ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary

I have heard Iyad play many times and listened to his superb new CD of the works of the Armenian composer Aram Khatchaturian.I must say that a whole CD whilst being very impressive can be overwhelming as well.So it was very refreshing to hear just one of the very earliest works as an opening to his recital a few weeks ago at St Mary’s Perivale. The Poem from 1927 took us on a fascinating journey full of oriental colours and flights of fantasy.Such subtle colours and seemless virtuosity  that sprang so naturally from his hands.It was as though this young Jordanian born pianist knew the same  wonderland that  was a similar part of his heritage too. It is not surprising that his CD has created quite a stir in the press with a five star consensus from every angle. This is how  Khachaturian himself described his musical formation:

“I grew up in an atmosphere rich in folk music: popular festivities, rites, joyous and sad events in the life of the people always accompanied by music, the vivid tunes of Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian songs and dances performed by folk bards [ashugs] and musicians — such were the impressions that became deeply engraved on my memory, that determined my musical thinking. They shaped my musical consciousness and lay at the foundations of my artistic personality… Whatever the changes and improvements that took place in my musical taste in later years, their original substance, formed in early childhood in close communion with the people, has always remained the natural soil nourishing all my work.“

His most popular work is of course Spartacus from the 1950’s although his early piano concerto of  1936 written for Lev Oborin received its UK premier in 1940 from the hands of Moura Lympany directed by Alan Bush.Moura worked on it with Uncle Tobbs(Tobias Matthay )who loved it.It was originally offered to Clifford Curzon but he said give it to Moura she learns so much quicker that I ever could.She recorded it twice with great success.

I will re-listen with care to his CD which was inspired by his early work with Murray McLachlan at Chethams where he was sent as a teenager to receive the training that his early talent demanded. “For his debut disc, the Jordanian-Palestinian pianist Iyad Sughayer has put together a recital spanning from the ample and demanding Sonata to the delightful Childrens Album, consisting of ten miniatures, in turn playful and poignant. The recital closes with a piece which did a great deal to establish Khachaturians name near the outset of his international career. Composed in 1932 (allegedly in a single evening), the Toccata in E flat minor soon established itself among the showpieces of the modern repertoire and was to become a calling-card for aspiring virtuosi. Iyad Sughayer was born in 1993 in Amman, where he received his early training.He now also teaches at the RNCM in Manchester.”

The Mozart Sonata in D K.576 took us immediately into a different world.A precision jewel that glittered in the hand of this young pianist who whilst giving great rhythmic impetus imbued the few essential notes of Mozart’s score with such character and playful meaning.A clarity and beauty of sound that allowed Mozarts genius to unfold without any artifice.Almost a cat and mouse game in the first movement as the left hand followed closely the right .The subtle modulations beautifully played as they searched for their way back to the opening subject.The Adagio  had a beautiful sense of legato ,slightly lacking in colour but it was the purity and clarity of the sound that was something to marvel at.A superb use of the pedal never allowed a cloud to pass over the sublime simplicity of the melodic line even in the most intricate passages.The modulations were most movingly shaped with a slight rubato and legato and staccato played with such naturalness and good taste. The Allegretto was thrown off with a playful simplicity and a joyful mastery that was shared with his very appreciative audience.

Harmonies poétiques et religieuses (Poetic and Religious Harmonies), S.173, is a cycle of piano pieces written by  Franz Liszt at Voronivtsi, the Polish-Ukrainian country estate of Liszt’s mistress Princess Carolyne von Sayn-Wittgenstein in 1847, and published in 1853. The pieces are inspired by the poetry of  Alphonse de Lamartine, as was Liszt’s symphonic poem  Les Préludes.Iyad chose four of the ten pieces : n.1 Invocation,n.9 Andante lagrimoso,n.7 Funerailles,n.10 Cantique d’amour.There was grandeur and a real self identification with Liszt’s great rhetorical statements in Invocation and an outpouring of melodic invention of heartrending significance in the Andante lagrimoso.The gong deep in the bass at the opening of Funerailles built up to a passionate outburst that melted so beautifully into one of Liszt’s most touching melodies .A wonderful liquid sound that contrasted so well with the full orchestral sounds that surround this moment of true magic.It could have been played with the same simplicity as Iyad’s Mozart but this was a young man playing with great commitment and passion as it led to the ever advancing army with a  left hand of quite fearless technical assurance.The glorious victorious outbursts at the end were allowed to die away into the distance in a mist of mysterious sounds.Cantique d ‘ amour sang so expressively on a wave of magic arabesques with a wonderful sense of balance and use of the pedal that allowed the melodic line to be exposed and shaped so naturally.     

“I’ve listened to your Khachaturian CD and it is utterly superb. I knew the Sonata from Gilels recording but you have all the outsize virtuosity for this outsize work. But everything in your playing is so richly coloured and with a born empathy for Khachaturian’s very distinctive idiom. A dazzling success, and I look for to hearing you on further recordings and, hopefully, in London.”Bryce Morrison

Press: Khachaturian Piano Works – Reviews Gramophone: “exhilarating and delivered with perfect clarity…a release that leaves one eager to hear Sughayer in other repertory while eloquently arguing that Khachaturian’s piano music deserves re-evaluation” Patrick Rucker. International Piano (Critic’s Choice): “in his championing of largely forgotten music…this Jordanian-Palestinian player shines.” Michael Church. Piano Journal (EPTA): ‘Sughayer tackles its fiendishly demanding outer movements with tremendously spirited pianism.’ Alexander Thompson. Planet Hugill: ‘Sughayer is clearly master of the complex demands of Khachaturian’s virtuoso piano writing’. Robert Hugill. Cross-Eyed Pianist: ‘this disc is fine showcase for Iyad Sughayer’s talent and an excellent introduction to the piano music of Aram Khachaturian.’ Frances Wilson. Music-Web International: ‘BIS appear to have unearthed another piano- playing diamond’. Richard Hanlon. 

In my day it was Raymond Lewenthal that lit the way for a revival of the Golden Age of Piano Playing …….today the light is shining brightly for Tyler Hay and Mark Viner.

“On a foggy London night in January 1968,a tall Mephistophelian figure in top-hat and ground- length cape ,looking like a legendary personage out of the romantic past,stepped out of a limousine belonging to one of the peers of the realm,and swept through the stage door past the crowds gathered around it.Out in front of the Hall ,queues of people hoping to get tickets for the evening’s concert,were stretched around the block into Wimpole Street.””The Unique Lewenthal ” read the headlines of one of the reviews next morning of the first of his three all-Liszt recitals in London.

It is interesting to read his obituary in the New York Times:

All this to introduce  the two extraordinary figures  of Mark Viner and Tyler Hay who have appeared recently on the concert scene with the same curiosity for a bygone age.

“The Golden Age of the Piano Virtuosi”was a programme late at night on the radio in which the newly discovered piano rolls of the great virtuosi of the past were shared with an enthusiastic audience of which I was one in a late night programme on the BBC introduced by Deryck Cooke .They had been found in the Brentford Piano Museum created by a charmingly eccentric personality, Frank Holland .His unique collection of player pianos and such like( he was an engineer and not a musician at all) were housed in a derelict church overlooking the Thames.We listened unbelievingly to feats of virtuosity from pianists we had only read about.Moritz Rosenthal,Leopold Godowsky,Mischa Levitzki.The seed was sown for me .

My old piano professor Sidney Harrison was chairman of the Museum and we would make regular visits to see Frank and his instruments.We even played some pieces in a benefit concert for sixteen hands on eight pianos.Irene Kohler,Eric Harrison,Sidney Harrison,Graham Johnson,Linn Hendry,Katherine Still and me all took part as we marvelled at this  Alladin’s cave.

I even wrote to Cziffra and had a long correspondence with him about his piano transcriptions.I sought out the Chopin Studies by Godowsky in the Library at Senate House. Then out of nowhere appeard this romantic figure of Raymond Lewenthal who took London by storm with his performances of Liszt and Alkan.

I remember in particular his performance of the Hexameron.Princess Belgiojoso conceived the piece in 1837 and persuaded Franz Liszt to assemble a set of variations of the march along with five of his pianist-friends. Liszt composed the introduction, second variation, connecting sections and finale, and integrated the piece into an artistic unity. Five well-known composer-performers each contributed one variation:  Chopin,Czerny,Herz,Pixis and Thalberg.

Princess Belgiojoso commissioned Hexaméron for a benefit concert for the poor on 31 March 1837 at the princess’s salon in Paris. The musicians did not complete the piece on time, but the concert was held as scheduled. The concert’s highlight was a piano “duel” between Thalberg and Liszt for the title of “greatest pianist in the world.” Princess Belgiojoso announced her diplomatic judgment: “Thalberg is the first pianist in the world–Liszt is unique.”

This winter I ventured to Naples to visit the tomb of Thalberg who had amassed vast wealth from his piano tours in America  and elsewhere and had practically taken over a large part of Naples in his retirement.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2020/01/04/a-la-recherche-de-thalberg/

Posted by Christopher Axworthy on Friday, January 3, 2020

 It is a fascinating world of a bygone age and it is Mark Viner with  already seven CD’s of Alkan,Thalberg,Chaminade together with Tyler Hay who are bringing this world back to life.

These works were written by virtuoso pianists for their own performances.To astonish,ravish and seduce.Their model was of course Paganini.But they are works that need a transcendental technique together with a sense of style colour and the stamina to sustain the truly diabolical demands that are required to bring these works back to life.Both Tyler Hay and Mark Viner have these qualities in abundance thanks to their early training with Tessa Nicholson at the Purcell School  and later with Niel Immelman at the Royal College.

I have written many times about their performances but am glad now in this time of confinement to receive Tyler’s latest CD of an almost completely forgotten piano virtuoso.A contemporary of Chopin and Liszt of whom Chopin wrote on his arrival in Paris:”Herz,Liszt and Hiller are all zeros next to Kalkbrenner”He dedicated his Concerto op 11 to him and wanted lessons but the arrogant Kalkbrenner would not teach him for less than three years!

So it is with great trepidation that I await to discover who is Kalkbrenner from the  hands of Tyler Hay.

This is what I wrote in my appraisal a few months ago “Kitten on the Keys” when Tyler played the’ Variations Brillantes sur une Mazourka de Chopin’  op 120 at St James’s Piccadilly:

“The Kalkbrenner Variations based on the B flat mazurka of Chopin I had heard from Tyler on a period instrument that lacked the luminosity and grandeur that today we were treated to on a fine modern day Fazioli concert grand.The sheer beauty of the cantabile and the delicious fiortiori that cascaded like drops of water around the sumptuous melodic line was something to marvel at indeed.He made the piano sound like a truly‘Grand’ piano with such a wonderfully warm and rich sonority from which emerged the Chopin mazurka as never before.The different variations of transcendental difficulty were played with a charm and ease that was quite ravishing.”

There is even more to marvel at on the CD that prefaces the variations with a breathtaking performance of the ’25 Grande Etudes de Style et de Perfectionnement op 120.’

Even more astonishing is the fact that all this was accomplished in one day at Jaques Samuel Pianos in London on the 19th April 2019.I have heard Hamelin,Perahia(Chopin 24 studies),Aimard and Volodos perform similar feats but doubt if that could have been achieved in just one day.

This is quite extraordinary playing by any standard.

And a sumptuous Bechstein piano, the preferred piano of many past masters, that has all the range of sound in the hands of this true master.

His total  technical mastery allied to a sense of style that immediately makes one unaware that these studies are like the Gradus ad Parnassum that we all know from our struggles in early piano lessons.A pupil of Scaramuzza tells me that he used to play much Kalkbrenner in his lessons and indeed these pieces  belong to the great Neapolitan school of piano playing which via Scaramuzza was exported to Argentina.

These 25 studies show all the extraordinary qualities that had Chopin writing to his friend Titus Woyciechowski:”Kalkbrenner’s fascinating touch,the quietness and equality of his playing are indescribable,every note proclaims the master.He is truly a giant,who dwarfs all other artists”

Well that could easily sum up what I heard on this CD today.If it slightly misses the absolute perfection of a Rosenthal or Godowsky I doubt that any pianist could match this today ….with the exception of course of his close colleague Mark Viner!(Just listen to his Alkan studies and the Grand Sonata op 33).

This is born out of a passion for a lost age and the desire to throw themselves into the fray on an absolute mission with burning commitment and mastery.

Not only were there amazing octaves from the very first study or the repeated notes alla Beethoven of the 22nd.There was also the amazing dexterity of the 25th , Bachian with its knotty twine that never gets twisted in Tylers hands.Not like “Grave pour Mmme Langois” that  Kalkbrenner writes in the score where presumably Mmme Langois’s fingers got a little stiff!

The 15th that even Tyler admits is one of the most arduous is thrown off with a great sense of style.The precision of the trills shaped so magically in the 20th and the  tempestuous octaves of the 17th or the swirling arpeggios in a perpetuum mobile of the 8th.

Not only technical feats but also musical treats as well.

The beautiful cantabile and legato playing with  superb sense of balance in the 4th is as touching as anything that Mendelssohn could have written.Or the “Schumanneque ” 21st as  passionate  as any of the Novelettes.The almost Waldteufelian melodic line of the 24th was matched with the “painfully” expressive 16th of almost Bach- Siloti proportions. The beautiful Intermezzo at half time in the 11th played with a heartrending simplicity but where Kalkbrenner manages to slip in a glissando in sixths so as not to allow for  any unwelcomed complacency.

An amazing CD that will take your breath away as you enjoy the sheer musical joy and the ease with which the music is allowed to reach deep down inside you where others rarely reach.

I know Mark Viner has  a Blumenfeld CD lined up and wonder what Tyler has up his sleeve as they take us on their magic tour to a past age of giants.

Hats off indeed as Schumann would have said!

Maybe Kalkbrenner was right when he suggested that Chopin should study with him for three years to acquire a true technique!He was after all Chopin’s favourite pianist that he dedicated his Concerto in E minor op 11 to.

Such were the thoughts that passed through my mind as I was seduced and ravished by this young man’s performance as I had been years ago by Bolet and Cherkassky.The precision of the repeated notes in an explosion of fireworks that brought us to the conclusion was quite breathtaking.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2019/06/13/tyler-hay-at-hatchlands-for-the-cobbe-collection/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2019/09/25/tyler-hay-kitten-on-the-keys/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2019/06/22/tyler-hay-pays-homage-to-a-genius/

St Mary’s Virtual Concert n.2

Hugh Mather introduced me to an amazing duo with the second in his new imposed series of virtual concerts.After the solo recital by Konstantin Lapshin https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2020/03/18/konstantin-lapshin-in-no-mans-land-the-remarkable-new-venture-at-st-marys-perivale-with-hugh-mather-a-man-for-all-seasons/

Two artists with an astonishing curriculum  who simply said to Hugh when he asked if they could stand in at the last minute for a Corona stricken Trio:

‘Choose any or all  of the ten Beethoven Sonatas we play them all ……..without the score’

………and magnificently judging by these three .

Michael Foyle and Maksim Štšura.

I listened by chance to this concert and here are just one or two general remarks about an evening of true chamber music from a duo that played as one.

No greater compliment could there be !

The programme opened with the  early A major Sonata op 12 n 2  where the Allegro vivace was played  with great buoyancy answered by the beautiful shape and flowing lines of the Andante.The piano sang beautifully and was answered by the subtle mellow tone of the violin.There was a wonderful flexibility that gave such poignant meaning to this early sonata.The Allegro piacevole was almost Schubertian in its seemless lyricism.

It was infact  a wonderful preparation for the outpouring of melody in the “Spring”  Sonata   op 24.The repeats were not played but there was a glorious return to the main melody after a development where the violin and piano weaved in and out as the duo looked so intently at each other instead of the score.The coda was of quite voluptuous beauty.

The Adagio molto espressivo opening  one could not imagine being played more beautifully, that is,  except for when the violin entered  with its touchingly whispered tone.The subtle modulations were very moving with a give and take between the violin and piano that was quite extraordinary. A playful scherzo which could have been  a little steadier (the first movement of op 12 suffered from this too) but was a great contrast to the beautifully sung Allegro ma non troppo.

It was the great G major Sonata op 96, the last of Beethoven’s ten, that was so rewarding.A rock steady tempo  with such lyricism .The Adagio espressivo was a heartrending personal statement from both players.The Scherzo too was played with great rhythmic impetus with a beautiful lyrical trio passing from one player to the other in a quite absorbing musical conversation.The last movement had such poignant moments in the langsam central section before the final Allegro and an explosion of great rhythmic impulse and commitment .

Dr Hugh Mather presenting this extraordinary duo to the ‘virtual world’audience

Wednesday March 18th 2020 7.30 pm

Michael Foyle (violin) Maksim Stsura (piano)

Beethoven: Violin sonata no 2 in A Op 12 no 2

Beethoven: Violin sonata no 5 in F Op 24 ‘Spring’,

Beethoven: Violin sonata in G Op 96

Michael Foyle launched his career by winning The Netherlands Violin Competition in 2016. His London debut followed with a recital at the Wigmore Hall and since then he has performed recitals in the UK’s most prestigious venues, including Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Buckingham Palace, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Bridgewater Hall and Usher Hall, regularly being broadcast on BBC Radio 3. In 2018-19 he released his debut CDs, ‘The Great War Centenary – Debussy, Janacek and Respighi Sonatas’ on Challenge Records and ‘Lutoslawski and Penderecki: Complete Violin and Piano Works’ on Delphian Records, both to critical acclaim. He now pursues a busy solo career, recently performing concertos with the English Chamber Orchestra, the Polish Baltic Philharmonic, Youth Symphony Orchestra of Russia in Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, and a return to the Rotterdam Philharmonic. He has given over 200 recitals with duo pianist Maksim Stsura, and performed premieres of solo and chamber works by over 30 living composers, and performed as Guest-Concertmaster with orchestras such as BBC Symphony and The Halle. Michael became Professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 2016, the youngest violinist appointed in the institution’s 200-year history. Michael was born in Scotland in 1991 and, as a teenager, won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Tabor Award and led the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Maureen Smith (where he received the Roth Prize for the highest graduating violinist) and then at the Vienna Konservatorium with Pavel Vernikov. He won the Royal Overseas League String Competition, the Salieri-Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition and Beethoven Society of Europe Competition, and was selected for the Park Lane Group, City Music Foundation, Kirckman Concert Society, Making Music Young Concert Artists and Live Music Now.

Pianist Maksim Stsura won First Prizes at the 7th Estonian Piano Competition (2008), the Steinway-Klavierspiel-Wettbewerb in Germany (2004), the International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Estonia (2000) and the Intercollegiate Beethoven Piano Competition (2013). He has appeared as soloist with orchestras such as the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and the Saint Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Maksim is in great demand, collaborating with Jakobstad Sinfonietta (Finland), Mediterranean Chamber Brass (Spain), Florin Ensemble (UK) and Wiener Kammersymphonie (Austria), among many others. In 2014 he started his Doctoral course at the Royal College of Music, working towards his DMus. Maksim’s research has been generously supported by a Neville Wathen Award, Leverhulme Postgraduate Studentship and Mr Nigel Woolner MBE. His research titled ‘Piano Transcription of a 21st-century Orchestral Score – Freedoms and Limitations’ focuses on works by Mark-Anthony Turnage and James Dillon.Since 2012 Maksim has been the pianist in the award-winning Foyle-Stsura Duo, having performed extensively in the UK and internationally in venues including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester and the Wigmore Hall. He has played live on BBC Radio 3, NPO Radio 4 and Estonian Klassikaraadio and recorded for Delphian Records and Challenge Classics.