magic in the air as the music of Beethoven and Schumann filled this intimate hall,built by the hands of a master cellist with music vibrating with such intensity that for a few precious hours time was allowed to stand still.
Oleg Kogan looking on approvingly to these remarkable young musicians as they fill his much loved hall with glorious sounds…… the shadow of the much missed Fou Ts’ong ever present in the form of his cherished Steinway ‘D’
The passionate outpourings of the three superb young musicians united for the first time was quite overwhelming as we were allowed to eavesdrop on the intimate confessions of Ariel Lanyi,Charlie Lovell-Jones and Yoanna Prodanova.
Overwhelming intensity with Beethoven’s dynamic personality vividly brought to life from the mellifluous and even mischievous with the extremes of his tempestuous temperament and the sublimity of his universal genius
A Beethoven of such beauty but also such dynamic personality as Ariel threw down the gauntlet to his two companions . Yoanna Prodanova showed us the sublime beauty and quixotic changes of character in Schumann’s Fantasiestucke op 88 for Piano Trio. It was though the sublime beauty and subtlety of sound that Charlie Lovell-Jones brought to the Schumann Trio op 80 that was as heart melting as it was breathtaking.His wonderful Guadagnini violin reminded us of the kaleidoscopic sound of Norbert Brainin who could turn any bauble into a gem. The birth of a great team destined for the heights and it was fitting that it should have been born in a musical salon created with such loving care by two renowned musician who with selfless generosity have given a home to Fou Ts’ongs much loved piano. A home where only true musicians may dare to enter.
The newly formed trio together with Ian Fountain the only British pianist tying with Benjamin Frith in 1989 to have won the Gold medal at the Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv
Angela Brownridge much admired by Guido Agosti (disciple of Busoni) who is hosting Ariel Lanyi in her London home Ian Fountain Gold prize winner of the Rubinstein Competition in 1989 and a Professor at the Royal Academy of Music.Mentor of Ariel Lanyi,having inherited the class of the late Hamish Milne who was also much esteemed by Guido Agosti and his musician colleagues worldwide.
In 2021, Ariel Lanyi won third prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition, and was a prize winner in the inaugural Young Classical Artists Trust (London) and Concert Artists Guild (New York) International Auditions.Over the last year Ariel has made his debut at Wigmore Hall and participated in the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, alongside renowned artists such as Mitsuko Uchida and Jonathan Biss.His recording of music by Schubert for Linn Records was released, and he gave live concerts (for release online) for the Vancouver Recital Society in Canada and the Banco de la República in Colombia. As soloist he performed Brahms Concerto No.2 with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and Beethoven’s Concerto No.2 at the Royal Academy of Music.This season Ariel returns to give performances in the Miami Piano Festival and at Wigmore Hall, as well as recitals in Rome and across the UK, and performances with orchestras in Israel and in the US, playing concerti by Mozart and Brahms.Ariel has performed widely in Europe, previous highlights including recitals at the deSingel Arts Centre in Antwerp (stepping in for Till Fellner), Salle Cortot in Paris and a performance of Mozart’s Concerto, K.491 with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductors whom he has in the past collaborated with include Yi-An Xu, Peter Whelan, Andrew Manze, and Trevor Pinnock. He regularly appears in concerts broadcast live on Israeli radio and television and on Radio France.Born in Jerusalem in 1997, in 2021 Ariel completed his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Ian Fountain, having studied with the late Hamish Milne. Prior to this, he studied at the High School and Conservatory of the Jerusalem Academy of Music, first with Lea Agmon, later with Yuval Cohen. Whilst there, he also studied violin and composition.An avid chamber musician, Ariel has collaborated with leading members of the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, as well as with eminent musicians such as Maria João Pires, Marina Piccinini, Charles Neidich, and Torleif Thedéen. Festival appearances include the Hvide Sande (Denmark), Ravello (Italy), Ausseer Festsommer (Austria), Bosa Antica (Sardinia) and Israel Festivals.Ariel has received extensive tuition from eminent artists such as Robert Levin, Murray Perahia, Imogen Cooper, Leif Ove Andsnes, Steven Osborne, and the late Leon Fleisher and Ivan Moravec. Awards include 1st Prize at the 2018 Grand Prix Animato Competition in Paris and 1st Prize in the Dudley International Piano Competition, as well as a finalist award at the Rubinstein Competition.In 2012 he released Romantic Profiles on LYTE records, an album featuring music by Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, and Janáček. Ariel is a Countess of Munster Recital Scheme Artist
YoannaProdanova was born in 1992 in Varna, Bulgaria. Having emigrated to Canada in 2006 and currently based in London, she performs internationally and enjoys a busy schedule both as a solo cellist and a chamber musician. A recipient of the Sylva Gelber Award and the Making Music Award for Young Concert Artists, her recent concerto performances include Elgar with the Orchestra of St John’s, Dvorak with the South East London Orchestra and Haydn C major with the RAM Chamber Orchestra led by the Doric String Quartet. In 2019 Yoanna gave a recital at the Studio Ernest Ansermet in Geneva which was broadcast live on RTS Espace 2 and included the Swiss premiere of a sonata for cello and piano by Romanian pianist and composer Valentin Gheorghiu. Yoanna has made recordings for the labels Linn and Orchard, including her debut solo album with pianist Mihai Ritivoiu including works by Chopin, Faure and Janacek, and the Brahms clarinet trio with pianist Somi Kim and clarinettist Joseph Shiner. Hugely passionate about chamber music, Yoanna has been invited to festivals such as Peasmarsh Festival, Siete Lagos in Patagonia, Prussia Cove Open Chamber, Rencontres de Bélaye, Quatuors à Bordeaux, St Magnus Festival, Buxton International Festival and others. She has had the pleasure to play with great artists such as Anthony Marwood, Richard Lester, Ian Swensen, clarinettist Andrew Marriner and pianist Richard Raymond. She is the cellist of the award winning Barbican Quartet, and the Prodanova-Ritivoiu duo Romanian pianist Mihai Ritivoiu. After having studied at the Conservatoire de musique de Montreal, Yoanna obtained her Bachelor and Master’s degrees at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 2019 she graduated from the prestigious Advanced Diploma course at the Royal Academy of Music where she was a Bicentenary Scholar. Her main teachers were Daniela Kirilova, Denis Brott, Louise Hopkins, Rebecca Gilliver, Richard Lester and Hannah Roberts. She has also worked with Ralph Kirshbaum, Steven Isserlis, Gary Hoffman and Andras Keller. Yoanna plays on Giuseppe Gagliano cello generously provided by the Canimex Group, Canada.
Charlie Lovell-Jones made his debut at a sold-out Royal Festival Hall debut aged 15. He has since appeared as soloist with orchestras including the English Chamber, Sendai Philharmonic and Yamagata Symphony, as well as the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, with whom he has broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Radio Wales, and RTÉ Radio. He has worked with many conductors, including John Wilson, Edward Gardner, Sir Mark Elder, Ken Takaseki, Moritz Gnann, Grant Llewellyn, Ben Gernon, Stephen Bell and Jonathan Mann. Charlie was a semifinalist in the Sendai 2019 and the Shanghai Isaac Stern 2020 International Violin Competitions. He was selected for the Joachim International Violin Competition 2021, but withdrew in order to lead the multi-award-winning Sinfonia of London in their debut BBC Prom and several album recordings, garnering critical acclaim from Gramophone Magazine and Classic FM. In 2017, BBC NOW premiered Charlie’s composition for violin, soprano and orchestra, Cariad Cyntaf, with Rebecca Evans. He was a BBC Young Musician 2016 Category Finalist, and was the youngest-ever member of the John Wilson Orchestra aged 14.Charlie held several scholarships at Oxford University, where he graduated in 2020 with a Gibbs Prize for the highest 1st-class Musicology Degree. That same year, he was offered a Bicentenary Scholarship on the spot in his postgraduate audition for the Royal Academy of Music, where he studies with his long-term teacher, Rodney Friend MBE. He is grateful for support from the Harriet Cohen Music Award, the Hattori Foundation, the Drake Calleja Trust, and the Countess of Munster Trust in his studies. Cardiff City Council and the Welsh Livery Guild supported Charlie’s attendance at many International Violin Academies from 2012-2020. He has enjoyed masterclasses with violinists such as Ida Haendel, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Vadim Repin, Menahem Praessler, Pinchas Zukerman, James Ehnes, and Leonidas Kavakos.Charlie’s 2021-2 season includes performances of Britten Double, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev 1st, Coleridge-Taylor, and Karl Jenkins violin concertos, concerts at the Beaminster, Bloomsbury, Isle of Wight and Lower Machen Music Festivals, the Fidelio Orchestra Cafe, the Stapleford Granary, and the Razumovsky Academy, and as part of his Bicentenary scholarship, his debut album recording with Linn Records. His 2022-3 season features many concerto and recital appearances. As a J&A Beare Violin Society Artist, Charlie plays a 1777 G.B. Guadagnini violin, generously loaned by a private benefactor.
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 