ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary

Fantasy on the menu tonight for Andras Schiff in a unique musical ritual, worshipping together the genius of Bach Haydn Mozart Beethoven Mendelssohn and Schumann.Chopin was never far away either!

Reminding me ever more of Kempff where music just poured from his hands that were forever searching for the perfect legato and orchestral sounds.

A world in which a musical language speaks louder than words as they delve into the very core of creation searching ever more for the life blood contained within.

Technical and pianistic problems are not even contemplated as such, but are the means to communicate the real message that is there to those who dedicate their life to a never ending journey of discovery.

It was fascinating to see his use of the pedals both romantic and baroque that gave an enormous sense of freedom to all that was floated above it . Anton Rubinstein called the pedal the soul of the piano’ and was obviously referring to the gradual addition of the sustaining pedal to the keyboard instruments of the day. It was noticeable that Andras held with his hand the bass notes at the opening of the chromatic fantasy creating a pedal note for the improvised freedom that Bach allows. As quoting Casals ‘ there is no freedom without order.’ Chopin of course described to his students that music should be like a tree with the roots firmly planted in the ground that allowed the branches to flow feely above. It was this sense of ordered freedom that pervaded his Bach and meant that nothing was hurried of exaggerated but the music was allowed to unfold with a natural simplicity and logic. The opening of the Mozart fantasy too was played with very strident opening chords that were gently and silently echoed by putting his hand down silently on the note again . It reminded me of Arrau and Perlemuter playing loudly with the soft pedal down in order to get that very French sounding nasal effect. The search for sound is so rare these days in the quest for volume and speed!

Mendelssohn actually writes in the score in the first movement very long pedals that give you an idea of how the notes above are just wafts of changing harmony. The ending in particular ( like in Beethoven’s op 126 that Andras played on Tuesday here, together with Schubert Drei Klavierstücke and the Fantasy Sonata ) a very long pedal created a very etherial ghostly effect of unearthly sounds that we rarely hear in the concert hall where clarity and precision is usually the norm!. Andras took it to the limit with a last movement that had some wondrous moments, where lightweight chords just seemed to bounce in mid air, but maybe the streams of notes are more brilliant jeux perlé than the actual changing harmonies that Mendelssohn so clearly marked in the first movement.

The Schumann Fantasy was a fascinating voyage of discovery.

Schumann prefaced it with a quote from Friedrich Schlegel :Durch alle Töne tönetIm bunten Erdentraum Ein leiser Ton gezogen Für den, der heimlich lauschet. “Resounding through all the notes in the earth’s colourful dream There sounds a faint long-drawn note For the one who listens in secret.”

And this explains the great pedal note of G that Andras began with his right hand leaning over his left deep into the bass . It was this insistence of G that was to pervade the whole movement with the sometimes over zealous insistence of discovery. It meant that everything else was floated on this sound which gave a strange impression of improvisation and freedom. Maybe exaggerated but stimulating indeed!

Andras had explained though about the musical quotation of a phrase from Beethoven’s song cycle An die ferne Geliebte ( To the distant beloved )  in the coda of the first movement . The text of the passage quoted is: Accept then these songs beloved, which I sang for you alone]. Both the Schlegel lines and the Beethoven described Schumann’s situation of being separated from Clara Wieck by her severe father. Schumann wrote to Clara: The first movement may well be the most passionate I have ever composed – a deep lament for you. They still had many tribulations to suffer before they finally married four years later.

Andras too pointed out that Charles Rosen had found in the original version in the library in Budapest that the ending of the first movement was repeated at the end of the last movement. Schumann later cancelled this idea, and I personally think he did it because to say I love you too many times looses it’s effect. Andras ,though, decided to play it giving a certain unity to this great love poem. He asked our forgiveness and that of Schumann, but it made for a stimulating rethinking of a masterwork that we can sometimes take for granted in lesser hands.

It was all through this recital a feeling of discovery and recreating the works as though the ink were still wet on the page.The plastic precision that CD’s have accustomed us to in the concert platform was substituted for a living,vibrant ,exciting journey of discovery together with a musician who delves deeper than most into the mystery of recreation.

The programme tonight was begun with the Aria of the Goldberg Variations which was a refined hors d’oeuvre to a sumptuous feast which consisted of the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue , Mozart Fantasy in C minor and Haydn’s in C major . Ending the first half with Beethoven’s Sonata quasi una fantasia op 27 n 1

After the interval Mendelssohn Fantasy in F sharp minor op 28 and Schumann ‘s monument to Beethoven but dedicated to Liszt , who actually erected the monument in Bonn, the Fantasy op 17 .

The Art of Andras Schiff Bach before the Mast

Andras Schiff ‘Miracles at the Wigmore Hall ‘

Many are tuned in to the Chopin Competition live stream in Warsaw where many pianists are in the running who have been promoted by Dr Mather. We should not forget that the indomitable St Mary’s are continuing, non stop, to give a platform to young artists with three concerts or more every week, also live streamed to an audience worldwide. I managed to hear this brilliant young Swiss pianist on play back and thank God I did ! Superb playing of the clarity and precision of a baroque keyboard player but with the colour and sumptuous sounds of a superb pianist too. Strange curled fingers like ten little hammers, necessary for playing antique instruments, but rather unnatural for the piano with pedals . Chopin was the first to show us that the scale of D flat was for starters not C major, with a hand that caressed the keys and extracted the sound like limpets sucking the lifeblood from each note. But this young Swiss pianist is also a formidable musician with a passionate heart. She is also very knowledgable and able to choose a stimulating programme where the final cluster of Holliger on E flat was the sound out of which emerged the Bach prelude from book one. A Beethoven sonata op 27 but not the ‘Moonlight’ but its sister less often played but still a Sonata ‘quasi Fantasia’ as Beethoven announced. A transcription of a Schubert song that was new to me but was transformed into a magical tone poem by Franz Liszt. The Nineteenth Hungarian Rhapsody was also new to me and what a discovery with the same Hungarian inspired virtuosity and sense of beguiling dance but with that strange late world that was beginning to open up a whole new vision for the future by the genial Abbé Liszt . It was the encore of Scarlatti that gave the game away with Susanna’s obvious baroque training such was the clarity and drive but also the ornamentation that she discreetly added to such a scintillating sonata.

Holliger Praeludium from partita n. 1 is dedicated to Andras Schiff . Here are Susanna’s own words: My E-flat pairing of Holliger and Bach where his admiration for Bach resonates in his own Partita for Piano (completed on Dec 31, 1999). The title itself recalls the Baroque form, and its seven movements combine references to tradition with avant-garde elements. Notably, Holliger employs soggetti cavati, a Renaissance technique deriving melody from vowels, echoing Bach’s own cryptographic motifs such as B-A-C-H. The opening Praeludium recalls Bach’s improvisatory preludes. It erupts in thunderous clusters, followed by resonant triads Holliger calls the inner voice: “music as from inside your body… like a backstage chorus singing”. He himself described it as “like a Couperin or Rameau harpsichordist warming up with big arpeggios.” When its final cluster fades, only a single E-flat remains. That very note becomes the opening of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E-flat minor, BWV 853. A difficult work played with clarity and technical brilliance with extravagant sounds of reverberations.

A final cluster played with the arm as the glory of Bach shone through this extraordinary modern sound world. It was like a celestial cloud opening with beautiful radiance and fluidity with the simplicity of the fugue gradually unfolding.

Playing in two as Beethoven indicates allowed the Andante of the Sonata to flow naturally with beauty and deep feeling but without any sentimentality.The ‘Moonlight’ Sonata was written in two as well and is too often played in four which takes away the extraordinary architectural shape of these highly original opening movements of a classical sonata. The ‘Allegro’ central interruption was played with dynamic brilliance and extraordinary clarity. Driving Beethovenian impatience was quelled with the exquisite beauty of the return of the ‘Andante’ that just dissolved to a whisper without any rallentando! Susanna’s extraordinary intelligence and musicianship allowed each movement to flow into the next in a work of unique originality for it’s time. A true ‘Allegro molto e vivace’ second movement, was played with the irascible youthful Beethovenian drive and impatience, with the central driving bass rhythms giving extra energy always especially when played with the dynamism of this young Swiss pianist. The ‘Adagio’ she so rightly said was similar to the second movement of the C minor concerto and she played it with the same poignant nobility and extraordinary beauty that Beethoven could conjure out of his genius that had nothing to do with Bel Canto but was more of orchestral origin. It was Susanna’s thinking up from the bass always that gave strength to Beethoven’s deeply felt mellifluous outpouring. After a beautiful whispered cadenza Susanna held us in suspense on a single A flat before allowing the ‘Allegro vivace’ finale to take us by storm. A rhythmic energy with dynamic contrasts all played at red hot temperature. Extraordinary clarity and precision but also passionate drive and understanding, of overwhelming energy that made the short return of the ‘Adagio’ so moving as it was unexpected.

Rachmaninov’s well known Etude Tableau was with the Liszt F minor Study the only two pieces from the standard piano repertoire today. The Rachmaninov was played with fearless passion and a kaleidoscope of colour that brought this miniature tone poem vividly to life.

There was a chiselled beauty to the Schubert song transcription by Liszt which I have to admit I did not know. Her ravishing sense of balance with playing of ease and natural beauty as the bells were allowed to sound all around this glorious melodic outpouring. Sustained by the bass as the melody was played with ever more passionate conviction and mastery . A trilled pedal note that was a mere vibration on which the bells were allowed to glisten with wondrous beauty.

The Liszt F minor transcendental study was played with quite extraordinary mastery but also with colour and a passionate temperament that was quite breathtaking in its audacity .

She brought a great sense of style and authority to Liszt’s 19th Hungarian Rhapsody which was his last . A true sense of the Hungarian idiom almost savage in it’s Gypsy drive with technical difficulties thrown off with the ease of native players with their extraordinary natural technical mastery.

Swiss pianist Susanna Braun debuted at the Tonhalle Zürich in 2024, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto KV 466, where her delicate touch, virtuosity, and musical sensitivity captivated audiences. Her interpretation was praised for its freshness and maturity, offering a refreshing contrast to routine performances. In June 2025, she made her debut with the BBC Philharmonic, performing Grazyna Bacewicz’s Piano Concerto for a BBC Radio 3 recording. Highlights of the second part of the 2025 season will include a performance with the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, with the Camerata Manchester, performing Ludwig van Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, and the release of her first CD for the Valaris Music label dedicated to the music of Liszt. 

She holds an “International Artist Diploma” from the Royal Northern College of Music, a Master’s from the Hochschule für Musik FRANZ LISZT in Weimar, a diploma ( corso triennale di alta perfezionamento ) from the Imola International Academy “Incontri con il Maestro”, a B.Mus with honours from RNCM and a Diplôme Supérieur from the Schola Cantorum in Paris. She is currently pursuing the “Post-Diploma Course” at the Imola International Academy “Incontri con il Maestro”, and a Master’s in Specialized Music Performance – Soloist at the ZHdK (Zurich University of the Arts). Her main teachers are and were Boris Petrushansky, Grigory Gruzman, Till Fellner, Helen Krizos and Danilo Manto. 

She has performed at prestigious venues, including the TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, and has collaborated o.a. with Sinfonietta Schaffhausen and Jena Philharmonie. Susanna has won multiple awards, including first prizes at the 10th International Piano Competition in Enschede. She is also the artistic director of “BlenioMusica,” an annual chamber music festival in Switzerland . Susanna Braun is part of the Valaris Music family. Susanna is grateful for the Excellence Scholarship from the ZHdK Foundation. 

Jacky Zhang in Perivale The genial voyage of discovery of a true artist

And we could have danced all night judging from the enthusiastic audience and the friends that came back stage after a concert of such scintillating playing . Sumptuous sounds and a characterisation that he gave to each of these well known pieces. There was also a sense of occasion like entering a great opera house where the curtain would rise and magic would exude from the stage .

It was the same magic that this dashing young prince with a golden mane could extract from this great black beast seated in front of the altar in this most beautiful of London churches.

And it was fitting that it should be in front of the altar because the theatre is, too, a sacred place where dreams can become reality. An imposing beginning with the March from the ‘Nutcracker’ in Pletnev’s wonderful transcription for solo piano written by a great pianist who knows how to extract the secrets from the piano with breathtaking daring and heartrending beauty. Has the ‘Sugar Plum Fairy’ ever sounded so glowingly luminous just like a porcelain doll of perfect proportions! Nikita’s knowing chiselled playing of great delicacy was a wonder to behold. The ending of Tchaikowsky’s own ‘Sleeping Beauty’ was quite overwhelming for the sweep and sumptuous sounds that wafter around this very resonant edifice from fingers that flew up and down the keys with such aristocratic mastery.

The six character pieces from Prokofiev’s Cinderella were played with pungent humour and insinuating pulsation. The voice of Prokofiev every bit as overwhelming and exciting as Tchaikowsky. Masterly performances from a pianist who has recently completed a 30 concert tour in Scotland bringing music to places where it has never been before. In November he will go on a similar tour of China with concerts and masterclasses where this Prince in Shining Armour will seduce and excite his audiences with his music making as he has today.

Tchaikovsky-Pletnev – excerpts from the “Nutcracker” Concert Suite
March
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

Tchaikovsky and “Sleeping Beauty” Concert Suites
Dance of Pages
Puss in Boots and the White Cat
Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf
Adagio

Prokofiev – ‘6 Pieces from Cinderella’ op.102
Waltz: Cinderella and the Prince
Cinderella’s Variation
Quarrel
Waltz: Cinderella Goes to the Ball
Pas-de-châle
Amoros

Other 2024/25 season highlights include recitals at the London Armourers’ Hall, London Bechstein Hall, Perth Concert Hall and St Magnus Festival.
A disciple of the Russian Piano School, Nikita Lukinov started his musical education at the age of six in Voronezh, Russia. At the age of 10, he gave his debut performance as a soloist with a symphonic orchestra and at 14, he won a full scholarship to study at the Purcell School in London. Nikita was awarded full scholarships to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in 2017, a Master’s Degree in 2021, and an Artist Diploma Degree in 2023 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) at the class of Prof. Petras Geniušas.

Presented in association with Talent Unlimited.

Nikita Lukinov conquers the Bechstein Hall with masterly music making

Nikita Lukinov ……..”If music be the food of love play on ….and on” A Master on a voyage of discovery and sharing in Scotland

Nikita Lukinov in Perivale ‘Authority and poetic mastery with burning conviction and communication’

Two young giants cross swords in Verbier Giovanni Bertolazzi and Nikita Lukinov

Roy Howat sharing his intimate knowledge of French music bequeathed to him by Jacques Février and Vlado Perlemuter . He is one of the founding editors, with Pierre Boulez, François Lesure and others, of the Paris-based Complete Debussy Edition (Œuvres Complètes de Claude Debussy), for which he has edited much of the piano music. His other publications include the books, Debussy in Proportion and The Art of French piano music, Author of many important books on French Music for which he was recently made Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the French government.

He was able to give inspiration and practical help to four very fine students.

Debussy Images is standard repertoire and Book two was sensitively played by Rebekah Yinou Tan but the Fantaisie for piano and orchestra and the Ballade are rarities in the concert hall.

Howat was able to explain the origin, varying editions and the evolution of the works .

The early Fantaisie brilliantly played by Imogen Edwards was abandoned by Debussy and only published long after his death .

It was composed between October 1889 and April 1890, but only received its first public performance in 1919, a year after Debussy’s death. The work is dedicated to the pianist René Chansarel, who had been scheduled to play the solo part for the cancelled premiere in 1890 . The first public performance of the work, scheduled in 1890, was cancelled when Vincent d’Indy, who was chosen as conductor, claimed that he did not have enough time for rehearsals and proposed to perform only the first movement, which Debussy declined.Over the next few years the very self-critical Debussy made numerous revisions, but eventually gave up on the work and declared that the Fantaisie would never be published or performed during his lifetime.It received its first public performance posthumously on November 20, 1919,in London by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Alfred Cortot as soloist.It was published first in a two-piano version (2nd piano is a reduction of the orchestra score) made by Gustave Samazeuilh in 1919, with the full score in 1920, both by Eugène Fromont, one of Debussy’s early publishers.

I only ever remember that eclectic young prize winner of the first Leeds Jean Rodolphe Kars play it in public and he has since become a Catholic priest in the Emmanuel Community ! Martha Argerich subsequently made a recording of it with Daniel Barenboim conducting .

The Ballade is an early work and a true rarity and was played with ravishing sounds by a young Italian student Franco Barzelatto who managed to tame a not easy Fazioli piano .

The first thing Howat asked was if he knew the origin of the piece . Which he certainly did !

Debussy composed a “Ballade slave” in 1890, and in 1903 he revised and republished it simply as Ballade. Coloured both with exuberance and melancholy, it shares kinship with the far more popular Arabesques written shortly thereafter.

In a letter to his publisher, Debussy wrote of “the art of turning the pedal into a kind of breathing which I observed in Liszt when I had the fortune to hear him in Rome.” That he was referring to an event which had taken place decades earlier confirms the lasting impression the master made on the younger composer. Debussy was 21 when he won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1884. The scholarship granted a three-year stay at the French Academy in Rome, where on three occasions in January of 1886, Liszt and Debussy met.

Upon returning to Paris, Debussy began to achieve a broader recognition and the publication of solo piano pieces soon followed, among them a “Ballade slave” in 1890. Though Debussy had indeed spent three months in Russia during his late teens, there is little about this enchanting piece that sounds remotely Russian or Slavic, and in 1903 he would revise and republish it simply as Ballade. Coloured both with exuberance and melancholy, it shares kinship with the far more popular Arabesques written shortly thereafter. Its neglect is inexplicable and it is a concert rarity.

I did not know that a Roy Howat had also studied with Jacques Février, the companion of Poulenc whose rarely heard Trois Pièces were given a scintillating performance by Leo Little . He was able to pass on inside information about Poulenc’s pedalling and to recommend listening to the historic performance of Poulenc and Février playing the two piano concerto.

In thanking Roy Howat Ian Jones mentioned the most complete edition for Peters of Chopin’s Studies that are in the process of being published. Roy Howat was a disciple of Vlado Perlemuter who was a protégé of Cortot and together with his authoritative scholarship it should make for an exciting return to the RCM in the future.

I had first met Roy Howat at the funeral ,in Ewelme eight years ago, of Vlado Perlemuter’s life long companion Joan Flockhart Booth https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2017/12/19/in-praise-of-joan-2/

Michael Colbourne and Lydia Gerrard with a West End Musical Evening at the National Liberal Club…….

Yisha Xue has come up trumps again with her Asia Circle with a sold out house for an exhilarating evening of songs from the shows . Michael standing in at the last minute for an indisposed Carl Man

…..but you never would have known it because he took over with dynamic drive and hypnotic personality as he joined a superb Lydia Gerrard in solos and duets . Performances that brought them a standing ovation with calls for more after their sensational rendering of ‘Tonight’

The hero of the evening was the superb orchestra that Peter Woollard ( ex RAM ,my Alma Mater) provided on the magnificent Steinway that stands in this hall, where Rachmaninov gave his last performance in 1938 before being forced to flee to America where he died five years later.

A scrap of paper with names of songs scribbled on it was all that was needed to ignite this extraordinary evening of Broadway that now comes to the Liberal Club.

We could have danced all night with Gabriele Baldocci .

Every piece had a story and was evoked with playing of intensity and beauty. An improvised freedom that brought his music alive with fervent conviction and heartrending sensitivity. A series of emotions that rarely one experiences in concert . Told by this young man, we became part of this world and were embraced by the same experiences of his upbringing as a child in Livorno. ‘In their arms’ dedicated to the childhood love of his grandparents and remembering the feeling of warmth and love that a child could feel . It was moving to hear such radiant beauty but also at the end to see Gabriele with a gesture of embracing his loved ones.

‘Ashen firefly ‘ was a memory of his father coming to say good night and as he turned the light off he could see the glow of his cigarette like a firefly. ‘Valldemossa’ was a harrowing picture in sound of the impression of the damp cell where Chopin spent a fateful winter on Majorca .’Origami’ was the impression as a child who loved turning a blank piece of paper into many shapes ,but then discovering that it was always only a blank piece of paper.

Gabriele even asked one of the audience to join him so he could paint an improvised portrait of him in sound.

‘Verde Luce’ was the green light that shone in the dark of a hospital room as he spent months in hospital with an illness that had been hard to diagnose. ‘Silent watch’ was a portrait of his mother who would stay with him and reassure a frightened young child during the night.

Here are Gabriele’s own words that are much more poignant than any I could add:

‘I was seven, I fought sleep every night, afraid I might never wake up.

I was in the hospital with an auto immune condition, too young to fully understand my illness, but old enough to feel the weight of mortality. Sleep felt dangerous, so I resisted it the only way I could, by staring at the small green light above the door. That glow became my companion, my anchor, my way of holding on.

Verde Luce is the music of those nights. It is also the first piece in my Trilogy of ‘Becoming’, which I will unveil step by step in the coming weeks.

I hope it brings you the same fragile beauty it once brought me

Do you remember the little things you whispered to your parents before falling asleep? Your fears, your secrets, your dreams. Those fragile words inspired my new piece, Night Whispers, dedicated to my son Alessandro.

It is music about vulnerability and comfort, the quiet dialogue between child and parent that only happens when the world finally slows down.

Some have described it as “the lost Kinderszenen”, as if Schumann had written one more miniature, hidden away for a night like this. That thought makes me smile, and it captures perfectly the spirit of this piece.

I hope it brings you a moment of stillness and tenderness…”

A standing ovation greeted this evening of such emotions and masterly music making.

In the green room afterwards many friends and admirers came back stage , some had even travelled from Livorno to be present on such a poignant occasion.

Gabriele Baldocci (born May 10, 1980 in Livorno ,Italy) is an Italian pianist  and composer  naturalised British .

Baldocci is known worldwide for performing with the legendary Argentinean pianist Martha Argerich

After studying with Ilio Barontini, Franco Scala ,William Grant Naboré and Sergio Perticaroli  and having studied with or having been coached by Alicia De Larrocha,Leon Fleisher and Dmitri Bashkirov  at the International Piano Foundation “Theo and Petra Lieven ” in Cadenabbia, Baldocci began an intense solo career performing in important venues worldwide (Tonhalle in Zurich , Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires , Sala Verdi in Milan ). His large repertoire ranges from Bach to contemporary music and is especially focused on the composers of the Romantic Period such as Fryderyk Chopin  (of whom he has recorded the complete Ballades and Impromptus),Franz Liszt , and Robert Schumann. In 2012 he began recording and performing the complete Beethoven Symphonies transcribed by Liszt for piano solo

Very active as a chamber musician, he has performed with Ivry gitlis,Marco Fornaciari,Mark Drobinsky, and other great names of the international music scene. Baldocci has toured extensively in duo with Martha Argerich , his good friend and mentor.

Since 2008, he has formed a stable piano duo with the Argentinean pianist Daniel Rivera; they have performed at important music Festivals around the world.

Since 2010, he has been artistic director and Ambassador of the Martha Argerich Presents Project (MAPp), an ambitious project launched by Argerich to encourage cooperation between famous artists and young talented musicians in order to create a worldwide circuit of performances and pedagogy.

More recently, Gabriele Baldocci has advanced his career as a conductor, collaborating with important orchestras in Europe and America, and he cultivates his interest for cinema producing and directing short and feature movies.

In 2016, he played keyboard in the Progressive Rock band The Gift, publishing the album “Why the Sea Is Salt” for Bad Elephant Music.

Baldocci is a Piano Professor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance after spending six years at the Potenza  Conservatory of Music  and he is the Director of the London Piano Centre and of the Milton Keynes Music Academy.

Gabriele Baldocci at Trinity Laban

We could have danced all night with Gabriele Baldocci .

Every piece had a story and was evoked with playing of intensity and beauty. An improvised freedom that brought his music alive with fervent conviction and heartrending sensitivity. A series of emotions that rarely one experiences in concert . Told by this young man, we became part of this world and were embraced by the same experiences of his upbringing as a child in Livorno. ‘In their arms’ dedicated to the childhood love of his grandparents and remembering the feeling of warmth and love that a child could feel . It was moving to hear such radiant beauty but also at the end to see Gabriele with a gesture of embracing his loved ones.

‘Ashen firefly ‘ was a memory of his father coming to say good night and as he turned the light off he could see the glow of his cigarette like a firefly. ‘Valldemossa’ was a harrowing picture in sound of the impression of the damp cell where Chopin spent a fateful winter on Majorca .’Origami’ was the impression as a child who loved turning a blank piece of paper into many shapes ,but then discovering that it was always only a blank piece of paper.

Gabriele even asked one of the audience to join him so he could paint an improvised portrait of him in sound.

‘Verde Luce’ was the green light that shone in the dark of a hospital room as he spent months in hospital with an illness that had been hard to diagnose. ‘Silent watch’ was a portrait of his mother who would stay with him and reassure a frightened young child during the night.

Here are Gabriele’s own words that are much more poignant than any I could add:

‘I was seven, I fought sleep every night, afraid I might never wake up.

I was in the hospital with an auto immune condition, too young to fully understand my illness, but old enough to feel the weight of mortality. Sleep felt dangerous, so I resisted it the only way I could, by staring at the small green light above the door. That glow became my companion, my anchor, my way of holding on.

Verde Luce is the music of those nights. It is also the first piece in my Trilogy of ‘Becoming’, which I will unveil step by step in the coming weeks.

I hope it brings you the same fragile beauty it once brought me

Do you remember the little things you whispered to your parents before falling asleep? Your fears, your secrets, your dreams. Those fragile words inspired my new piece, Night Whispers, dedicated to my son Alessandro.

It is music about vulnerability and comfort, the quiet dialogue between child and parent that only happens when the world finally slows down.

Some have described it as “the lost Kinderszenen”, as if Schumann had written one more miniature, hidden away for a night like this. That thought makes me smile, and it captures perfectly the spirit of this piece.

I hope it brings you a moment of stillness and tenderness…”

A standing ovation greeted this evening of such emotions and masterly music making.

In the green room afterwards many friends and admirers came back stage , some had even travelled from Livorno to be present on such a poignant occasion.

Gabriele Baldocci (born May 10, 1980 in Livorno ,Italy) is an Italian pianist  and composer  naturalised British .

Baldocci is known worldwide for performing with the legendary Argentinean pianist Martha Argerich

After studying with Ilio Barontini, Franco Scala ,William Grant Naboré and Sergio Perticaroli  and having studied with or having been coached by Alicia De Larrocha,Leon Fleisher and Dmitri Bashkirov  at the International Piano Foundation “Theo and Petra Lieven ” in Cadenabbia, Baldocci began an intense solo career performing in important venues worldwide (Tonhalle in Zurich , Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires , Sala Verdi in Milan ). His large repertoire ranges from Bach to contemporary music and is especially focused on the composers of the Romantic Period such as Fryderyk Chopin  (of whom he has recorded the complete Ballades and Impromptus),Franz Liszt , and Robert Schumann. In 2012 he began recording and performing the complete Beethoven Symphonies transcribed by Liszt for piano solo

Very active as a chamber musician, he has performed with Ivry gitlis,Marco Fornaciari,Mark Drobinsky, and other great names of the international music scene. Baldocci has toured extensively in duo with Martha Argerich , his good friend and mentor.

Since 2008, he has formed a stable piano duo with the Argentinean pianist Daniel Rivera; they have performed at important music Festivals around the world.

Since 2010, he has been artistic director and Ambassador of the Martha Argerich Presents Project (MAPp), an ambitious project launched by Argerich to encourage cooperation between famous artists and young talented musicians in order to create a worldwide circuit of performances and pedagogy.

More recently, Gabriele Baldocci has advanced his career as a conductor, collaborating with important orchestras in Europe and America, and he cultivates his interest for cinema producing and directing short and feature movies.

In 2016, he played keyboard in the Progressive Rock band The Gift, publishing the album “Why the Sea Is Salt” for Bad Elephant Music.

Baldocci is a Piano Professor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance after spending six years at the Potenza  Conservatory of Music  and he is the Director of the London Piano Centre and of the Milton Keynes Music Academy.

Gabriele Baldocci at Trinity Laban

An old Blüthner and very resonant acoustic could not diminish a masterly performance of Beethoven’s last Sonata from this former student of Charles Owen, Katya Apekisheva and Gordon Fergus -Thompson. A magnificent pedigree that shone through all she played today despite not having the ideal tools for her trade.

Perlemuter often used to describe rather worn out instruments as ‘casseroles’ and opening with Bach’s G major Toccata I thought we were going to be in for a tough ride.

Her very classical approach to Bach allowed her to play with clarity, rhythmic drive and precision but the lack of colour and real sense of the ‘song and dance’ made this youthful Toccata rather monumental and earthbound, instead of being a voyage of improvised fantasy and discovery.

It was in the French music that followed, that Karin persuaded our old friend to surrender the secrets that were hidden in an instrument of obvious noble pedigree.

There followed a remarkably modern sounding piece by the nineteen year old Lili Boulanger, destined to die only six years later at the end of the First World War, in 1918. Full of strange colours of great originality it contrasted so well with Debussy’s mellifluous ‘Reflets dans l’eau’. Boulanger and Debussy were destined to die in the same year but one aged 56 and the other cruelly at only 25.

I studied with her sister Nadia Boulanger who was always talking of the remarkable genius of her sister who was to be taken from us before realising her enormous potential.

The Debussy was bathed in pedal but always very clearly articulated which allowed Karin to maintain the musical line with such clarity, surrounded by washes of sound that wafted around this noble edifice. Some very refined phrasing of delicacy and ravishing beauty as Karin had now persuaded this ‘casserole’ to give up the secrets that were hidden within .

The scene was now set for the main dish of this lunchtime feast of music, and Karen opened the Sonata op 111 with nobility and fearless attention to Beethoven’s indications. After this arresting introduction the ‘Allegro con brio ed appassionato’ took flight with some very solid playing of great conviction and towering authority. Respecting the composers wishes with scrupulous attention to detail, without ever loosing the rhythmic drive. Even the repeat of the exposition had more drive to it as it lead into a development of orchestral proportions. No slowing at the end either, so the arrival of C major set the scene for the quartet texture that she found for the ‘Arietta’.

Simplicity and an aristocratic melodic outpouring that Karin played with a sense of harmonic meaning, allowing the variations to flower so naturally. Infact it was the bass that sustained the variations and an undercurrent that brought us with ever more agitation to the explosion of the third variation that Karin played with remarkable authority.The sudden dynamic contrasts that Beethoven indicates brought great drama to this agitation before dissolving to the celestial paradise that the composer was to inhabit in these final works. Fragments of the ‘Arietta’ just floated on a vibrating bass before reaching miraculous heights with filigree sounds out of which we could hear in the distance the ‘Arietta’ and which Karin played with disarming simplicity and radiant beauty .Gradually building to a climax and exultation that was played with masterly control and weight, allowing the music to dissolve into vibrations that were discreetly played trills, out of which the ‘Arietta’ was heard one last time with glowing beauty. A performance of great maturity and technical mastery that allowed her to exult this Blüthner piano as I am sure it has rarely been dominated before

Nice to be reminded that the piano can sing

Inspirational music making with Richard Goode sharing his love for the radiance and beauty that this black box with hammers and strings is capable of in the hands of a true artist on a continual voyage of discovery

Three very fine young artists on this voyage of discovery together with this musical genius

Myunghan Kim. Schubert Sonata in A minor D537 Beautifully played and well prepared but now needs more orchestral colouring and allowed to sing without any brittle edges to the sound. The opening like with Mozart so important to phrase and shape.

Elisabeth Tsai. Mozart Fantasia in C minor K 475. A really beautiful, sensitive performance but there was even more to discover as Richard Goode showed her the way with dynamic contrasts where even the opening flourish needs to be given more shape.

Ryan Sheng Beethoven Sonata op 101 Again beautifully played but too earthbound for Richard Goode who conceives this opening movement as improvised where nothing is to be given as certain. A sense of discovery and wonder suggested to this brilliant young pianist.

An exclusive Nonesuch recording artist, Goode has made more than two dozen recordings over the years, ranging from solo and chamber works to lieder and concertos. His 10-CD set of the complete Beethoven sonatas cycle, the first-ever by an American-born pianist, was nominated for a Grammy and has been ranked among the most distinguished recordings of this repertoire. Other recording highlights include Mozart piano concerti with Orpheus, with whom he launched the 2021 season at New York’s 92nd St Y.

A native of New York, Richard Goode studied at the Mannes College of Music and the Curtis Institute. His numerous prizes over the years include the Young Concert Artists Award, First Prize in the Clara Haskil Competition, the Avery Fisher Prize, and a Grammy award for the Brahms Sonatas recorded with clarinetist Richard Stoltzman.

Mr. Goode served, together with Mitsuko Uchida, as co-Artistic Director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival in Marlboro, Vermont from 1999 through 2013. Participating initially at the age of 14, at what the New Yorker magazine recently described as “the classical world’s most coveted retreat”, he made a notable contribution to this unique community over the 28 summers he spent there. In Fall 2021, Mr. Goode joined the Peabody Conservatory as Distinguished Artist Faculty. For the 2025/26 season, Mr. Goode joins The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as its newest Artistic Partner.

He is married to the violinist Marcia Weinfeld, and, when the Goodes are not on tour, they and their collection of some 5,000 volumes live in New York City.

Richard Goode at the Wigmore Hall ‘Music making next to Godliness’

An immediate sense of communication holds her audience spellbound following every move of her hypnotic mastery …….

An all French programme with a refreshing difference. Poulenc, Boulez , Ravel and Messiaen all different musical languages each made to speak with immediacy and eloquence by a true poet of the keyboard.

Milda chose eight of the fifteen Improvisations by Poulenc to open her short lunchtime recital. Immediately imbuing the ‘Presto ritmico’ with startling, arresting character that took us by surprise.There followed the 13th of improvised beauty with subtle colouring of sumptuous decadence; there was the impish fun of n.3 and Poulenc’s humorous bustling call to attention of n. 6. Followed by the gentle radiance to n. 7 in C major of purity and rich golden harmonies with its barely suggested blues note ending. The 8th was a Parisian free for all of ‘Baba’ proportions and the 9th was thrown off with masterly ease as the chattering unmistakable voice of Poulenc shone through. The 15th a ‘Homage to Piaf ‘ is the best known of these improvisations and was played with a masterly sense of colour and sophisticated elegance.

Poulenc was followed by Boulez, with the same sense of character but of a different musical language .Bursting into furious activity with a sound world that glowed of radiance and crystal clarity .

As Rubinstein famously said you should only play music that convinces you and speaks directly to your heart.

https://youtu.be/gex0sOR7XZ0?si=JzzvzSKfUpNShBzq

It is this that came to mind as Milda was convinced and convincing with a frantic fugato dissolving into whispered oblivion. A kaleidoscope of colours and sounds with a masterly use of the pedals.This was like a breath of fresh air in a sumptuous somewhat decadent feast of music making.

It was Rubinstein who gave the first performance of Ravel’s ‘Valses nobles’ in Spain .It was received with such a clamorous rejection that he famously decided to play it all over again as an encore! Today it is considered one of the most beautiful works of Ravel, far removed from his transcription of ‘La Valse’. However the seduction and perfumed brilliance of these Waltzes in this work are of refined elegance and radiant beauty. After the brilliance of the opening there was the ravishing fluidity of the ‘assez lent’ followed by the whispered delicacy of the ‘moderé’ ready to burst into mellifluous flights of fancy . A featherlight cascade of notes in the ‘assez animé’ led to the purity and poignant beauty of the ‘presque lent’. Crawling around the keys with insinuating ridiculousness before bursting into an unashamed Viennese waltz and the passionate climax of the final ‘moins vif’ .The Épilogue is one of Ravel’s most poignant creations and Milda played it with magical sonorities. A radiant misty cloud out of which Ravel could recall what we had just experienced, with poignant nostalgia. A memorable performance that Milda played with subtle refined elegance and tonal mastery.

‘Regard de l’Esprit de joie’ has long been a pianistic show piece and is part of the ‘Vingt regards sur l’Enfant- Jésus’ of which the most poignant is ‘Le baiser.’ I remember my impression of astonishment and breathless wonder when a young French boy played it at the first Leeds Competition. Jean- Rodolfe Kars I believe became a Trappist monk instead of becoming a concert pianist.The intensity and purity of his playing gave some idea that here was a true believer, as was the composer. I am quite sure that Milda will not become part of a ‘Clausura’ but she played Regard de Joie with the same burning intensity and fearless mastery of a true believer. Messiaen’s chorale was played with terrifying commitment like broken glass showered with burning conviction from the roof tops. Milda has a small hand but that did not stop her from mastering this work and delivering it to us with breathtaking mastery. An enormous palette of sounds and a dynamic drive that held us on the edge of our seats. Plunging down to the bottom of the keyboard where she stayed for quite some minutes as we marvelled at what we had just witnessed.

Awakened from her trance she offered as a thank you, one of Chopin’s most beautiful Mazurkas, op 63 n. 2 in F minor. Played with all the subtle beauty and beguiling rubato of the passionately committed musician we had encountered today.

Milda Daunoraité at the National Liberal Club – Sparks flying with refined piano playing of elegance and simplicity

Milda Daunoraite – youthful purity and musicianship triumph in Florence

HHH Concerts and The Keyboard Trust a winning combination of youthful dedication to Art

The fifteen Improvisations were composed at intervals between 1932 and 1959. All are brief: the longest lasts a little more than three minutes. They vary from swift and balletic to tender lyricism, old-fashioned march,perpetuum mobile, waltz  and a poignant musical portrait of the singer Édith Piaf.

Douze Notations pour piano have a special place in the musical output of Pierre Boulez (1925-2016). For one thing, ever since their belated publication in 1985 these short piano pieces have headed the work list of this extremely self-critical composer. For another, Boulez frequently drew on these fledgling compositions in his later music. Finally, this collection of 1945 offers fascinating insights into the compositional workshop of the then 20-year-old composer.”Douze Notations”  consists of 12 short piano pieces that explore the early development of his musical language. “Doux et improvisé” (Soft and improvisational) is the title of the fifth piece in this collection. The pieces were published in 1985 and Boulez frequently drew on them for later orchestral versions, which he continued to develop throughout his career, creating a “spiral” of constant evolution of his own work. The 12 pieces were premiered on 12 February 1946, in Paris (concerts du Triptyque), by Yvette Grimaud.:

1. Fantasque. Modéré 2. Très vif 3. Assez lent 4. Rythmique 5. Doux et improvisé 6. Rapide 7. Hiératique 8. Modéré jusqu’à très vif 9. Lointain. Calme 10. Mécanique et très sec 11. Scintillant 12. Lent. Puissant et âpre