ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary

Dangerous Moonlight strikes at Steinways with Raphael Lustchevsky taking the role of Louis Kentner with the same mastery and astonishing style that the Warsaw Concerto by Addinsell was to have defined our two countries in 1941 as In the midst of World War II, Polish musician Stefan (Anton Walbrook) meets American journalist Carole (Sally Gray) as the Nazis are marching into Poland. Though both are forced to flee the Germans, they fall in love and, after leaving Eastern Europe, get married. Although marriage and a life as a musician bring Stefan joy, he is unable to forget his commitment to his country, and is compelled to return to the fighting, despite Carole’s fears and concerns.

A master pianist with a programme of works that were once standard fare in every front parlour, but now the parlour no longer exists and they are all too rarely heard in the concert hall. Interesting to note that Friedman, a disciple of Leschetitzky, had fled to Australia during the war which explains the wonderful Russian school of piano playing in Australia with the likes of Eileen Joyce. Friedman died in Australia but was buried in Geneva in the 1950’s ! ?

Played with great style and limpet like fingers of such authority as we used to hear from that great Polish school with post war pianists such as Malcuzinski, Niedzielski, Smeterlin, Askenase and of course the greatest of them all Artur Rubinstein. And from a later generation Zimmerman who like Raphael had studied with Jasinski .

Liebestraum , Widmung, the two Debussy Arabesques , four Chopin etudes :The Aeolian Harp, Tristesse, Revolutionary and Ocean together with the beautifully simple and elegant third Ballade. A superb sense of balance but also of solidity.

The two works by Friedman were played with a charming flowing beauty and it was wonderful to see his hands belonging to each key, finding warm rich sounds as he played with a beguiling style that brought these salon pieces vividly to life .The ‘Masovienne’ ,a dance from a lost period of charm mixed with nostalgia, was played with masterly understanding.

There was a beautiful sense of line to the study op 25 n. 1 by Chopin, that was played with extraordinary clarity and an ending of exquisite beauty, as the left hand trill was just allowed to vibrate as it arrived so delicately on the final chord. There was passion and poetry in the study op 10 n. 12 ‘Revolutionary’, with a dynamic drive that was breathtaking and a technical control of enviable assurance. The study op 10 n. 3 ‘Tristesse’ was played with aristocratic good taste of poignant beauty. The change of tempo for the central episode became in effect a mazurka ( as Chopin does in his Polonaise op 44) that contrasted so well with the radiant beauty of one of Chopin’s most memorable melodies. The study op 25 n 12 ‘Ocean’ was truly overpowering with its exuberance and exhilaration, it may have seemed slightly too much for such a small room but when played by a musician who is listening and judging the sound it was totally convincing.

Raphael had a strange way of pointing to the first note in the third ballade, almost like pointing the way for a performance that was to be played with great authority. An architectural shape ,with great poetic understanding and a sense of style that was never allowed to become sentimental but had, as in all his playing, a strength and personality that swept all before it. A natural flexibility that allowed the phrases to be shaped with the great bel canto line always in mind . As he had started with a straight finger I cannot help but comment on his alternating hands for the final flourish which took me by surprise!

The two Debussy ‘Arabesques’ were played with a beautiful fluidity and chiselled beauty with a sense of improvised freedom. A refreshing quixotic shape to the second was played with a capricious sense of style alla ‘Golliwog ‘ but with a beautifully atmospheric ending.

Drama, passion and heroic beauty, with sumptuous rich harmonies gave new life to Liszt’s Liebestraum and showed what true love is really about. With fearless abandon he scaled the emotional heights in ‘Widmung’ the work that Schumann had dedicated to Clara and given to her as a birthday present as proof of his undying love. Liszt had elaborated this song with sumptuous beauty and cascades of notes of overwhelming intensity. Played with extraordinary mastery and passion, we were now ready for the Warsaw Concerto!

A programme that put these miniature masterpieces once more on the map when played with such mastery as today. Culminating in an overwhelming performance of passion and heart on sleeve radiance of the Warsaw concerto. Addinsell had been asked to write a concerto like Rachmaninov who had turned down the film commission . Well Addinsell certainly succeeded and came up with a concerto in many ways much better because it is so unashamedly theatrical and everyone’s idea of what a piano concerto should be .A.I. eat your heart out !

The Warsaw Concerto is a short work for piano and orchestra by Richard Addinsell , written for the 1941 British film Dangerous Moonlight , which is about the Polish struggle against the 1939 invasion by Nazi Germany . In performance it normally lasts just under ten minutes and is an example of programme music , representing both the struggle for Warsaw and the romance of the leading characters in the film. It became very popular in Britain during World War II.

The concerto is written in imitation of the style of Rachmaninov and initiated a trend for similar short piano concertos in the Romantic style, which have been dubbed “tabloid concertos”, or “Denham concertos” (the latter term coined by Steve Race )

The composer, Richard Addinsell , was born in London and initially studied law before turning to a career in music. His time at the Royal College of Music was brief, as he was soon drawn to musical theatre, and he also wrote for radio, but his most memorable contributions are to a series of film scores beginning in 1936. He wrote the music for the 1939 film Goodbye ,Mr Chips, the original Gaslight  (released in 1940, not to be confused with the later Hollywood version), Scrooge, and Dangerous Moonlight (1941, also released in the US as Suicide Squadron).  

• Percy Grainger transcribed and recomposed the work for two pianos in the 1940s.
• Pierre Boulez  was, in his youth, house pianist at the Folies Bergère Club in Paris “playing the Warsaw Concerto, engulfed in kitsch and lit by pinkish light – and that was while he was writing his second sonata”

The success of the film led to an immediate demand for the work, and a recording was dutifully supplied from the film’s soundtrack (at nine minutes, it fit perfectly on two sides of a 12-inch disk playing at 78 rpm) along with sheet music for a piano solo version.Such unexpected success had another consequence. The off-screen piano part was played by Louis Kentner, a fine British/Hungarian musician known for his performances of Franz Liszt , but he had insisted that there be no on-screen credit, for fear that his participation in a popular entertainment would harm his classical reputation.He lost his qualms when the recording sold in the millions, and Douglas notes that he even asked for royalties (they were granted). Ultimately the Warsaw Concerto was such a hit that it made the then unusual journey from movie screen to concert hall.

The concerto was not part of the original plan. According to Roy Douglas, at that time orchestrator for all of Addinsell’s scores: “The film’s director had originally wanted to use Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concero, but this idea was either forbidden by the copyright owners or was far too expensive”.Thus Addinsell wanted the piece to sound as much like Rachmaninov as possible, and Douglas remembers, “while I was orchestrating the Warsaw Concerto I had around me the miniature scores of the Second and Third Piano Concertos, as well as the Rhapsody on a Theme of Pagnini “Although it is at the heart of Dangerous Moonlight, the Concerto is never performed complete but rather revealed piecemeal. The opening of the work is heard when the two protagonists meet, and it is further developed when they are on their honeymoon. Finally, in the only extended concert sequence, we are given the closing section but its use is not restricted to scenes with the “composer” at the piano. The themes are found as underscoring throughout the film, and in this way a brief concert piece gains a dramatic resonance that belies its small scale.

Dangerous Moonlight takes place at the start of World War II and tells the story of a Polish concert pianist and composer, Stefan Radecki (Anton Walbrook ) who defends his country by becoming a fighter pilot. After an air raid in Warsaw by German Luftwaffe , he is discovered by an American reporter, Carol Peters (Sally Gray), practising the piano in a bombed-out building. It is the opening of his Warsaw Concerto, at this point a work in progress, and the first line he says to her is, “It is not safe to be out alone when the moon is so bright” (referring to the moonlight bombing raids). Gazing intently at Carol and disclosing “something lovely you’ve just given me”, he introduces the lyrical second theme of the Concerto. And, indeed, this melody is always associated with Carol. Like Rachmaninoff, Addinsell introduces it almost as a nocturne. Stefan speaks of the piece later in the film: “This music is you and me. It’s the story of the two of us in Warsaw, of us in America, of us in … where else I don’t know. That’s why I can’t finish it”. But finish it he does. Similar to the way that Rachmaninoff returns to his second theme in his Second Piano Concerto, the “Carol” melody is used, not only to bind together the emotional strands of the drama, but to bring the Concerto to a triumphant conclusion. Throughout the film, the unfinished piece is defined in a relationship with Chopin’s “Military ” Polonaise , symbolising Polish patriotism.It is “completed” when the Polonaise elements are integrated with the Romantic theme, implying the fusion of romantic and patriotic love.

Within the context of its story, Dangerous Moonlight is also effective in creating the impression of a larger work written and performed by the film’s fictional composer and pianist. When snatches of the Concerto are first played, one character tells another, “I’ve got the records”, and when the “premiere” is shown, we are provided with a close-up of the program, Warsaw Concerto, with three movements listed. Only one movement was actually written by Addinsell.

Louis Philip Kentner CBE (19 July 1905 – 23 September 1987)He was born  in Karwin,Austrian Silesia (present-day  Czech Republic), to Hungarian parents. He studied at the Royal Academy in Budapest from 1911 to 1922, studying with Arnold Székely , Hans Koessler,Zoltan Kopdály and Leó Weiner. While a student, he first became acquainted with Béla Bartók, who remained a lifelong friend.In 1935 he moved to England  permanently with his wife, the fellow Hungarian pianist Ilona Kabos, and they made their home in London. Kentner gave radio broadcasts of the complete sonatas of Beethoven and Schubert , the complete ’48’ by Bach, and the complete Années de pèlerinage of Liszt . At the composer’s request, he was the soloist at the Hungarian premiere of Bartók’s Piano Concerto n. 2, in Budapest in 1933, under Otto Klemperer In November 1942, Kabos and Kentner gave the world premiere of Bartók’s Concerto fro two Pianos ,Percussion and Orchestra in London .He also gave the first European performance of the Concerto n. 3 in London with Sir Adrian Boult on 27th November 1946. He and Yehudi Menuhin (his second wife’s brother-in-law) gave the first performance of Walton’s Violin Sonata, in Zürich  on 30 September 1949.He was President of the British Liszt Society for many years, until his death. In 1975

 Ignaz Friedman was a child prodigy and studied with Hugo Reimann in Leipzig  and Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna and participated in Busoni’s master classes.His official début in Vienna  in 1904 featured a program of three piano concertos, rivaling the similar programs of established titans like Busoni  and Godowsky , and he remained a titan throughout his career. His style was quiet and effortless, imbued with a sense of rhythm and color, grounded in a sovereign technique, and much has been written about his peerless interpretations of Chopin in particular. As with his compatriot and contemporary Moritz Rosenthal , Friedman’s Chopin interpretations, particularly those of the mazurkas , are considered by many to be unsurpassed. Despite having given 2,800 concerts during his career, he sometimes received lukewarm reviews in America in later years, as younger critics were becoming accustomed to modernist playing .Rachmaninov   admired Friedman’s playing very much and considered him as a great virtuoso in a style more romantic than his own. Friedman was never successful in an America that had adopted a much more modern and straightforward presentation with recording technology that prompted a different sensibility. Therefore, Friedman remains as one of the last representatives of the bygone era even during the life of Rachmaninov.At the outbreak of the Second World War, Friedman was in Europe, but managed to escape when a concert tour in Australia  was offered at the last moment. He settled in Sydney  and remained there until his death (which occurred on Australia Day , 1948). His last concert was in Sydney on July 24, 1943, after which neuritis in his left hand forced him to retire from the concert platform.

He composed more than 90 works, mainly piano miniatures, as well as pieces for cello and a piano quintet , but his compositions have not found a niche in the standard repertory. The complete vocal output (37 songs) was issued as a recording in 2022. Friedman arranged many works, especially those of J.S. Bach  and Domenico Scarlatti . He also edited an almost complete edition of the piano works of Chopin and produced editions of Schumann and Liszt.

https://youtu.be/2qLVvfqYP4g?si=L6mR5OtEdyDg5nyK

RICHARD WAGNER (1813-1883) 

Schmachtend (Elegy in A flat major), WWV 93 (1881)

Eine Sonate für das Album von Frau M.W. (Mathilde Wesendonck), WWV 85 (1853)

Blasio Kavuma 
Prelude for Piano (commissione del Deal Music & Arts Festival)

FERENC LISZT (1811-1886)

​Isoldens Liebestod – Schlußszene aus Richard Wagners Tristan und Isolde, S447 

(1867, revised 1874)

Ouverture zu R. Wagners Tannhäuser, S442 (1849)Wagner and Liszt embark in Deal today with Filippo Tenisci at the helm

A standing ovation and a taste of mushy peas were the just reward for a remarkably dedicated young artist who could transmit Wagner’s genius with a kaleidoscopic palette of colours. Adding Wagners son -in- law’s demonic pianistic genius too, as Liszt brought Wagner’s orchestra into the elite salons of the day with a heroic transcendental pianism that was exhilarating and overwhelming.

Two early original pieces by Wagner showed already his search for colour and insinuating counterpoints. Commissioned especially by the Festival to play a work from 2015 by the composer in residence and also to pair it with Wagner’s much neglected ‘Wesendonck’ Sonata. In fact the whole of this first half of the programme was played with barely whispered tones of great beauty. Filippo caressing the keys with gentle stroking movements gave a radiance and beauty to this fine Yamaha piano donated some years ago to Deal and that sits so proudly in their Town Hall.

The Elegie written just two year before the composers death is a page of etherial musings where the personality of the composer of the Ring cycle is apparent from the insinuating counterpoints of gently woven intricacy. This was followed by the Sonata, somewhat in the same mood of deep introspection and whispered beauty, even though written when the composer was only in his forties. It did, however, have a moment in its twelve minute life when it burst into life but not with the Lisztian histrionics that were to come later in the programme. It was a work of very subdued deeply felt expression of dark passion. Filippo had learnt it especially for the Festival and as he remarked afterwards it deserves to be heard more often in the concert hall. He played it with great authority and passionate conviction finding a refined palette of colours with a sense of touch that was like someone swimming and creating gentle waves where Wagner’s knotty counterpoints could mingle within Wagners unmistakable architectural sense of direction.

The other work that Filippo had learnt especially for the festival was by the composer in residence Blasio Kavuma.To quote the composer : ‘it was composer off the back of the String Trio and in it’s eight minutes of life uses highly chromatic harmonies and syncopated counterpoints, alluding to the preludes of Debussy, but also searching for its own identity’. It was an interesting work and one could see why the festival wanted it to be linked to the Wagner, because it uses very much the same delicate palette of colour. A continual outpouring of sounds in a mist of Debussian harmonies .A long slow meandering of great beauty that has a life of it’s own without any particular architectural shape.

Adding Liszt’s pianistic genius in a potent mix of two giants joined by marriage not only of Liszt’s daughter but also by their prophetic genius.The two Liszt re- workings of Wagner are both pianistic show pieces.

The ‘Liebestod’ is a piece often played in the concert hall and is a marvellous work for piano where Liszt’s admiration and love for the work of his son-in-law shines through with quite remarkable pianistic colours. An extraordinary ability to convey the very essence of the last opera that Liszt was to hear before his death and that Filippo played with ravishing colours. A passionate involvement with sumptuous rich sounds alternating with barely whispered secrets of refined glowing beauty.

The Tannhäuser overture was played in the uncut version and used to be the war horse of many notable virtuosi – Moisiewitch in particular.

https://youtu.be/XKDYla5C5cA?si=TymnVxQTbeeEBrDz

It was good to hear it in the concert hall again and it was a rousing ending to this very interesting concert. Fearlessly played with brilliance and a technical mastery that allowed Filippo to negotiate the transcendental difficulties that Liszt adds to his first transcription of a work by Wagner. Scintillating interludes with streams of notes thrown off with knowing ease as the ‘brass band’ climaxes built up to to the final might theme. Elaborated by Liszt with alternating octaves whilst at the same time maintaining the full sumptuous Tannhäuser theme in the centre of the keyboard. A ‘tour de force’ of ‘three handed pianism’ that brought a standing ovation from this very full hall, intent of buying this young pianist’s CD’s dedicated to Wagner/Liszt to take home with them to prolong the enjoyment they had found today.

‘Nobody needs to make too fulsome a claim for Wagner’s pianoforte music: His two early sonatas and the Fantasy show a young composer wrestling with form and content, but with only the most imitative of character. There is a later group of slighter works from his time in exile in Zurich, but even there we do not see much of the surefootedness of Wagner the experienced and successful opera composer. A couple of reasons spring to mind: Wagner was really no pianist, although he had worked as a jobbing repetiteur in Paris; Wagner the composer generally required external impetus, usually from poetry and legend. So it may be observed that hissettings of Mathilde Wesendonck poems are extraordinarily imaginative, whilst the one-movement Album-Sonata that he wrote for her is more of a curate’s egg. That said, there are touches of inspiration, evident immediately in the wonderful modulation that takes us mercurially from the home key of A flat major to C major (bar 25 onwards), and shortly after that, some examples of his trademark melodic ornament of the four-note turn, familiar in virtually every Wagner compositionfrom Rienzi to Parsifal. For these features we must therefore be forgiving of the comparatively unimaginative development section! 

Wagner’s later piano pieces are all Album-Leaves, and often more interesting than might at first appear. The last of them, dating from 26^th December 1881, was not published in Wagner’s lifetime, and the familiar sobriquet Elegie does not stem from the composer, who merely marked a curious tempo direction: Schmachtend (Languishing). Despite occasional commentaries attempting to connect the musical content of these dozen bars with Tristan (and misdating the work by more than 20 years) or the recently-completed Parsifal, the theme is clearly related in harmony, melody and expression to the slow movement – Die Abwesenheit (Absence) – of Beethoven’s opus 81a sonata: Les adieux.

Liszt proselytised extensively for Wagner’s music, and regularly supported his future son-in-law financially. His first piano arrangement of Wagner’s music is what is virtually a partition de piano of the mighty Tannhäuser Overture, and he made further works, varying from literal transcriptions to paraphrases, of music from Rienzi; Der fliegende Holländer; Tannhäuser; Lohengrin; Tristan und Isolde; Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg; Der Ring des Nibelungen [Das Rheingold] and Parsifal. We have Liszt to thank for the title which has clung, with Wagner’s approval, to the last scene of Tristan. Of course, this would be the last opera that Liszt heard before his death, and it had been close to his heart from its inception. A short phrase taken from the second act duet introduces a transcription of Isolda’s Love-Death which manages to convey not just Wagner, but Liszt’s total admiration of the music which he thought to be the greatest of its time.

For some inscrutable reason, Liszt subtitled his transcription of the Tannhäuser overture Konzertparaphrase. A paraphrase it most certainly is not, and, with the tiniest exceptions, it proceeds faithfully, bar-for-bar, with Wagner’s score and deserves to be considered alongside Liszt’s transcriptions of the Beethoven Symphonies, the Weber Overtures, the William Tell Overture and the major orchestral works of Berlioz. Uniquely amongst Liszt’s works, the score contains no pedal directions at all, but the performer is instructed to use his discretion in the matter. On the face of it, the job is plainly to attempt an orchestral fulness of sound, and the few directions that one can transfer from parallel passages in Liszt’stranscription of the Pilgrims’ Chorus suggest that one is to paint is broad strokes, and that the brass chords are the important foundation – upper details being of secondary importance. The transcription used to be a very popular warhorse at piano recitals, and it was memorably recorded by the great Benno Moiseiwitsch. Nowadays it is rarely attempted in public, so it is a great pleasure to present it in recital.’

https://youtu.be/wU0lEOJP2z8?si=b4OnYBhZCzL1BLoO

Notes © Leslie Howard, 2025

Filippo Tenisci in Viterbo with mastery and refined generosity

Filippo Tenisci exults the genius of Wagner and Liszt in Velletri

Filippo Tenisci opening concert at Roma 3 ‘A musician of refined intelligence and mastery’

Roma 3 Orchestra The Mozart Project

Overlooking Belgrave Square, Antonio Morabito gave a recital in the beautiful salon of the Italian Institute .

A shining Fazioli piano too,for a musical journey in Italy from the Baroque to Romanticism.The Fourth of July , Independence day in the USA , with its power struggles and defence costs and ever stricter immigration rules. As opposed to Italy ‘The Land of Dreams’ and birthplace of the genius of Michelangelo and Da Vinci, described by Rostropovich as the ‘Museum of the World.’ Of course many ‘Americans ‘ are of Italian origin so it was fitting that Antonio should offer his musical journey in Italy today of all days.

Introduced by Federica Nardacci ,authoress of the Black Pearl, a play about the last days of Maria Callas. She outlined the journey that Antonio was about to share with us.

https://youtu.be/BQvb920TKAI?si=YdxCCcIbq2modGRf

Four Scarlatti Sonatas poured from Antonio’s fingers with jewel like brilliance and stylistic beauty but it was the six character pieces by Respighi that stole our hearts.

Antonio playing with sumptuous rich sound and refined rubato he took us into a world when miniature salon pieces describe a pre war era of simple unadorned charm and radiance . Written at the turn of the twentieth century , the opening “Valse Caressante” shows elements of French salon lyricism and was played with great charm and beguiling style . The Baroque is highlighted in the “Canone” but the most popular of the set, the “Notturno”, shows signs of Impressionism. It was here that Antonio was able to find colours of sensitive beauty and radiance giving an architectural shape to this exquisite tone poem. The “Minuetto” is reminiscent of the Classical era; and the “Studio” brilliantly played is molded after Chopin’s Études; The “Intermezzo-Serenata”, resembling Fauré, demonstrates Respighi’s Romanticism and was played with a kaleidoscope of colours and whispered beauty.

This led beautifully into the two poems by Scriabin op 32 . The first is a well known piece often played by Horowitz and Antonio imbued it with the insinuating charm and refined delicacy that was so characteristic of a composer who was later to be obsessed with reaching his star. The second poem showed us this other more demonic side to Scriabin’s character. Played with dynamic drive and rich sumptuous sounds it brought the first half of this fascinating recital to a passionately stormy end .

Opening the second half with Chopin who had been such an influence on the early works of Scriabin. Antonio played the four mazurkas op 30. Full of the deep nostalgia for his homeland, Chopin imbues these miniature tone poems with the dance but also the tears that made Schumann describe his 52 Mazurkas as ‘canons covered in flowers ‘ . They were played with great style and refined good taste before Antonio burst into the poetic world of Petrarca with Liszt’s Sonetto 104. A ravishing tale of whispered asides and romantic passionate outbursts and was played with breathtaking abandon and remarkable technical mastery. The final work was the rousing Radetzky March of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody n. 15. Here Antonio could let his hair down and relish Liszt’s scintillating brilliance and rumbustuous call to arms. Brilliantly played it brought Antonio’s journey to an exhilarating end.

Chopin’s most famous nocturne in E flat op 9 n. 2 was an encore that he dedicated to a friend who had come especially from Italy to relish the refreshing journey that Antonio had offered us today.

London salutes a legend Maurizio Pollini The story of a miracle by Antonio Morabito. ’One of the most remarkable descriptions of the humanity and courageous playing of a great artist I have ever read …. required reading for any musician and listener who values untouchable integrity in music and life itself …. an astonishing and creatively constructive piece of assessment …’Michael Moran (distinguished Australian critic and musicologist in Warsaw)

Antonio Morabito at the Italian Institute The return of a warrior with virtuosity and poetic sensibility in his fingers

Paradise awaits in Highgate with the Morabito- Casillagh duo and much more besides

More superb playing from Curtis Phill Hsu that just confirms the importance of the Hastings International Piano as a competition whose priorities are with music with a capital ‘M’. Many competitions are appearing on the horizon, almost daily, and creating events that draw people in to listen, many for the first time, and offering opportunities to young musicians to share their talent with a vast arena worldwide, via the very fine streaming facilities offered by nearly all International Competitions. Hastings is proving to be a competition where musical integrity and humility as interpreters, takes precedence over showmanship and entertainment ! I was very surprised to hear Curtis playing in a private concert the ‘Hammerklavier’ Sonata and even more surprised that he had chosen the Schumann Piano concerto for his Prize London Concert with the RPO. Shunta Morimoto had won the Hastings playing the Schumann concerto deciding to play Beethoven Four at his Prize Winners Concert, not Rachmaninov 3 as one might have expected from other competition finalists. Not that they cannot play the notes but that they choose to play less notes with more penetrating depth of the classical / romantic repertoire, rather than the more obvious and spectacular Russian repertoire. Curtis played the ‘‘Hammerklavier’ with remarkable mature musicianship just as he did the ‘Waldstein’. He also played ‘Gaspard de la Nuit’ and the Liszt ‘Sonata’ with remarkable musicianship and respect for what the composer had written in the score. He did not play, following a pianistic tradition, but following faithfully what the composer had written in the score and interpreting it with his own poetic imagination and intelligent musicianship.

Today he played another pinnacle from the pianistic repertoire with Mussorgsky’s ‘Pictures’. Restoring it with refreshing originality and fidelity to the place it deserves as one of the masterpieces of the pianistic repertoire.

He had opened this short recital with Granados ‘Allegro de Concierto.’ We forget what a magnificent pianist Granados must have been. Listening to the transcendental bravura of this work today we get an idea of what the world lost when a torpedo sunk his ship in the English channel. He was the teacher of Frank Marshall who was the teacher of Alicia de Larrocha, and also the author of Goyescas, that was to be his untimely downfall! A Lisztian showpiece that had won the thirty year old, first prize at the Madrid Conservatory over Manuel de Falla. Curtis played it with great flair and a transcendental mastery of sumptuous ease with wonderful rich sounds that never became hard or ungrateful. Cascades of notes as this young man, with his curly locks, threw himself into the piano with breathtaking commitment and dynamic drive. A great mop of hair that moved and swayed as the music became a vibrant part of Curtis’s whole being. Refined delicate contrasting passages were played with a rich palette of subtle sounds, as Curtis shaped this forgotten showpiece with an architectural control from a pianist who was listening to every note. A magnificent Steinway ‘D’ Concert piano which would fill a hall of two thousand with sumptuous sounds, was today in the new Steinway Concert Room that can hold only forty. Curtis miraculously was listening and could taylor the sound to the space without ever sacrificing his dynamic drive or enviable passionate energy.

The magnificence of the piano allowed Curtis to find sounds in the five Debussy preludes that were of subtle ravishing multifaceted colours, like looking into a gently turning prism. The ‘Girl with the Flaxen Hair’ has never sounded so carefree and delicately radiant. Just as the ‘Hills of Anacapri’ were full of the Neopolitan hustle and bustle, with a nervous energy, and even insinuating titivation ,before exploding with a sunlit climax and a final shriek of joy. ‘Voiles’ was the prelude that Richter illuminated the Festival Hall with, in one of his first visits to the west, when we were astonished not by how loud and fast he could play but at how quietly and with what control! Curtis, too, filled the hall with ravishing sounds of radiant beauty ,with barely whispered sounds on which he could float lightly chiselled notes that penetrated the mist without any forcing or hardness. It was very noticeable to watch Curtis stroke the keys like paddling in water, with a continuous circular movement of completely relaxed arms. A masterly use of the pedals, too, allowed the wind in the final two Preludes, to enter with extraordinary gusts of sounds, where notes were transformed into bursts of energy and rumbling sounds deep in the depths of the keyboard. A technical mastery at the service of his poetic imagination, where there were no sounds that were out of place, as this was a musical conversation of great artistry. I remember Rosalyn Tureck when someone commented that her performances were note perfect.’I do not play wrong notes, because my playing is a musical conversation where one note is answered by another’.

Mussorgsky was played, from the very first notes, with an authority and imperious control that was remarkable. ‘Gnomus’ suddenly sprang to life and became a miniature tone poem with Curtis’s scrupulous attention to the composers very detailed markings. The long trills in the left hand were played with a vibrating insistence on which the right just made sharp comments. The final scale ending was breathtaking, as it was ‘con tutta forza’, not hard hitting but with an internal drive that swept all before it. ‘The Old Castle ‘ was played with whispered beauty, with the gently pulsating bass notes, like a heart beat ever present, as this visionary marvel appeared as if by magic. Curtis’s extraordinary finger control gave the ‘Tuileries’ an unusual clarity with the ritenuto espressivo just relieving the tension before disappearing into the heights. ‘Bydlo’ was played unusually beautifully, a very quiet opening leading to the climax ,before, once again, dying away to a mere murmur. The ‘Unhatched Chicks’ was thrown off with masterly ease, with the central trills merely streams of sounds where the bass played such an important part.The strident entry of ‘Goldenberg’ was played with full rich sound and dramatic effect contrasting with the whispered colours that he gave to the pleading ‘Schmuyle’.The ‘Marketplace in Limoges’ was played immediately at the end of the strident promenade, with great drive and energy. Arriving after a dynamic build up to the mighty desolate notes of the ‘Catacombs’, before the murmured beauty and extraordinary precision of the vibrated notes of ‘With dead in a dead language’. ‘Baba -Yaga’ burst onto the scene with brutal energy, but even here Curtis could not make an ugly sound as he shaped even this outpouring with extraordinary musicianship .The tolling bells in the’Great Gate ‘ were overpowering because the melodic outline that Mussorgsky weaves above them was barely audible, exactly as Mussorgsky writes, and too often is not respected for a pianistic exhilaration offered too early. The exhilaration and masterly final pages came only after the mighty scale that crashed from top to bottom of the keyboard, where Curtis allowed himself a final punch home on the last eight notes.

Another masterly performance from Curtis to add to the other masterworks that he is preparing with such intelligence and mastery. Asked by Vanessa for a few more notes – as she had done after the ‘Hammerklavier’, Curtis not seeming to want to play any more. after such a gargantuan performance, suddenly ran to the piano and played one of his own compositions.’ Praeludium sent us happily into the foyer to discuss music with Curtis and the Hastings contingent , up for the day in London, over drinks that Steinway very generously allow after such special occasions .

Curtis Phill Hsu mastery and artistry of the 19 year old winner of Hastings International Piano 2024

Curtis Phill Hsu ‘Genius bestrides St Mary’s Perivale’

Curtis Phill Hsu A snake of genial proportions at the NLC and sublime artistry revealed at the Sketch Club

Shunta Morimoto takes Hastings by Storm

Mozart: Sonata in C Major K330  
Allegro / Andante / Allegretto

Ravel: Miroirs
1. Noctuelles (“Night Moths”) 
2. Oiseaux tristes (“Sad Birds”)
3. Une barque sur l’océan (“A Boat on the Ocean”) 
4. Alborada del gracioso (“Morning Song of the Jester”) 
5. La vallée des cloches (“The Valley of Bells”) 

Chopin: Ballade no 2 in F Op 38  

Chopin: Ballade no 3 in A flat Op 47

Radiance and beauty filled the tropical air that has descended on London. With a scintillating refined palette of sounds Hai Zi Yoh illuminated this most beautiful of churches with a breath of fresh air that was exhilarating and inspiring . A refined outward delicacy that hid the volcanic energy that was within the very notes that poured from her fingers, not with vertical coarseness but with the horizontal radiance of a poet.

Nowhere was it more evident than in the chordal build up in Chopin’s second ballade that in Hao Zi’s hands was transformed into magical layers of sound. I doubt that Ravel’s moths have ever been happier than today as they flitted around this beautiful edifice like the ‘feux follets’ that abound in these balmy climes .

Mozart ‘s C major Sonata was played with a fluidity that belied the driving force that was behind the notes. Simplicity and freshness with delicate contrasts from her palette of jewel like sounds. There was a richness to the Andante with very discreet ornamentation that did not detract from the ravishing beauty, that like in the G major concerto, reaches moments of breathtaking beauty. A ‘joie de vivre’ to the Allegretto that just flew from her tightly wound fingers.

Have Ravel’s sad birds ever sung with such multicoloured radiance? They may be sad and Ravel may have placed them in a desolate atmosphere but humming birds have a chameleonic plumage that is of breathtaking beauty. There was magic in the air as after the stormy seas that Ravel’s boat had just traversed, a wondrous vision appears that Hao Zi played with sublime whispered understatement. Hao Zi in the brilliant sunlight brought Alborada brilliantly to life with Ravel’s demonic double third glissandi that he delighted in challenging pianists with, being merely streams of sounds wound up in the sultry Spanish climes. A wondrous valley of bells was played with whispered beauty wafted into the the air with sublime poignant meaning.

The Chopin Ballades were played like an unfolding song where even the fiery interruptions in the second were part of a ravishing story wondrously told.The third ballade was one long crescendo where, like in the Barcarolle , the ever more fervent mellifluous outpouring explodes with glorious radiant beauty as the true genius of Chopin is revealed.

This programme can be heard live streamed from St Mary’s Perivale on Tuesday 8th July at 14h.

https://www.youtube.com/@stmarysperivale2842/streams

 

Hao Zi Yoh is a Malaysian pianist based in London. She enjoys a form of synaesthesia, where music may evoke colours and imageries which influence her interpretation and tonal colours. Hao Zi’s debut album featuring impressionistic works by Albeniz and Ravel is set to be released in 2025. She is also an active chamber musician of De Beauvoir Piano Trio. Hao Zi has won top prizes in international piano competitions and has performed around Europe, USA, China, Japan and Malaysia both as a soloist and chamber musician in venues such as Wigmore Hall, Southbank Royal Festival Hall, Salle Cortot, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, and Teatro Quirino (Italy). She also collaborated with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Nova Amadeus and Baleares Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, Hao Zi made her debut at Kings Place under Kirckman Concerts and gave concert tour in Northern Italy organised by the Keyboard Charitable Trust. She was also featured at Trinity Laban’s Showcase 2025, New Lights Contemporary Music Festival, performing a world premiere of Arnold Griller’s Concertino Introduction, Cakewalk and Allegro. Hao Zi also participated in creative outreach projects led by the Open Academy for children and elderly with Dementia, where she performed in Music for Moment Concerts at the Wigmore Hall. She collaborated with author-illustrator David Litchfield and improvised to his award-winning book “The Bear and the Piano”. Hao Zi remains in close contact with the music scene in Malaysia. She has given talks, performances and masterclasses to the students of University of Malaya, Bentley Music and Persatuan Chopin in hope to share her experiences and help the younger generation. Hao Zi continues to develop her performing career in addition to tutoring at King’s College, London and is a musician of Talent Unlimited. During the London-lock 2021, Hao Zi also organised livestreams and charity fundraisers. Her previous teachers include Christopher Elton, Martino Tirimo, Elza Kolodin and Chong Lim Ng 

Hao Zi Yoh Italian tour for the Keyboard Trust.The refined elegance and sensibility of a great artist

Hao Zi Yoh at St James’s Piccadilly with style ,colour,excitement and passion .

Another beautiful programme from the Welsh pianist Tomos Boyles, who I had heard for the first time a month ago at the Giltberg Masterclass for the Beethoven Society. Beethoven’s last Sonata played by Tomos so impressed Boris Giltberg that he over ran, and Tomos almost did not make his Graduation Recital where he also played a magnificent Mussorgsky ‘Pictures’.

A recital in the sweltering tropics of Perivale today brought some impeccable playing of radiance and beauty but above all of masterly intelligence and extraordinary control. With a ‘First’ from Oxford safely under his belt he can now concentrate on his solo piano career. Fresh from winning the Dudley Competition he now presented Brahms marathon F minor Sonata . A symphony for piano which needs supreme intelligence and poetic understanding, but above all an orchestral ability to stand back and allow the music to unfold with rock like precision and control.

Opening with one of the most beautiful of Bach Preludes and Fugues that he allowed to unfold with a fluidity and glowing radiance. Even the fugue is at peace with its knotty twine and was played with a clarity where each part just added to the intensity of the whole.

Tomos had chosen four of the most beautiful of Liszt’s recreations of Schubert songs. In many ways as beautiful as the original because Liszt adds with knowing pianistic mastery sounds that allow the piano to sing in many ways more beautifully than the human voice. A sense of balance and embellishments that enhance the genius of Schubert and illuminate what are miniature tone poems. Tomos played with the refined natural rubato and the same fluidity of the human voice. All four were played with masterly understanding and an extraordinary sense of balance with a palette of colours that was ravishingly beautiful. ‘Aufenthalt’ surely must be one of the most beautiful pieces ever written where the genius of Schubert meets the genius of Liszt with a radiance and glowing beauty that is quite breathtaking.

The Brahms F minor sonata is the last of his three early sonatas for piano. It is of monumental nobility and grandeur but requires an absolute rock solid rhythmical mastery starting from the very opening fanfare. Tomos played with taught rhythm taking his time to allow the music to unfold with aristocratic nobility.There were moments of ravishing beauty where poetic freedom is allied to the pulse that is always present. A very Arrau tempo that was kept brilliantly under control with the same architectural mastery that was so much the world of the great Chilean Prince of the piano. The Andante ,again a little slow but played with such beauty and control. The coda one of the most magical of moments was played with whispered beauty as it built very gradually in intensity to the ecstatic climax . Dying away to a mere whisper of noble radiance.

The Scherzo was played with fearless abandon with Tomos allowing himself to abandon his self control and relish the exuberant excitement that is also part of Brahms. The Intermezzo is just an introduction to the Finale and like Beethoven’s Waldstein it creates an atmosphere of desolation and unworldly beauty. The Finale sprang to life and was played with mastery and sumptuous rich sounds. The coda just sprang from Tomos’s fingers bursting into its Irish gig before the great Brahmsian climax of orchestral proportions. Tomos providing the sounds of a full orchestra never hard or ungrateful but sumptuous and rich. A masterly performance of rock like perfection that now needs more abandon and passionate involvement that will come with future performances in public.

Described as possessing a ‘ romantic flair and passion that only comes from intense involvement ‘ (Carol Nixon, LMC), rising Welsh musician Tomos Boyles is rapidly carving out a career as a young and exciting concert pianist. He has performed at numerous prestigious venues including Sinfonia Smith Square, the Elgar Concert Hall, St Martin in the Fields in Trafalgar Square, the Holywell Music Room in Oxford, St David ‘ s Hall in Cardiff, and the Wales Millennium Centre. Recent performances include solo recitals at the Ludlow Piano Festival, the Beaumaris Festival, and the Wigmore Hall. He has enjoyed success in competitions, having recently been awarded the first prize at the Dudley International Piano Competition. Other top prizes include the prestigious Blue Ribband at the National Eisteddfod, first place in the EPTA competition, and first prize at the Wales International Piano Festival. His interviews have been published by the Cross-Eyed Pianist ‘ s ‘Meet the Artist’ series and broadcasted by S4C and BBC Wales. Tomos graduated from Christ Church, Oxford University in 2022 with a first-class degree in music having held a scholarship during his studies. Now a postgraduate student at the Royal Academy of Music in London, he works under Professor Rustem Hayroudinoff, having previously studied with Alison Bowring. He was recently awarded the Royal Academy ‘ s prestigious Bicentenary Scholarship, which will support his studies for an Advanced Artist Diploma next year. He has benefitted from masterclasses with such pianists as Llyr Williams, Joanna MacGregor, Leif Ove Andsnes, and Artur Pizarro. His studies are generously supported by the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the John Fussell Memorial Trust Fund, the Robert Turnbull Piano Foundation, and the William Mealings Award. 

Boris Giltburg at the Reform club where even they had to bow to the genius of Beethoven as revealed by a master musician of humility and simple mastery. Delaying an after concert buffet because Beethoven took precedence with Giltburg lost in wonder and that he was determined to share with a remarkable op 111 from Tomos Boyles.

Tomos too only just made it in time for his Graduation Recital at the Royal Academy which thanks to Boris was truly inspired.

The Beethoven Piano Society of Europe presenting Jad Grainger Max Walsh ,Alina Pritulenko and Tomos Boyles.

I am reminded of the wisdom we heard in Agosti’s studio in Siena where the world flocked every summer to be illuminated and uplifted by one of the last disciples of Busoni .

Piano playing is horizontal not vertical – keep close to the keys with real weight with fingers of steel but wrist of rubber.

Do not rely on the left pedal to play quietly that can be done with touch and real weight. The ‘soft ‘ pedal keep for special effects but not to cover technical insensibility.

I could hear Agosti’s voice today :’Troppo forte ,troppo forte !’ as percussion took over from singing with high rise playing of youthful exuberance at the expense of the music of which we are just humble servants.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2024/01/03/forli-pays-homage-to-guido-agosti/

What a relief to shelter from the sweltering heat and spend an hour with music of such radiance and beauty from a husband and wife dream team . A moving mixture of Schubert ‘Winterreise’ and Vaughan Williams ‘Songs of Travel’ .

The programme is titled ‘Journey 100’, commemorating the 100thy anniversary of the birth of the German baritone Dietrich Fischer- Dieskau (1925- 2012) who was an enormously influential artist and for many ,his voice epitomises a refined lyrical ,articulate manner of performance through which the poetry shines.

The programme’s journey visits two major,and very different, landmarks of music of music history’s large corpus of ‘wayfaring’ or ‘wandering’ songs.The splitting of cycles and the rapid moves between Schubert and Vaughan Williams encourage us to consider various things beyond their musical and poetic differences – the nature of song programming and performance norms over time, for instance, and the interventions made by composers, authors,performers,publishers and others that trouble perceptions of cycles solely as linear wholes.That this concert begins with ‘Der Leiermann’ uproots any preconceptions that the journey might be linear: the song’s status as the stark ending of Winterise is iconic, and placing it at the start allows us to encounter its eerie, repetitive sound-world without then weight of the 23 preceding songs, and without context for the protagonist’s unsettling questions.

A beauty of diction that made the song sheet superfluous especially when the pianist could highlight and illuminate even the tinkle from a stray mobile!

John Humphreys comments : ‘I had a mobile going off in ‘Der Leiermann’ once…stopped playing, silence, started again, same mobile ringing. To be fair the offender apologised afterwards and said she was phoning to see if someone could offer the organ grinder a bed for the night…!’

Wonderfully cool oasis of civilised culture whilst London seethes with scantily clad tourists intent on drinking the city dry !

Mikhail Timoshenko
Baritone
Known for his “rare sound beauty, powerful and balsamic at the same
time” (Tagesspiegel), baritone Mikhail Timoshenko is a sought-after guest on international opera and concert stages.
Highlights of his first professional seasons include the premiere of the chamber opera En Silence by Alexandre Desplat at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro at the Opéra national de Lorraine in Nancy, Ottokar in Der Freischütz at the Konzerthaus Berlin, Albert in Werther at the Opéra de Lausanne,
Marcello in La bohème at the Opéra National du Capitole de Toulouse, and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte in Montpellier.
His future highlights include Chtchelkalov (Boris Godunov) in Paris/Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Le Tribut de Zamora (Ch. Gounod) in St. Etienne, Marcello at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and in the Festival de Sanxay, Papageno at Paris-
Bastille, as well as concerts with Elitsa Desseva in Linz, Boswil, Paris.
Mikhail is a recipient of numerous awards, including the 1st Prize at the I Concours International de Chant des Châteaux en Médoc-Bordeaux and the Siemens Opera Contest France, the Prix Lyrique du Cercle Carpeaux and the Prix de l’AROP of the Opera national de Paris, and the Maria Callas International Grand Prix in Athens. In
duo with pianist Elitsa Desseva, he won first prizes at the International Chamber Music Competition “Franz Schubert and Modern Music” in Graz, the International Competition for Song Art of the Hugo Wolf Academy in Stuttgart, and the Wigmore Hall/Independant Opera Song Competition in London, among other prizes at the International Schubert Lied-Duo Competition in Dortmund and the Concours
International de Musique de chambre in Lyon.
As a concert singer, he has worked with conductors such as Teodor Currentzis, Manfred Honeck, Philippe Herreweghe, Markus Poschner, and Emmanuelle Haim.
His performances as a song interpreter together with Elitsa Desseva have captivated the demanding audiences in London, Berlin, Paris, Moscow, Stuttgart, Vienna, and many other major stages across Europe.
He began his artistic training in Mednogorsk (Russia) in the vocal class of Tatiana Mayorova and, after studying in Weimar and Berlin with Michail Lanskoi, joined the Academy of the Opéra National de Paris in 2015. He played the lead role in the documentary film “L’Opéra” by Jean-Stéphane Bron.
Philanthropy is a cause close to Mikhail’s heart. Since 2009, he has been giving charity concerts for children with mental disorders in Russia. In collaboration with the NGO “Touch” in Orenburg and the Center for Social Adaptation “Majak” in Orsk,
he supports several boarding schools for mentally disabled children.

”From the first note we are captivated by Elitsa Desseva’s playing and will remain so until the end of the concert.”

“Elitsa Desseva finds in these scores the means to showcase beautiful sensitivity, delivering performance where voices of such rich texture are seldom heard.”

Praised by critics for the “ecstatic creative power” of her performance (ONLINE MERKER), Bulgarian pianist Elitsa Desseva specialises in the collaboration with singers and is recognised as a leading song pianist of her generation. Elitsa attracted international attention after winning some of the world’s most renowned Lied competitions in just two years. In a duo with her regular partner baritone Mikhail Timoshenko, she reached the final of the Wigmore Hall/Independent Opera Song Competition (United Kingdom), where Mikhail was awarded 1st prize. Furthermore duo Timoshenko-Desseva received 1st prize at the International Art Song Competition Stuttgart (Germany), 1st prize at the Franz Schubert and Modern Music International Competition in Graz (Austria), 2nd prize and Audience Award at the International Schubert Competition Dortmund (Germany), 3rd prize and Audience Award at the Concours International de Musique de Chambre de Lyon (France) and the 18. Nordfriesischer Liedpreis des Ministeriums für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Kultur des Landes Schleswig-Holstein. In the early stages of her international career, alongside mezzo-soprano Polina Artsis Elitsa won 1st prizes at both the International Student Lied Duo Competition in Groningen (Netherlands) and the Internationaler Karl-Adler-Jugendmusikwettbewerb in Stuttgart (Germany). As a soloist Elitsa received several awards including the Bela Bartok Prize at the Ile-de-France International Piano Competition in Paris (France), the 1st Prize at the Liszt-Bartok Piano Competition in Sofia (Bulgaria), DAAD Prize and Deutschland-Stipendium. Receiving the Foundation Yordan Kamdzhalov prize culminated in her performance of Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2 at the International Festival ‘Balabanov’s House Music Days’ in Plovdiv. In 2024, Elitsa Desseva, together with baritone Mikhail Timoshenko, released a critically acclaimed CD with Hänssler Classic (Eduard Erdmann: Lieder), featuring world premieres of songs by Eduard and Irene Erdmann as well as songs by Philipp Jarnach. Their dedication to exploring unknown and captivating composers is further highlighted by their recording of Jacques Ibert’s “Quatre chansons de Don Quichotte” for B-Records (Aimer a loisir). Elitsa has also premiered works by Isabel Mundry, Bec Plexus (Brechtje) and Sehyung Kim. Passionate about programming and concert design, Elitsa strives to break the barrier between audience and performers, forging new, emotionally charged, and authentic connections that attract younger and wider audiences to song recitals. Together with Mikhail Timoshenko, she curated a series of concerts for the Académie Orsay-Royaumont in dialogue with the collection of the Musée d’Orsay Paris in 2021. For Jorg Widmann’s milestone birthday, commissioned by the Heidelberger Frühling Liedfestival, they created the recital “Alaverdi” in 2023, transforming the stage into a Georgian birthday celebration where performers and audience members exchanged toasts in poetry and songs. Curious to explore the depth of the Lied genre through the lens of a composer, Elitsa presented her composition “Gift”, a song based on a poem by Barbara Kennedy, together with baritone David Kennedy at the LiedBasel Festival in 2024. This piece, an experiment in contemporary song, “captivated audiences with its unusual piano sounds” (DAS OPERNMAGAZIN). Elitsa has collaborated with numerous distinguished musicians, performing alongside celebrated singers such as Angelika Kirchschlager, Thomas Hampson, and her regular partner, baritone Mikhail Timoshenko. Elitsa regularly appears at major music centers and festivals worldwide, including Wigmore Hall in London, Musée d’Orsay in Paris, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, Musikverein in Vienna, Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, Brucknerhaus in Linz, France Musique in Paris, Festival Heidelberger Frühling, Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker, Grachten Festival in Amsterdam, Festival Young Artists in Bayreuth, Festival Boswiller Frühling, and the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival in Japan. Her performances have been broadcast on prestigious platforms like BBC Radio 3, Radio France, NDR, Südtirol Radio, SWR, Bulgarian National Radio, Dutch Radio 4, and NHK World Japan. Invited by Thomas Hampson in 2022, Elitsa now serves as the study directorand academy pianist at the prestigious Heidelberg Liedakademie, becoming the first female song accompanist to hold this position. In this role, she accompanies masterclasses led by Thomas Hampson and other distinguished musicians. Additionally, she provides coaching in concert programming and design, guiding the scholars of the Liedakademie to discover their unique artistic voices. As a result, they create Lied recitals showcased at the Schubert-Week in Pierre Boulez Saal Berlin and the Heidelberger Frühling Liedfestival.  Elitsa has further enhanced her skills through a practicum at the Opera Studio of the Vienna Staatsoper and developed a strong professional bond with voice teacher KS Angelika Kirchschlager, actively participating in her singing lessons at the mdw – Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien. Committed to making Lied concerts more engaging, Elitsa will conduct workshops on programming Lied in a concert (Lied.GESTALTUNG) at the Franz Schubert und Musik der Moderne Competition in Graz in 2025. Born in Bulgaria, Elitsa Desseva began her musical journey at the age of four, singing in choirs and touring the country as a soloist. Her passion for music led her to the piano at the age of six in her hometown of Sofia, where she made her debut at ten with the Sofia Sinfonietta Orchestra. This early immersion in vocal music naturally evolved into a profound dedication to the piano, ultimately leading her to become a song accompanist.Elitsa continued her studies in piano, chamber music, and Lied with Balázs Szokolay and Thomas Steinhöfel at the Hochschule für Musik in Weimar. She then pursued her Master’s Degree in song interpretation at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna under Charles Spencer and Markus Hadulla. Throughout her education, Elitsa received notable mentorship from distinguished musicians such as singers Thomas Hampson, Mitsuko Shirai, Véronique Gens, Angelika Kirchschlager, Brigitte Fassbaender, Ian Bostridge, and pianists Hartmut Höll, Piotr Anderszewski, Dalton Baldwin, Graham Johnson, Susan Manoff, Julius Drake, Malcolm Martineau, and Helmut Deutsch.She is a former scholar of the Heidelberg Lied Academy, Academy LiedBASEL, and Académie Orsay-Royaumont. Additionally, Elitsa is a Britten Pears Young Artistand a Yehudi Menuhin LIFE Music Now artist. She has received the Anny Felbermayer Preis and is a member of the International Hugo Wolf Academy.

Elitsa is currently based in Vienna.

Winterreise  by Franz Schubert D.911, published as op. 89 in 1828), a setting of 24 poems by German poet Wilhelm Müller. It is the second of Schubert’s two song cycles on Müller’s poems, the earlier being Die schöne Müllerin (D. 795, Op. 25, 1823). It consists of a monodrama  from the point of view of the wandering protagonist, in which concrete plot is somewhat ambiguous. After his beloved falls for another, the grief-stricken young man steals away from town at night and follows the river and steep ways to a charcoal burner’s hut, where he rests before moving on. He comes across a village, passes a crossroads, and arrives at a cemetery. Here being denied even the death on which he has become fixated, he defiantly renounces faith before reaching a point of resignation. Finally he encounters a derelict street musician, the only instance in the cycle in which another character is present. The mysterious and ominous nature of the musician, along with the question posed in the last lines, leave the fate of the wanderer open to interpretation.

Songs of Travel is a song cycle  of nine songs originally written for baritone voice composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams , with poems drawn from the Robert Louis Stevenson  collection Songs of Travel and Other Verses . A complete performance of the entire cycle lasts between 20 and 24 minutes.

They were originally written for voice and piano. Vaughan Williams orchestrated the first, third, and eighth songs, and his assistant Roy Douglas later orchestrated the remaining songs using the same instrumentation. The orchestral version has often been recorded but not always with Douglas acknowledged as its co-orchestrator.

• Saturday, June 28, 2025
• 7:00 PM  9:00 PM.
• St John’s WaterlooWaterloo RoadLondon, England, SE1 8TYUnited Kingdom 

Miracles in Waterloo yesterday with an international barrister who can play the socks off most professional pianists . A concert cellist who conducts like Gergiev and the Renaissance man who is realising his dream of uniting the world on wings of song .

Paul Wee was discovered by the renowned piano file Bryce Morrison, playing at the Thalberg society of Mark Viner . He was so impressed that he immediately arranged a CD recording that was received with five star reviews and the rest is history. As Paul says Bryce has a lot to answer for! Margarita Balanas the renowned cellist and now assistant to Paavo Järvi . Raffaello Morales, the Renaissance man, pianist , physicist, investment banker, conductor, cordon bleu cook and founder of the Fidelio café and also author of his first novel of dreams and music :’The Earth to the Skies’. I was privileged to be at the rehearsal and be present at the creation of such sumptuous music making amongst such dedicated and talented young musicians reaching for the skies on wings of song.

Rachmaninov’s third concerto with barrister-pianist Paul Wee and Shostakovich’s portrait of Stalin conducted by Margarita Balanas.

Pianist-barrister Paul Wee, whose recordings for BIS have attracted much praise, was the soloist for Rachmaninov’s mythical third piano concerto, a piece that since its appearance in 1909 has caused many sleepless nights to the best interpreters for almost a century. 

The music of Sergej Rachmaninov seems to merge the many cultures its author would be exposed to throughout his life. The Russian childhood, the fascination for Europe, the American exile, the Middle-Eastern harmonies. Dismissed by many critics as a sideshow to the great experimental musical output of the first half of the twentieth century, the undeniable charm of Rachmaninov’s works calls for a reassessment of the ‘intellectual solipsism’ that the ‘cultural hegemony’ has, for too long, imposed on posterity, to the detriment of the cultural advancement of societies. 

Shostakovich published his tenth symphony after Stalin’s death, in 1953, but it is not ascertained whether many of its elements had already been with written long before. What is undeniable is the fact that Shostakovich went back to the symphonic form after a break of eight years, some of his previous works in this form having been harshly criticised by the government. This work surely marks a return of the composer to a very personal style, independent from the restrictions imposed by the regime and by Stalin himself. 

S. Rachmaninov, Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor Op. 30

D. Shostakovich, Symphony No. 10 in E minor Op. 93

Fidelio Orchestra

Paul Wee, Piano

Raffaello Morales, conductor (Rachmaninov)

Margarita Balanas, conductor (Shostakovich)

Hailed as a “ totally astonishing” (BBC Radio 3 Record Review) pianist who “plays the unplayable ” (The Spectator) and “who can equal and, indeed, surpass the musical and technical accomplishments of the biggest names in the profession ” (International Piano), Paul Wee is internationally acclaimed for his “transcendental technical prowess” (ClassicsToday), “ dazzling virtuosity” (BBC Music Magazine), and “consummate musicianship ” (Gramophone). After a number of early appearances, including a concerto début in London’s Royal Albert Hall aged 12, he continued his studies in New York City at the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College division with Nina Svetlanova. After deciding not to pursue a full-time conservatory education or a primary career in the arts, Paul studied law at the University of Oxford, obtaining his BA (Jurisprudence) and BCL from Keble College. He was called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn in 2010, and attempts to balance his love for the piano alongside the demands of a busy practice at the Bar. 

Paul’s recordings for BIS Records have received much critical acclaim. His 2019 debut recording of Alkan’s Symphony for Solo Piano and Concerto for Solo Piano was shortlisted for a Gramophone Award and Limelight’s Recording of the Year in the Instrumental category, and received a Gramophone Editor’s Choice (November 2019) and a Diapason d’Or (January 2020). His 2020 recording of Thalberg’s L’art du chant met with similar praise, being selected as an Instrumental Choice by BBC Music Magazine (January 2021) and a Limelight Editor’s Choice (December 2020). His most recent recording, featuring Liszt’s transcription of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony and Alkan’s transcription of Mozart’s D minor Piano Concerto K466, was also shortlisted for a Gramophone Award, as well as being Gramophone’s Recording of the Month for December 2022 and ClassicsToday’s Disc of the Year for 2022.

Paul continues to perform as and when his professional commitments permit, as a recital soloist, concerto soloist, and chamber musician, both in his current home city of London and internationally.

Margarita Balanas – Assistant Conductor 2024/25

The Latvian Margarita Balanas is entering her second round as assistant conductor to Paavo Järvi.

Born in Latvia in 1993, Margarita Balanas first attracted attention as a cellist. She won her first competition at the age of 8 and played at London’s Wigmore Hall at 17. She has performed with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, played in front of King Charles III when he was still Prince Charles, and has been supported by musicians such as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Lynn Harrell and Gautier Capuçon. She often performs with her sister, the violinist Kristīne Balanas.

Margarita Balanas has also attracted attention as a promising conductor – including with the Ensemble Anonimi, which she founded and which experiments with a wide range of styles and concert formats. Since attending the Academy in Pärnu, she has been part of the large extended Järvi family: she has not only worked with Paavo Järvi, but also with his father Neeme Järvi and his brother Kristian Järvi.

Last season, she succeeded Izabelė Jankauskaitė as Assistant Conductor of our Music Director at the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, and the collaboration has now been extended for a second season. Paavo Järvi says that he only selects talented people for these positions who he believes will have a real career as a conductor: “It’s more mysterious than ever today what it takes to be a conductor, but you can tell straight away whether someone has that certain something. Margarita Balanas has it.”

As Assistant Conductor, Margarita Balanas accompanies the rehearsals, compares what she hears with the score, notes technical and interpretative details and checks the sound balance as Paavo Järvi’s second pair of ears, so to speak. And she also conducts herself: Last season, she conducted the final concert of the family project “What do you think ocean?”. And in the 2024/25 season, she will conduct both the family join-in concert “Thorstein and the Giants” and the final concert of the new children’s project “Kunterwunderbunt”.

www.margaritabalanas.com

Born in Rome, Raffaello Morales has lived in London since 2009. He studied piano and composition in Italy, Austria and the UK and having graduated in 2009 in Physics and Piano Performance he completed postgraduate studies in Theoretical Physics and Applied Mathematics. After a five-year career in investment banking, he decided to dedicate himself entirely to music as a conductor, pianist, composer, producer and educator. He is the music director of Fidelio Orchestra, which he founded in 2019. in 2019, the Fidelio Orchestra has quickly established itself as a vibrant presence in London’s classical music scene. It brings together people with a shared commitment to making great music in an atmosphere that is both joyful and refreshingly unpretentious.

Run as a charity, the orchestra is dedicated to providing young musicians with high-quality orchestral experience and opportunities to collaborate with exceptional soloists.

By including non-professional players alongside emerging professionals, the Fidelio Orchestra fosters a space where performing historical repertoire is not only a professional pursuit, but also a powerful way to connect the world of classical music with broader society.

Angela Hewitt plays Bach and Brahms with the Fidelio Orchestra of Raffaello Morales

Diabelli is box office at Fidelio where Genius meets Genius -Filippo Gorini and Raffaello Morales breaking barriers

A remarkable Wigmore debut for Daniel Lebhardt where an artist is known by his programmes and this is one of the most remarkably original that I have seen since Arrau. Starting and finishing with the two Saint Francis legends twinned with two rarely heard late pieces also by Liszt. In between there was the fantasmagorical world of Schumann driven to madness by his genius that like Liszt could foresee a new world opening up. Firstly Kreisleriana from Schumann’s youthful outpouring of pianistic masterpieces from op 1 to op 23. After the interval two of Schumann’s last piano works with his Songs of Dawn and the Ghost variations. Separating them was a work by Schumann’s wife, Clara with a set of variations on her husband’s Bunte Blatter op 99, the same theme that Brahms was to use for his Schumann Variations op 9 and that Schumann had said had been sent to him by the Angels .

Liszt’s setting of a French folk song that seems to foresee what direction Liszt’s prophetic genius was to take him . And finally the legend of St Francis walking on the waves .

An eclectic programme played with mastery and an extraordinary range of sounds, from barely whispered to the roar of a Lion . Daniel raised in the unmistakable Hungarian school of glowing fluidity and sumptuous liquid sounds . Even in the most strenuous passages there was never a hard sound but a clarity and cleanliness that is so much to be admired by pianists such as Geza Anda or Tamas Vasary. An intelligent musicianship and a relaxed ease of execution that denied any hard or ungrateful sounds . Although Daniel has graduated from the class of Pascal Nemirowski at the Birmingham Conservatoire his heritage is his birthright .

Masterly playing that held us in his spell for a long and difficult programme . Quite rightly greeted with cheers from a very attentive audience who realised that here was a star shining brightly.

Brahms A major Intermezzo op 118 n. 2 was a very special thank you that Daniel offered to his very enthusiastic audience.

It was here that the heavens truly opened as Daniel recounted this wonderful story with poetic artistry and a palette of sounds that were both orchestral and pianistic, in fact the unique sound world of Brahms brought to life with vibrant beauty and poetic intensity..

Daniel Lebhardt A complete artist descends on St Mary’s with simplicity and grandeur

Daniel Lebhardt Emperor for the night

Daniel Lebhardt ‘The Prince of Piano’ descends on St Mary’s

Daniel Lebhardt the simple grandeur of J.S.Bach at St Mary’s

It was good to be back at the Bechstein Hall and be greeted by a full house for a master pianist.

Many distinguished musicians present including Patsy Fou the widow of Fou Ts’ong who had been the inspiration for generations of musicians including François Dumont .

Dame Imogen Cooper with some delightful American guests including the bronze medal winner of this years Cliburn. He was in London to delve even deeper into his musical understanding as Dame Imogen had done for a lifetime with the late Alfred Brendel. Charming American guests who said were fans of mine!!!!

It was a real treat to be greeted with smiles by Terry Lewis, that indefatigable friend to all pianists great and small . A hall that he had idealised and has not had an easy gestation. Today there was an air of expectation and excitement for a pianist who is a real musician with a capital M. He had chosen Bechstein Hall for his CD launch because Debussy had declared that great music should only be composed for the Bechstein !

Francois turned these early works into gems and combined them with popular works by Chopin the only composer that Debussy could never criticise and had infact edited his complete works.

The Chopin nocturne op posth, I remember Fou Ts’ong searching for the original manuscript to understand the cross rhythm of the central section. François remembers that too, from the masterclasses he had regularly at the International Piano Academy Lake Como, where Ts’ong for over ten years would love to go and share his thoughts with master pianists of the younger generation. There was a ravishing beauty and masterly control of the pedal with a sense of balance that allowed the beautiful bel canto to sing so naturally, with embellishments that just unfolded in the same natural way as a singer. It was the same with the D flat Nocturne op 27, which is surely one of the most beautiful bel canto melodies ever to evolve from Chopin’s hands. Beauty but also passion as this was not the timid effeminate Chopin of his aristocratic lady pupils, but a great drama that was opening up with the assertive questions and delicate replies.The triumphant return of the melody ( so similar to the B minor Sonata) dissolved into an outpouring of gossamer streams of gold that were played with extraordinary authority. Fingers like limpets that,were attracted to the very heart of each note. It reminded me of Rosalyn Tureck’s reply when she simply stated that she did not play wrong notes, because every note has a meaning, and is part of a musical conversation and architectural shape where individual note picking is just not part of her conception of music. With François too ,one felt that everything he did was part of a larger design of authority and poetic reasoning. There was a wondrous sense of colour to Debussy with layers of sound created by a masterly use of the pedals that allowed for extraordinary clarity. Claire de lune was played at a flowing tempo that allowed for a sense of line and emotional impact that led so naturally into the beautiful flowing central episode. François is a master of sound who can create such character with a kaleidoscopic palette of sounds and an impish sense of humour as in the ‘Passepied’.A sense of characterisation that brought the set of six pieces written for his beloved Chouchou vividly to life . The grandiose opening of the Prélude just dissolving into a mellifluous outpouring and a Menuet with its wondrous sounds that appear like the sun coming out as passion ignites the romantic atmosphere. The Chopin G flat Impromptu and Third Ballade were played with aristocratic good taste and rich harmonic sounds.The two nocturnes op 48 were played with noble authority and passionate conviction just as the two Impromptus were played with beguiling jeux perlé and enticing rubato. The Fourth Ballade was given a monumental performance where the music unfolded in a continuous outpouring ever more intense until the final explosion of glorious beauty. A coda often played as a technical exercise was in François hands an outpouring of romantic fervour of exhilaration and excitement.

‘La plus que lente’ – the last piece on his CD was his choice of encore and was played with whispered insinuating sounds of sumptuous beauty.

Not expecting such an ovation he returned to play Chopin’s Berceuse where the minutes of silence after the final chord was evidence of the spell that François had created with his music making and great artistry

Programme  

CHOPIN: Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth. 

CHOPIN: Nocturne in D-flat major, Op. 27 No. 2 

DEBUSSY: Suite Bergamasque 

Prélude 

Menuet 

Clair de Lune 

Passepied 

CHOPIN: Impromptu No. 3 in G-flat major, Op. 51 

CHOPIN: Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major, Op. 47 

Intermission 30 min 

DEBUSSY: Children’s Corner 

Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum 

Jimbo’s Lullaby 

Serenade for the Doll 

The Snow Is Dancing 

The Little Shepherd 

Golliwog’s Cake-Walk 

CHOPIN: Impromptu No. 1 in A-flat major, Op. 29 

CHOPIN: Two Nocturnes, Op. 48 

CHOPIN: Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52

Francois Dumont remembering the genius of Fou Ts’ong at the Razumovsky Academy