ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary

Saddest of occasions with Murray McLachlan’s wonderful programme we could only imagine,like Beethoven, in our private ear.Family,friends and colleagues all congregating at the Chopin Society yesterday afternoon to celebrate this extraordinarily generous musician .
On the menu Haydn 52,Mozart D K 576 and Beethoven op 111 Sonatas washed down with Chopin’s Four ballades.An encore of Chopin’s E flat nocturne transposed into D flat and imposed on the left hand alone ……..D flat was the scale that Chopin would give his pupils for the natural position of the hand on the keys.Only an eclectic musician like Murray could be so discerning on this occasion.
All postponed until January because an elderly member of the Chopin Society had passed away minutes before being able to savour such delights which he is now doing with the angels.
The hall was closed while necessary arrangements were made by the authorities who had arrived immediately in great numbers but alas there was nothing they could do.
We mortals could only console ourselves with a stiff drink and delectable Italian food for Murray’s emaciated former star students .
Bobby Chen a great friend and colleague also present and who by coincidence is giving a recital next week with Albert Portugheis entitled Four Hands One Heart !

Very moved to see Lady Rose personally greeting her guests with this very unexpected news ……and very sorry to hear the distress of her young assistant in whose arms the 95 year old member of their society had passed away.
‘In the beginning is our end ‘ ……..says T.S.Eliot …..It is,though,what happens on the journey in between that defines who we are.

This week too in Rome we celebrated Fausto Zadra who passed away in my theatre when the emotion of Chopin’s D flat nocturne was too much for his soul.The Angels enticed by such celestial sounds invited him to join them.

Four years later my wife was also struck down as she intoned the terrible words of Hecuba ….’An eye for an eye.A tooth for a tooth when will it ever end!……….’ She believed it so fervently and was called with a celestial fanfare of trumpets to take her place in a better world.

‘Murray McLachlan is a pianist with a virtuoso technique and a sure sense of line. His timing and phrasing are impeccable, and his tone-full but unforced in the powerful passages, gentle and restrained in the more lyrical- is a perpetual delight’ (BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE)Since making his professional debut in 1986 at the age of 21 under the baton of Sir Alexander Gibson, Murray McLachlan has consistently received outstanding critical acclaim. Educated at Chetham’s School of Music and Cambridge University, his mentors included Ronald Stevenson, David Hartigan, Ryszard Bakst, Peter Katin and Norma Fisher. His recording career began in 1988 and immediately attracted international attention. Recordings of contemporary music have won numerous accolades, including full star ratings, as well as ‘rosette’ and ‘key recording’ status in the Penguin Guide to CDs, and ‘Disc of the month’ and ‘Record of the month ‘in ‘Music on the Web’ and ‘The Herald’. McLachlan’s discography now includes over forty commercial recordings, including the complete sonatas of Myaskovsky and Prokofiev, the six concertos of Alexander Tcherepnin, the 24 Preludes and Fugues of Rodion Shchedrin, Ronald Stevenson’s ‘Passacaglia on DSCH’ the major works of Kabalevsky, Khatchaturian and the complete solo piano music of Erik Chisholm. His most recent releases feature British Music: In 2020 he recorded for Naxos the complete piano music of Edward Gregson and in 2019 for SOMM he the Ruth Gipps Piano Concerto with the RLPO. Both issues have received international critical acclaim and been broadcast several times on BBC Radio Three. McLachlan’s repertoire includes over 40 concertos and 25 recital programmes. He has performed the complete Beethoven piano sonata cycle seven times, as well as the complete piano music of Brahms. He has given first performances of works by many composers, including Martin Butler, Ronald Stevenson, Charles Camilleri, Michael Parkin and even Beethoven! He has appeared as soloist with most of the leading UK orchestras. His recognition has been far-reaching, bringing invitations to perform on all five continents. At the same time, he continues to give numerous concerts and master classes in the UK.McLachlan teaches at the Royal Northern College of Music and at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester where he has been Head of Keyboard since 1997. He is the founder of the Manchester International Concerto competition for young pianists as well as the Founder/Artistic Director of the world famous Chetham’s International Summer school and festival for Pianists, Europe’s largest summer school devoted exclusively to the piano. As a teacher McLachlan continues to be very busy and in demand. Many of his students have won prizes in competitions and continued with their own successful careers as performers.Murray McLachlan is past editor of the two EPTA (European Piano Teachers’ Association) magazines ‘Piano Journal’ and ‘Piano Professional’. Having been chair of EPTA since 2007, in 2021 he was made Vice President. In 2013 the University of Dundee awarded him an honorary doctorate for outstanding services to music. As well as performing and teaching, he is well known internationally for his numerous articles on Piano technique and repertoire. This includes extended columns which have appeared in ‘International Piano’ ‘Pianist’ and ‘Piano’ Magazines. His three books on piano playing ‘Foundations of technique’, ‘Piano Technique in Practice’ and ‘The Psychology of Piano Technique’ have been widely distributed and are published by Faber Music.

Murray McLachlan combines a multifaceted career as pianist, recording artist, writer, lecturer, and music educator. With a repertoire of 25 recital programmes and 40 concertos he has performed to critical acclaim on all five continents and has a discography of over 40 releases. He has written three critically acclaimed books on piano technique (Faber Music) and his quarterly column for International Piano Magazine has been running for over twenty years.

He is Founder/Artistic Director of the world famous Chetham’s International Summer school and festival for Pianists, Europe’s largest summer school devoted exclusively to the piano.

• Haydn – Sonata in E flat Hob. XVI/52, L. 62
• Mozart – Sonata in D major K576
• Beethoven – Sonata in C minor op. 111
• Chopin – 4 Ballades:
• No. 1 in G minor Op. 23
• No. 2 in F major/A minor Op. 38
• No. 3 in A flat Op. 47
• No. 4 in F minor Op. 52

Beethoven conceived of the plan for his final three piano sonatas Op 109,110 and 111b during the summer of 1820, while he worked on his Missa solemnis . Although the work was only seriously outlined by 1819, the famous first theme of the allegro ed appassionato was found in a draft book dating from 1801 to 1802, contemporary to his second Symphony Moreover, the study of these draft books implies that Beethoven initially had plans for a sonata in three movements, quite different from that which we know: it is only thereafter that the initial theme of the first movement became that of the String Quartet n.13 and that what should have been used as the theme with the adagio—a slow melody in A flat – was abandoned. Only the motif planned for the third movement, the famous theme mentioned above, was preserved to become that of the first movement.The Arietta, too, offers a considerable amount of research on its themes; the drafts found for this movement seem to indicate that as the second movement took form, Beethoven gave up the idea of a third movement, the sonata finally appearing to him as ideal.It has ben described as ‘a work of unmatched drama and transcendence … the triumph of order over chaos, of optimism over anguish .Alfred Brendel spoke of the second movement ‘what is to be expressed here is distilled experience and perhaps nowhere else in piano literature does mystical experience feel so immediately close at hand^’.

Chopin Four Ballades were composed between 1831 and 1842. The term ballade was used by Chopin in the sense of a balletic interlude or dance-piece, equivalent to the old Italian ballata, but the term may also have connotations of the medieval heroic ballad, a narrative minstrel-song, often of a fantastical character. There are dramatic and dance-like elements in Chopin’s use of the genre, and he may be said to be a pioneer of the ballade as an abstract musical form. The four ballades are said to have been inspired by a friend of Chopin’s, poet Adam Mickiewicz .The exact inspiration for each individual ballade, however, is unclear and disputed.John Ogdon said of the fourth Ballade that it is ‘the most exalted, intense and sublimely powerful of all Chopin’s compositions… It is unbelievable that it lasts only twelve minutes, for it contains the experience of a lifetime.^’ Alfred Cortot claims that the inspiration for this ballade is Mickiewicz’s poem The Three Budrys, which tells of three brothers sent away by their father to seek treasures, and the story of their return with three Polish brides.It is commonly considered one of Chopin’s masterpieces, and one of the masterpieces of 19th-century piano music.

The Piano Sonata in E-flat major, Hob.XVI/52, L. 62, was written in 1794 and is the last of Haydn’s piano sonatas, and is widely considered his greatest.

Haydn wrote the work for Therese Jansen, an outstanding pianist who lived in London at the time of Haydn’s visits there in the 1790s. Haydn served as a witness at her wedding to Gaetano Bartolozzi on 16 May 1795.Haydn also dedicated three demanding piano trios Hob.XV:27–29 nand another two piano sonatas H. XVI:50 and 51 to Jansen.

With regard to the sonata, Jansen was evidently the dedicatee of the autograph (hand-written) score but not the first published version. On the title page of the autograph Haydn wrote in Italian, “Sonata composta per la Celebre Signora Teresa de Janson … di me giuseppe Haydn mpriLond. 794,” which means “Sonata composed for the celebrated Miss Theresa Jansen … by myself Joseph Haydn in my own hand, London 1794.”

The Piano Sonata No. 18 in D major K 576, was composed as part of a set of six for Princess Frederica Louise of Prussia in 1789. It is often nicknamed “The Hunt” or “The Trumpet Sonata”, for the hornlike opening.

Tuesday 16 May 3.00 pm 

Schnabel famously said that Mozart was too easy for children but too difficult for adults.It was this that passed through my thoughts as I listened to this extraordinary young artist where everything seemed so natural and simple.Playing of clarity,radiance and intelligence bringing the scores to life with an inner fire and conviction that I have not experienced since Serkin.A technical mastery and control that is so complete that it never draws attention to itself .Placed at the service of the composer with integrity and honesty.Last year we were astonished by Daniel’s virtuoso performance of Schumann’s notoriously difficult Toccata op 7.It was placed in between the seemingly innocent Beethoven Sonata op 54 which is in practice one of the most notoriously difficult and it’s twin the ‘Appassionata’ op 57.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/06/23/daniel-lebhardt-the-prince-of-piano-descends-on-st-marys/

Today we were treated to three classical Masterworks by Bach,Mozart and Beethoven where the authority,simplicity and even the sound reminded me of Yefim Bronfman one of the great musicians of our time.It is refreshing too to see a young pianist leaving the much overplayed Russian school and concentrating more on the classical repertoire where it is more quality than quantity that counts.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2021/07/20/daniel-lebhardt-the-simple-grandeur-of-j-s-bach-at-st-marys/

The Hungarian school of playing inspired by Liszt has in fact produced some of the finest musicians before the public as Daniel made us aware of too today.Perfecting his studies with Pascal Nemirovski in London and Birmingham I remember in a Beethoven Sonata Marathon on this very piano there were many pianists taking part from the remarkable class of Nemirovski.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/01/15/happy-birthday-pascal-nemirovski-the-persuasive-charm-and-instruction-of-a-true-artist/.

A school where the start of an interpretation is with scrupulous attention to the composers wishes as written in the score.Of course style and personality are what make the stale notes on a page come to life.Every pianist sees the notes through his own kaleidoscope formed by a very personal vision of good taste and reasoning from the world that surrounds him.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2021/12/29/daniel-lebhardt-emperor-for-the-night/

Although each of the Partitas was published separately under the name Clavier – Ubung (Keyboard Practice), they were subsequently collected into a single volume in 1731 with the same name, which Bach himself chose to label his Opus 1.Unlike the earlier sets of suites, Bach originally intended to publish seven Partitas, advertising in the spring of 1730 upon the publication of the fifth Partita that the promised collected volume would contain two more such pieces. The plan was then revised to include a total of eight works: six Partitas in Part I (1731) and two larger works in Part II (1735), the Italian Concerto BWV 971, and the Overture in the French style BWV 831 which is an eleven-movement partita, the largest such keyboard work Bach ever composed, and may in fact be the elusive “seventh partita” mentioned in 1730. The Overture in the French style was originally written in C minor, but was transposed a half step down for publication to complete Bach’s ingenious tonal scheme.

The Piano Sonata No. 12 in F major K.332 was published in 1784 along with the Sonata n.10 in C major K.330 and n.11 K. 331.Mozart wrote these sonatas either while visiting Munich in 1781, or during his first two years in Vienna.Some believe, however that Mozart wrote this and the other sonatas during a summer 1783 visit to Salzburg made for the purpose of introducing his wife, Constanze to his father, Leopold .All three sonatas were published in Vienna in 1784 as Mozart’s Op. 6

Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major Op. 53, known as the Waldstein, is one of the three most notable sonatas of Beethoven’s middle period ,the other two being the Appassionata op 57 ,and Les Adieux op 81a.Completed in summer 1804 and surpassing Beethoven’s previous piano sonatas in its scope, the Waldstein is a key early work of Beethoven’s “Heroic” decade (1803–1812).The sonata’s name derives from Beethoven’s dedication to his close friend and patron Count Ferdinand Ernst Gabriel con Waldstein, member of Bohemian noble Waldstein family.It is also known as L’Aurora (The Dawn) in Italian, for the sonority of the opening chords of the third movement, thought to conjure an image of daybreak.

In 2014 Daniel Lebhardt won 1st Prize at the Young Concert Artists International auditions in Paris and New York. A year later he was invited to record music by Bartók for Decca and in 2016 won the “Geoffrey Tozer Most Promising Pianist” prize at the Sydney International Competition. In 2018 he has been signed for commercial management by Askonas Holt. March 2020 saw Daniel make his debut with The Hallé, performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 5 – a work he has also performed at the Barbican, London and Symphony Hall, Birmingham. The last two concert seasons have also witnessed recital debuts in Dublin and Kiev, and at the Lucerne International, Tallinn International and Miami International Piano festivals. He has received reinvitations to Wigmore Hall, London, the Auditorium du Louvre, Paris and Merkin Concert Hall in New York (‘He brought narrative sweep and youthful abandon to [Liszt’s B minor Sonata], along with power, poetry and formidable technique’ – The New York Times). Other recent highlights include a return to Paris for a recital at L’Église Saint-Germain-des-Près, as part of the festival ‘Un week-end à l’Est’; an appearance as soloist in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 21 at the Royal Festival Hall, London; and tours in China, South America and the USA. ?Born in Hungary, Daniel studied at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest with István Gulyás and Gyöngyi Keveházi, then with Pascal Nemirovski at the Royal Academy of Music and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. He was a prizewinner at the Young Classical Artists Trust auditions in 2015 and currently lives in Birmingham.

Tuesday 16 May 3.00 pm 

Schnabel famously said that Mozart was too easy for children but too difficult for adults.It was this that passed through my thoughts as I listened to this extraordinary young artist where everything seemed so natural and simple.Playing of clarity,radiance and intelligence bringing the scores to life with an inner fire and conviction that I have not experienced since Serkin.A technical mastery and control that is so complete that it never draws attention to itself .Placed at the service of the composer with integrity and honesty.Last year we were astonished by Daniel’s virtuoso performance of Schumann’s notoriously difficult Toccata op 7.It was placed in between the seemingly innocent Beethoven Sonata op 54 which is in practice one of the most notoriously difficult and it’s twin the ‘Appassionata’ op 57.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/06/23/daniel-lebhardt-the-prince-of-piano-descends-on-st-marys/

Today we were treated to three classical Masterworks by Bach,Mozart and Beethoven where the authority,simplicity and even the sound reminded me of Yefim Bronfman one of the great musicians of our time.It is refreshing too to see a young pianist leaving the much overplayed Russian school and concentrating more on the classical repertoire where it is more quality than quantity that counts.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2021/07/20/daniel-lebhardt-the-simple-grandeur-of-j-s-bach-at-st-marys/

The Hungarian school of playing inspired by Liszt has in fact produced some of the finest musicians before the public as Daniel made us aware of too today.Perfecting his studies with Pascal Nemirovski in London and Birmingham I remember in a Beethoven Sonata Marathon on this very piano there were many pianists taking part from the remarkable class of Nemirovski.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/01/15/happy-birthday-pascal-nemirovski-the-persuasive-charm-and-instruction-of-a-true-artist/.

A school where the start of an interpretation is with scrupulous attention to the composers wishes as written in the score.Of course style and personality are what make the stale notes on a page come to life.Every pianist sees the notes through his own kaleidoscope formed by a very personal vision of good taste and reasoning from the world that surrounds him.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2021/12/29/daniel-lebhardt-emperor-for-the-night/

Although each of the Partitas was published separately under the name Clavier – Ubung (Keyboard Practice), they were subsequently collected into a single volume in 1731 with the same name, which Bach himself chose to label his Opus 1.Unlike the earlier sets of suites, Bach originally intended to publish seven Partitas, advertising in the spring of 1730 upon the publication of the fifth Partita that the promised collected volume would contain two more such pieces. The plan was then revised to include a total of eight works: six Partitas in Part I (1731) and two larger works in Part II (1735), the Italian Concerto BWV 971, and the Overture in the French style BWV 831 which is an eleven-movement partita, the largest such keyboard work Bach ever composed, and may in fact be the elusive “seventh partita” mentioned in 1730. The Overture in the French style was originally written in C minor, but was transposed a half step down for publication to complete Bach’s ingenious tonal scheme.

The Piano Sonata No. 12 in F major K.332 was published in 1784 along with the Sonata n.10 in C major K.330 and n.11 K. 331.Mozart wrote these sonatas either while visiting Munich in 1781, or during his first two years in Vienna.Some believe, however that Mozart wrote this and the other sonatas during a summer 1783 visit to Salzburg made for the purpose of introducing his wife, Constanze to his father, Leopold .All three sonatas were published in Vienna in 1784 as Mozart’s Op. 6

Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major Op. 53, known as the Waldstein, is one of the three most notable sonatas of Beethoven’s middle period ,the other two being the Appassionata op 57 ,and Les Adieux op 81a.Completed in summer 1804 and surpassing Beethoven’s previous piano sonatas in its scope, the Waldstein is a key early work of Beethoven’s “Heroic” decade (1803–1812).The sonata’s name derives from Beethoven’s dedication to his close friend and patron Count Ferdinand Ernst Gabriel con Waldstein, member of Bohemian noble Waldstein family.It is also known as L’Aurora (The Dawn) in Italian, for the sonority of the opening chords of the third movement, thought to conjure an image of daybreak.

In 2014 Daniel Lebhardt won 1st Prize at the Young Concert Artists International auditions in Paris and New York. A year later he was invited to record music by Bartók for Decca and in 2016 won the “Geoffrey Tozer Most Promising Pianist” prize at the Sydney International Competition. In 2018 he has been signed for commercial management by Askonas Holt. March 2020 saw Daniel make his debut with The Hallé, performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 5 – a work he has also performed at the Barbican, London and Symphony Hall, Birmingham. The last two concert seasons have also witnessed recital debuts in Dublin and Kiev, and at the Lucerne International, Tallinn International and Miami International Piano festivals. He has received reinvitations to Wigmore Hall, London, the Auditorium du Louvre, Paris and Merkin Concert Hall in New York (‘He brought narrative sweep and youthful abandon to [Liszt’s B minor Sonata], along with power, poetry and formidable technique’ – The New York Times). Other recent highlights include a return to Paris for a recital at L’Église Saint-Germain-des-Près, as part of the festival ‘Un week-end à l’Est’; an appearance as soloist in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 21 at the Royal Festival Hall, London; and tours in China, South America and the USA. ?Born in Hungary, Daniel studied at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest with István Gulyás and Gyöngyi Keveházi, then with Pascal Nemirovski at the Royal Academy of Music and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. He was a prizewinner at the Young Classical Artists Trust auditions in 2015 and currently lives in Birmingham.

Sergey Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Moments musicaux Op. 16 (1896) Moment musical in B flat minor Moment musical in E flat minor Moment musical in B minor Moment musical in E minor Moment musical in D flat Moment musical in C.
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor Op. 36 (1913)
I. Allegro agitato • II. Non allegro – Lento • III. Allegro molto
Interval
13 Preludes Op. 32 (1910)
Prelude in C • Prelude in B flat minor • Prelude in E • Prelude in E minor • Prelude in G • Prelude in F minor • Prelude in F • Prelude in A minor • Prelude in A • Prelude in B minor • Prelude in B • Prelude in G sharp minor •

Quite a phenomenal concert by Nikolai Lugansky in his series of complete Rachmaninov.Surely one of the most wondrous displays of piano playing this hall has ever seen. With his film star good looks music just poured out of him in a seemingly effortless mastery of control with a kaleidoscopic sense of colour that was at times truly breathtaking.A searing passion that never lost control of balance and sense of line the like of which I can only remember from Gilels’s performance of Liszt’s Spanish Rhapsody in the Festival Hall fifty years ago.
I have often admired Lugansky for his superb musicianship allied to a strong personality.An artist who had something very individual to say without any distortions or betrayal of what the composer had placed on the printed page.
Tonight with his recreation of the Moments Musicaux op 16 and even more so with the original 1913 version of the Second Sonata I was aware of the gigantic stature of this great artist.The drive and seemingly endless resources of sumptuous sound were like being caught in a tornado that carried us all on a great wave of searing intensity …….and we were only at the interval …….the idea of the Preludes op 32 left me breathless with anticipation ……..Thirteen miniature tone poems each one with a story to tell.From the terrifying Red Riding Hood F minor with playing that sent a shiver down my spine.It followed on from the fluidity and sublime beauty of the Prelude in G major.How could one not be caught up in the growing sonorities of the B minor.’The return’ with a build up of burning intensity that was at the limit of bearable tension before the luminosity of the return of the opening and the sudden wave of an Adieux that dies away with an all so insistent murmur.A quite phenomenal control of sound that led equally miraculously into the famous G sharp minor prelude with its continuous wave of sounds and deep heart rending bass statements in reply to the luminosity and simplicity of the treble.A climax that disappeared into the distance with ringing bells and a final note that was placed with the perfection of a truly supreme stylist.
The grandeur and aristocratic control of the final D flat Prelude I doubt could have been more poignantly played even by Rachmaninov himself,who in Lugansky’s own words was the greatest piano virtuoso of the 2Oth century.
There is no doubt in my mind,after tonight’s performance,who holds that honour in the 21st century.
Great applause from a packed house but missing the standing ovation that was his due.
I think the ‘Wiggies’ accept Rachmaninov with reserve whereas Bach,Beethoven and Mozart are the stable diet of their favourites !!
I like to think that after tonight Rachmaniniv could stand side by side with the greatest of the musical geniuses of any age.
And what greater gift could there be for Rachmaninov’s 150th birthday?
There were two encores from a Lugansky with not a ‘hair out of place’ after a recital that could surely boast a record number of notes played in 90 minutes.
A beautiful nocturne type piece obviously early Rachmaninov and finally bursting into flames with his sumptuous ‘spinning song’ ,the C minor prelude op 23 .
I was brought up on Richter’s performance that I thought unmatchable …until tonight !

I am not sure if there was anyone in the audience who really knew what miracle we had witnessed tonight apart from yours truly.I had also been present at that other miraculous performance of a near blind Rubinstein in 1976 as he said goodbye to the concert stage.In his own words he had started his career in the Wigmore/Bechstein Hall and was happy to end it on the same stage that he hoped would be saved from imminent demolition. You see miracles do happen here!

By the fall of 1896, 23-year old Rachmaninoff’s financial status was precarious, not helped by his being robbed of money on an earlier train trip.Pressed for time, both financially and by those expecting a symphony, he “rushed into production.”On December 7, he wrote to Aleksandr Zatayevich,a Russian composer friend”I hurry in order to get money I need by a certain date … This perpetual financial pressure is, on the one hand, quite beneficial … by the 20th of this month I have to write six piano pieces.”Rachmaninoff completed all six during October and December 1896, and dedicated all to Zatayevich.Each Moment musical reproduces a musical form characteristic of a previous musical era. The forms that appear in Rachmaninoff’s incarnation are the nocturne,song without words, barcarolle,virtuoso etude and theme and variations.Andantino opens the set with a long, reflective melody that develops into a rapid climax.The second piece, Allegretto, is the first of the few in the set that reveal his mastery of piano technique.Andante cantabile is a contrast to its two surrounding pieces, explicitly named “funeral march “and “lament”Presto draws inspiration from several sources, including the Chopin preludes ,to synthesize an explosion of melodic intensity.The fifth, Adagio sostenuto is a respite in barcarolle form, before the finale Maestoso, which closes the set in a thick three-part texture.

Three years after his third piano concerto was finished, Rachmaninoff moved with his family to a house in Rome that Tchaikowsky had used.It was during this time in Rome that Rachmaninoff started working on his second piano sonata.However, because both of his daughters contracted typhoid fever, he was unable to finish the composition in Rome. Instead, Rachmaninoff moved his family on to Berlin in order to consult with doctors.When the girls were well enough, Rachmaninoff traveled with his family back to his Ivanovka country estate, where he finished the second piano sonata.Its premiere took place in Kursk on 18 October 1913 (5 October in the Julian calendar).When Rachmaninoff performed the piece at its premiere in Moscow, it was well received.However, Rachmaninoff himself was not satisfied with the work and felt that too much in the piece was superfluous.Thus, in 1931, he commenced work on a revision. Major cuts were made to the middle sections of the second and third movements and all three sections of the first movement, and some technically difficult passages were simplified.In 1940, with the composer’s consent, Vladimir Horowitz created his own edition which combined elements of both the original and revised versions.His edition used more original material than revised throughout all three movements.

These are the programme notes of Nikolai Lugansky – not only a great pianist : Moments musicaux is the third of Rachmaninov’s relatively small collection of piano pieces. The style belongs to his earlier creative period, when Tchaikovsky’s influence could still be felt.
I think the melodic lines of these ‘musical moments’, at least those in the minor keys, belong to a genre we might call ‘urban romance’. We hear the same language in many of Tchaikovsky’s works: music sung from the heart, from the depths of the soul, among the urban intelligentsia, the minor nobility.
The first Moment is the longest, a three-part piece with a sad, soulful motif. The mood is elegiac, with a small middle section in the major and a vanishing reprise. The second is exquisite, filled with tremulous intonations. The third is an elegy with a funereal rhythm. The fourth is the most popular; the continual turbulent movement of the sixteenths is borrowed from his early fugue in D minor, composed in 1891. There’s a resemblance to Chopin’s ‘Revolutionary’ Etude, but with a heightened dynamic and emotional temperature.
The fifth is a brief moment of happiness. One can hear distant bells, summer heat… It is a rare piece in the composer’s œuvre without drama or conflict, fully contemplative. Time stands still. The sixth is grandiose Rachmaninov, giving a full understanding of this titan of the piano. He uses expressive methods never deployed on such a scale before. Feelings of bubbling joy and triumph here evidence strength and youth, not overshadowed by defeat or loss.
The first version of the Second Sonata was created just before the First World War. It is this great artist’s premonition of the coming human tragedy and, particularly, the tragedy of his motherland.
In the first movement, the monothematicism is very developed; even the contrasting main and secondary themes are based on the same motifs. This chromatic descent becomes the main theme of the sonata – both in the first movement and in the finale.
The original version was written by Rachmaninov The Composer for Rachmaninov The Pianist, without thinking of other performers. The style is large scale, appropriate for the greatest piano virtuoso of the 20th Century. Though Rachmaninov played it often, other pianists were daunted by its technical difficulties. Thus, in 1931, the revised version was made. This edition was very popular in the USSR and was performed more often than the original.
Like most Soviet pianists, I first heard the sonata in its revised form. The original wasn’t performed in the Soviet Union until the 1960s when it was played by Van Cliburn, winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition. I only heard it after I had already played the revised version, but it impressed me a lot. I immediately wanted to play those fragments of beautiful music not included in the second version. There are episodes in the first movement that connect the secondary and final themes which are not only beautiful but carry an important formative load. The second movement consists of free variations on a melody in 12/8, with an improvisatory middle section. In the revised version, Rachmaninov created almost a wholly new middle section where the main motif of the first movement sounds like an idée fixe.
Both central episodes of this slow movement are wonderful in their own way. However, I prefer the original one – especially the movement’s end.
The finale is a kind of perpetuum mobile with a lyrical, sensual second theme which becomes the apotheosis of the sonata in the recapitulation. I believe these reductions of the revision to be the result of age, when Rachmaninov liked verbosity less and less.
The 13 Preludes form Rachmaninov’s most intense and complex cycle of piano miniatures. While preserving his own large-scale textures, there are changes of musical language rooted in the study of Russian chants. This connection with ancient Russian culture becomes very important in Preludes Nos. 4, 10 and 11, and can also be felt in Nos. 8, 9 and 13.
The cycle contains several peaks: the first four preludes can be played in a single block.

No. 1 is a rapid, joyful introduction. No. 2 is filled with a feeling of twilight, anxiety and fear. No. 3 echoes the Etude-tableau in E flat Op. 33 No. 6,
with its imagery of a bustling fair. No. 4 is the first culmination; for me, it conjures the
Battle of Kerzhenets in Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh, a dreadful battle in which the entire army is killed. The exposition and reprise are particularly diatonic (especially for a late- Romantic like Rachmaninov) and echo the language of the All-Night Vigil Op. 37.
The next five are on a less heavy scale, and perhaps do not carry such a philosophical load:
The famous No. 5 is an image of a gorgeous sunlit
summer landscape.
No. 6 is a brief description of a terrible, destructive
storm.
No. 7 represents a kind of mystery or paradox.
No. 8 is an endless, anxious movement woven with Dies
irae motifs.
No. 9 is a picture of spring, full of vague, joyful
excitement. Here, nature is not only revived but is also
filled with sensuality.
No. 10 is the longest, a philosophical journey to another
world. The composer allegedly gave it the mysterious title ‘Return’, but I believe the content is more mystical, and if it is a return then it is Orpheus’s, without Eurydice.
The last three leave room for light and joy:
No. 11 is serene; perhaps a naïve idea of a medieval
Russian peasant family, with dancing, church motifs
and hints of bell-ringing.
One of the most popular is No. 12, representing an
image of a troika rushing off with its barely audible bells
jingling.
No. 13 is the conclusion of the cycle (and also the last of
Rachmaninov’s 24 preludes). It is a grandiose piece recalling Easter Night, the most important Orthodox holiday. After a solemn introduction, an image of silence and night appears, but the good news of the resurrection starts to sound ever louder, becoming triumphant jubilation, celebrating victory over defeat . Nikolai Lugansky

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2018/04/13/russia-comes-to-rome/

There was magic in the air at Steinways as Giulia Contaldo filled the air with refined sounds of perfumed succulence as ‘Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air de l’après – midi” where ‘Les fées sont d’exquises danseuses’.
A transcription by the English pianist Leonard Borwick,a student of Clara Schumann,whose London debut was on 8 May 1890, at a Royal Philharmonic Society concert with Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor. His performance of Brahms D minor was greeted by Shaw,the Basset horn critic,as ‘a hash of bits and scraps with plenty of thickening in the pianoforte part,which Mr Leonard Borwick played with the enthusiasm of youth in a style technically admirable’. Giulia had more problem pronouncing his name than playing his sumptuous transcription full of subtle half colours hinted at through a haze of golden harp like arabesques.

Giulia has lived with this music since childhood as both her parents are professional flautists in her home city of Florence.
A magic ‘faune’unjustly neglected in the solo piano repertoire.
This is not the case of Liszt’s dramatic depiction of Wagner’s Liebestod that closed Giulia Contaldo’s short programme for the Keyboard Trust.
Where Debussy had been all perfume and atmosphere ,Wagner was all passion and seduction.
Both played with authoritative musicianship and transcendental technical command.
She did not quite find the thread weaving its way through the knotty twine of ‘Des Abends’ that opens Robert Schumann’s Fantasiestucke.It was obvious later that it was because she was keeping the simplicity until ‘Warum’which was played with the same aristocratic poise and beauty that I remember from Rubinstein.
She too obviously knew this was the heart of these eight contrasting pictures because she chose to play it again as an encore with even more intensity.
A performance of passion and superlative technical control from a pianist who is an intelligent musician who could not only see the intimate detail of Schumann’s tale but could also see the architectural shape of the whole suite.

Estampes took us once again to Debussy’s magical visions,this time with the gardens in Granada and his imagining of the Pagodas in the Orient .The clarity and technical prowess of her playing in ‘Jardins sous la pluie’ had me running for the umbrella that I had almost left on Ischia this weekend where indeed her depiction of non stop down-pouring rain brought back vivid memories still fresh in my mind as I try to dry out my shoes !
Transcendental technical control of fantasy and musical meaning was Debussy’s answer late in life to Chopin’s own studies. ‘Pour Les agréments’ just underlined Giulia’s masterly playing at the service of music that we had been aware of since the first magic flute notes of her ‘faune’.

A short post concert conversation with Elena Vorotoko brought us even closer to this young Florentine pianist.
After obtaining her Masters at Florence Conservatory she went on to obtain her Artist’s Diploma in Imola with Jin Ju and Manchester under Dina Parakhina and Graham Scott.
Now completing her studies in Geneva with Ricardo Castro she flies off tomorrow to teach in Sicily where she is already a distinguished professor at Trapani Conservatory.
All part of the ‘Gradus ad Parnassum’ for young artists whose talent has chosen them ,obliging the gifted few to dedicate their youth to art and beauty.
Refreshing to see and to hear this.

It is thanks to Steinway’s in London and their ebullient concert and artists manager,Wiebke Greinus ,that we could also celebrate with a glass of well earned champagne in the company of a distinguished audience ready to applaud and sustain such audacious behaviour.

The KT were very proud to have the great film director Tony Palmer with us to applaud the courage and artistry of Giulia Contaldo still only in her twenties.The world is her oyster and awaits.

Giordano Buondonno for Roma Tre Orchestra Young Artists Series kept us enthralled with a clarity and luminosity of playing that I have not heard since the Michelangeli sound that was likened to ‘drops of crystal’.
Particularly suited to French music where clarity and atmosphere are united and the cloudy mists that are so often inflicted on this music are cleared,opening a window on a whole new world.
The Chopin Andante Spianato was particularly poignant as jewel like bel canto notes were floated on a sumptuous wave of fluid sounds.
Particularly noticeable was the arch of his hand and the flat fingers drawing the sounds out of each key.
Debussy Images Book one,a great speciality of Michelangeli’s together with Gaspard de la Nuit,where Giordano produced sounds that were not a pale imitation of the great master but highly intelligent interpretations of ravishing beauty.
He even convinced me that Rachmaninov’s highly personal transcription or reinvention of three movements from Bach’s violin suite is a sumptuous feast basking in Rachmaninovian sounds combined with Bach’s absolute genius.Similar to the Busoni transcriptions but with a voice that is unmistakably Rachmaninov.With Giordano’s aristocratic playing ,similar to Weissenberg’s in Rachmaninov,that was a sumptuous romantic feast indeed.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/06/20/giordano-buondonno-crystalline-clarity-and-mastery-at-st-marys/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/05/18/giordano-buondonno-at-the-solti-studio-masterly-performances-of-searing-intensity/

Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante in E flat op 22 was composed between 1830 and 1834. The Grande polonaise brillante in E-flat, set for piano and orchestra, was written first, in 1830-31. In 1834, Chopin wrote an Andante spianato in G, for piano solo, which he added to the start of the piece, and joined the two parts with a fanfare like sequence. The combined work (both orchestrated version and solo piano version) was published in 1836, and was dedicated to Madame d’Este.The Andante spianato (spianato means “even” or “smooth”) for solo piano was composed as an introduction to the polonaise after Chopin received a long-awaited invitation to perform in one of Habeneck’s Conservatoire Concerts in Paris. This was the only time Chopin had ever used the term spianato as a description for any of his works.

Images is a suite of six compositions for solo piano by Debussy.They were published in two books/series, each consisting of three pieces. The first book was composed between 1901 and 1905, and the second book was composed in 1907.With respect to the first series of Images, Debussy wrote to his publisher, Jaques Durand :”Without false pride, I feel that these three pieces hold together well, and that they will find their place in the literature of the piano … to the left of Schumann, or to the right of Chopin… “

“Reflets dans l’eau” is one of the many pieces Debussy wrote about water;in particular, light reflecting off its surface. The piece creates an image of water being not quite still, then becoming rapid, then decreasing in motion again. “Reflets dans l’eau” is also an example of the new tone colours Debussy discovered for the piano in this part of his life, and it is considered to be one of his greatest works for the instrument.

“Hommage à Rameau” is more subdued. It is a sarabande honouring the memory of Jean-Philippe Rameau^.

“Mouvement” is the most abstract designation of the pieces. It is a perpetuum mobile meaning that it is built around a continuous stream of notes.

Gaspard de la nuit (subtitled Trois poèmes pour piano d’après Aloysius Bertrand), was written in 1908. It has three movements each based on a poem or fantaisie from the collection Gaspard de la Nuit – Fantaisies à la manière de Rembrandt et de Callot.and was completed in 1836 by Aloysius Bertrand .The work was premiered in Paris, on January 9, 1909, by Ricardo Vines.The piece is famous for its difficulty, partly because Ravel intended the Scarbo movement to be more difficult than Balakirev’s Islamey.Because of its technical challenges and profound musical structure, Scarbo is considered one of the most difficult solo piano pieces in the standard repertoire.The name Gaspard is derived from its original Persian form, denoting “the man in charge of the royal treasures”: “Gaspard of the Night” or the treasurer of the night thus creates allusions to someone in charge of all that is jewel-like, dark, mysterious, perhaps even morose.Of the work, Ravel himself said: “Gaspard has been a devil in coming, but that is only logical since it was he who is the author of the poems. My ambition is to say with notes what a poet expresses with words.”Aloysius Bertrand author of Gaspard de la Nuit (1842) introduces his collection by attributing them to a mysterious old man met in a park in Dijon who lent him the book. When he goes in search of M. Gaspard to return the volume, he asks, “Tell me where M. Gaspard de la Nuit may be found”.”He is in hell, provided that he isn’t somewhere else”,comes the reply. “Ah! I am beginning to understand! What! Gaspard de la Nuit must be…?” the poet continues. “Ah! Yes… the devil!”his informant responds. ‘Thank you, mon brave!… If Gaspard de la Nuit is in hell, may he roast there. I shall publish his book.”

Nato a La Spezia nel 1995, Giordano Buondonno si diploma al Conservatorio Giacomo Puccini con il massimo dei voti e la lode. Ha studiato con Fabrizio Giovannelli, Vincenzo Audino e Folco Vichi. Nel 2021 ha completato un Master in Music Performance con Distinction presso il Trinity Laban Conservatoire a Londra, seguito da Sergio De Simone e Deniz Gelenbe. Nel 2022 nello stesso istituto completa un Artist Diploma, sempre con il massimo dei voti.
I suoi studi in questi anni sono stati finanziati da numerose borse di studio, tra le quali la Leverhulme Trust Scholarship, Jacqueline Williams Scholarship, Arthur Haynes Scholarship e da Dr. Prince Donatus Von Hohenzollern.
All’età di 19 anni ha vinto il primo premio al concorso Clara Schumann. Ha vinto il primo premio al PianoLink Concerto Competition, suonando il Concerto di Chopin in Mi minore con la PianoLink Philarmonic Orchestra diretta da Massimo Fiocchi Malaspina, nella Palazzina Liberty a Milano.Si è esibito in concerto in importanti sale londinesi come Steinway Hall, Kings Place Concert Hall, Saint James’s Piccadilly,South Hill Park Arts Centre, Polish Heart Club, Old Royal Naval College.
Ha suonato un recital sullo Steinway D “Fabbrini” appartenuto ad A.B Michelangeli, nella residenza londinese di George Solti.
È stato inoltre finalista alla Trinity Laban soloist competition e quarto premio alla Sheepdrove Intercollegiate Piano Competition. Ha rappresentato il Trinity Laban nella finale della Beethoven Intercollegiate Piano Competition.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/11/28/andrzej-wiercinski-at-st-marys-a-masterly-recital-of-refined-sensibility-and-artistry/

Two afternoon recitals by Andrzej Wiercinski took place in the concert room that Susana Walton had built next to her husbands music room.It had been Sir William’s wish to create a space where music could be performed and heard.It was designed by their friend the Architect John O’Connell with special attention to the acoustical properties of all material used.In Sir William’s later years they had discussed the future of La Mortella and agreed that a trust should be formed to preserve La Mortella and to provide help and opportunities for young musicians.Young musicians from some of the major institutions worldwide have since been invited to perform in these wonderfully suggestive surroundings.The hall now boasts two Steinways and the concerts are also recorded for study purposes for the young artists.Not content with having built this 130 seat concert room after her husband’s death even though she had to sell off five holiday houses that surround the principal property to raise the necessary funds.The indomitable Susana has added to this magnificent hall an amphitheatre seating 400 ,where in the summer months Youth Orchestras from around the world can have a platform too.

Susana is buried next to her husband overlooking the garden in the Paradise that they had shared for so many years together and is now a living monument to them both.Andrzej had been invited to perform by the artistic director of the ‘Incontri Musicali’ the distinguished musician Lina Tufano.

Alessandra Vinciguerra,the director of La Mortella and President of the Foundation had made an opening welcoming speech on behalf of the ‘Walton’s’,as were Susana’s wishes.In her own words Susana stated that ‘I was created to take care of William’ and she continued to do that after his death in March 1983 until her own in March 2010 and their legacy will live on for generations.

Superb playing from a real artist offering some master works from the piano repertoire in the two afternoon concerts .Visitors to the gardens had been delighted to hear this young man rehearsing the Chopin Second Piano Concerto and were entranced by his ravishing sound and aristocratic style.An artist is always an artist even in the rehearsal studio and many of the visitors to the gardens had thanked him as he had a well earned rest between rehearsal and concert.It was though in the second recital that Andrzej reached the heights that I knew he would.I had told Lina about this remarkable young man and I was very touched that she trusted my opinion and invited him to Ischia.Lina has been organising concerts for over twenty years at La Mortella and knows that it is always the second recital that really takes ‘wing’.Could it be the shadow of Sir William in the green room with his special Bechstein piano where he composed many of his masterworks that intimidates the artists.Willie would be chuckling at that indeed!Andrzej had felt uncomfortable in his first recital but gave a fine recital,missing that magic that only the truly great artists possess.Playing that is like recreation and creates a rapport between the music and the public where the pianist is just a medium that can point out the beauty and detail in a journey that they are sharing together.Je sens,je joue ,je transmets. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/01/21/jonathan-ferrucci-in-vicenza-je-joueje-sens-je-transmets-a-timeless-search-in-music/

In the second recital Andrzej had decided to wear smart but casual clothes following in the tradition of Igor Levit and Juan Perez Floristan https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/05/07/levit-and-volodin-the-likely-ladsstrike-gold-with-debussy-and-rachmaninov/. and had freed himself from the straight jacket of more formal clothes. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/10/09/juan-perez-floristan-takes-london-by-storm/. ‘Clothes maketh man’ is a very English proverb but on this occasion oh so true!From the very first notes Andrzej created the magic that I knew he was capable of and took us on a sumptuous journey that held us in his spell.An artist who knew he could do what he liked and we would follow every move.It is one of those rare occasions that I would often experience in Rubinstein’s performances.Kantarow and Floristan,of Andrzej’s generation ,are those that can spin a web like the one we were caught up in today.It is the web of great dedicated artists- supreme stylists – of which Andrzej is most certainly one of the few that truly ‘dare’ in public performance.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2021/03/28/andrzej-wiercinski-in-warsaw-sfera-sacrum-easter-festival/

In the summer of 1819, Adolf Martin Schlesinger from the Schlesinger firm of music publishers based in Berlin sent his son Maurice to meet Beethoven to form business relations with the composer.The two met in Modling,where Maurice left a favourable impression on the composer.After some negotiation by letter, the elder Schlesinger offered to purchase three piano sonatas for 90 ducats in April 1820, though Beethoven had originally asked for 120 ducats. In May 1820, Beethoven agreed, and he undertook to deliver the sonatas within three months. These three sonatas are the ones now known as Op. 109,110, and 111 the last of Beethoven’s piano sonatas.

The composer was prevented from completing the promised sonatas on schedule by several factors, including his work on the Missa solemnis (Op. 123),rheumatic attacks in the winter of 1820, and a bout of jaundice in the summer of 1821.Op. 110 “did not begin to take shape” until the latter half of 1821.Although Op. 109 was published by Schlesinger in November 1821, correspondence shows that Op. 110 was still not ready by the middle of December 1821. The sonata’s completed autograph score bears the date 25 December 1821, but Beethoven continued to revise the last movement and did not finish until early 1822.The copyist’s score was presumably delivered to Schlesinger around this time, since Beethoven received a payment of 30 ducats for the sonata in January 1822.

Kreisleriana, Op.16, is a composition in eight movements that Schumann claimed to have written in only four days in April 1838 and a revised version appeared in 1850. The work was dedicated to Frederic Chopin but when a copy was sent to him he commented favourably only on the design of the title page.It is a very dramatic work and is viewed by some critics as one of Schumann’s finest compositions.In 1839, soon after publishing it, Schumann called it in a letter “my favourite work,” remarking that “The title conveys nothing to any but Germans. Kreisler is one of E.T.A Hoffmann’s creations, an eccentric, wild, and witty conductor.”In a letter to his wife Clara,Schumann reveals that she has figured largely in the composition of Kreisleriana:”I’m overflowing with music and beautiful melodies now – imagine, since my last letter I’ve finished another whole notebook of new pieces. I intend to call it Kreisleriana. You and one of your ideas play the main role in it, and I want to dedicate it to you – yes, to you and nobody else – and then you will smile so sweetly when you discover yourself in

Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante in E flat op 22 was composed between 1830 and 1834. The Grande polonaise brillante in E-flat, set for piano and orchestra, was written first, in 1830-31. In 1834, Chopin wrote an Andante spianato in G, for piano solo, which he added to the start of the piece, and joined the two parts with a fanfare like sequence. The combined work (both orchestrated version and solo piano version) was published in 1836, and was dedicated to Madame d’Este.The Andante spianato (spianato means “even” or “smooth”) for solo piano was composed as an introduction to the polonaise after Chopin received a long-awaited invitation to perform in one of Habeneck’s Conservatoire Concerts in Paris. This was the only time Chopin had ever used the term spianato as a description for any of his works.

 

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2020/08/16/andrzej-wiercinski-in-poland-from-the-ridiculous-to-the-sublime/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ludwig van Beethoven

Sonata no. 4 in E-flat major, Op. 7

I. Allegro molto e con brio

II. Largo, con gran espressione

III. Allegro

IV. Rondo: Poco allegretto e grazioso

 

Ferenc Liszt

Totentanz: Paraphrase on Dies Irae, S. 525

Recueillement. Vincenzo Bellini in memoriam, S. 204

Hungarian Rhapsody no. 12 in C-sharp minor, S: 244/12

Sonata no. 4 in E flat major, opus 7: Beethoven himself named this pianoforte sonata Grande Sonate because it was published by itself in 1797 – unusual for the time. It remains his second-longest sonata, behind the Hammerklavier Sonata op 106. Beethoven’s pupil (and Liszt’s teacher) Carl Czerny wrote: “The epithet appassionata would fit much better to the Sonata in E flat op. 7, which he wrote in a very impassioned mood”. It may be that the reason behind such passionate music was the composer’s attraction for his dedicatee, the then 16-year-old pupil Anna Luise Barbara Countess von Keglevich, and it is possible be that her father had commissioned Beethoven to write the work for her.

Totentanz (Dance of the Dead): Paraphrase on the ‘Dies irae’, S126 for pianoforte and orchestra is notable for being based on the Gregorian hymn Dies irae as well as for its many stylistic innovations. The piece was completed and published in 1849, and later revised twice (1853-9 and early 1880s. All these versions were also prepared for two pianos). In the late 1860s, Liszt published a version for pianoforte solo, S525. Some of the titles of Liszt’s pieces, such as Totentanz, Funérailles, La lugubre gondola and Pensée des morts show the composer’s obsession with mortality, as well as his profound Christian faith, these things being apparent from Liszt as a teenager right up until his last days – more than 50 years later.

In the last movement of the Symphonie fantastique by Berlioz the medieval (Gregorian) Dies Irae is quoted in a shockingly modernistic manner. In 1830 Liszt attended the first performance of the symphony and was struck by its powerful originality. Liszt’s Totentanz presents a series of variations on the Dies irae – a theme that his will have known since 1830 at the latest from Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique. As an early biographer noted, “Every variation discloses some new character―the earnest man, the flighty youth, the scornful doubter, the prayerful monk, the daring soldier, the tender maiden, the playful child.” A second theme, beginning at variation 6 – taken from the Prose des morts in the Catholic breviary – is itself varied before the first theme returns at the end of the work.

Recueillement (Recollection), S204 (1877) was a gift to the Italian composer Lauro Rossi. It weaves arpeggios around a rising scale before settling into very simple, chordal writing. Written in memoriam Vincenzo Bellini (of whom Liszt had made famous paraphrases of his opera Norma, La sonnambula and I puritani, as well as the variations Hexaméron, on another theme from I puritani). Simplicity and sensitivity before a final salute from the older Liszt, dispelling any image of earlier keyboard wizardry, but revealing nonetheless the author of some of the most naturally grateful and percipient pianoforte music of all time.

The twelfth of the nineteen Rapsodies hongroises, S244/12 (c1847) is dedicated to Josef Joachim (who was Liszt’s principal violinst in the Wemar court orchestra, and with whom he later made a version of the piece for violin and pianoforte) is one of the most often played in recital and was a work that Anton Rubinstein and other great virtuosi would often include in their programmes. Liszt draws on five different folk themes to produce one of his most ingenious Hungarian Rhapsodies. It offers a unique mix of melancholy, glittering keyboard acrobatics and stormy, rousing dance. It became so popular that the original version was later arranged for orchestra, and for pianoforte four hands. Liszt collected Hungarian folk-songs and Zigeunermusik over many years – without particularly distinguishing between folk-song and gypsy band ‘standards’, and he was strongly influenced by this music that he had heard from his earliest days, with its unique gypsy scale, rhythmic spontaneity and direct, seductive expression. He went on major song collecting expeditions in 1840 and 1846, and he knew many composers of gypsy tunes, who often transpired to be members of the Hungarian upper middle class. The large scale structure of each was influenced by the verbunkos, a Hungarian dance form in several parts, each with a different tempo. Within this structure, Liszt preserved the two main structural elements of typical Gypsy improvisation―the lassan (“slow”) and the friska (“fast”).

Giovedì 11 maggio ore 20 Accademia di Danimarca.
La Musica è una cosa meravigliosa: César Franck, parte seconda
Sonata in la maggiore (versione per violoncello e pianoforte); Quintetto in fa minore per pianoforte e archi
Ruben Micieli, pianoforte vincitore Young Artists Piano Solo Series 2020 – 2021
Roma Tre Orchestra Ensemble

In questo omaggio a César Franck le eccellenze della nostra orchestra si uniscono ad una delle eccellenze della nostra Young Artist Piano Solo Series: Ruben Micieli è stato il vincitore dell’edizione 2021-2022 della nostra rassegna per giovani pianisti e con lui sono coinvolti per il Quintetto in fa minore alcuni dei migliori giovani musicisti che fanno regolarmente parte delle produzioni sinfoniche.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/04/20/ruben-micieli-triumphs-in-london-for-the-keyboard-trust-at-steinway-hall/

Roma Tre Orchestra vuole essere un’unica grande famiglia che supporta i giovani musicisti di tutta Italia nello sviluppo di una carriera musicale, permettendo loro di percorrere tutte le possibili vie professionali messe a disposizione da ciascuno strumento, dal repertorio sinfonico, a quello solistico e alla musica da camera.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/02/03/mozart-gala-for-roma-3-orchestra-the-vieni-vedivinciof-valerio-vicari/

Marvels at Roma 3 guests of the Danish Academy in one of the most beautiful parts of Rome where amongst others are the British,Romanian ,Egyptian and this splendid Danish Academy.It was a week dedicated to César Franck with these two chamber works and one of his greatest works for piano:the Prelude Choral and Fugue played by Alessio Santolini the 20 year old prize student of Roberto Prosseda.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/05/08/alessio-santolini-at-roma-3-the-fantasy-and-invention-of-a-composer-pianist/

Roberto Prosseda together with Maurizio Baglini are two important musicians that work together with Valerio Vicari and Prof.Pujia to help aspiring young musicians to reach their goal. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/11/10/roberto-prosseda-a-phoenix-hovers-over-roma-3/

And what a goal it is indeed with the orchestra created twenty years ago and beginning to make a mark all over Italy where it is regularly invited.Of course an orchestra does not create itself but is created by it’s talented players who unselfishly listen to each other and weld together for the glory of the music that they are creating together.It was Pappano who almost twenty years ago was invited to direct the S.Cecilia Orchestra which he has turned into one of the great orchestras of the world.It was done by creating opportunities for the orchestral musicians to play chamber music together and to learn how to really listen to each other rather than just following the man at their helm with the stick!The responsibility lies with each and every musician in an orchestra and it is the joining together of each individual player to create a whole that is the real secret behind every important ensemble.It was refreshing today to hear some of the members of the orchestra playing chamber music together with a star pianist who had also played concertos with them.Alessandro Guaitolini,the right hand man of Valerio Vicari,today gave a remarkable performance of the Franck Sonata.I have often thought that it’s passion and romantic sounds are better suited to the cello than the violin and was glad to discover that it may have been the original inspiration for the composer.Alessandro and Ruben gave a remarkable performance each one listening to the other as their passions raged and seduced.Never overpowering the other but sustaining the overall architectural line of this great work.The deep brooding sounds of Alessandro ‘s cello were answered by the ravishing beauty of Rubén’s playing.There was great virtuosity and excitement in the Allegro second movement especially from the piano with it’s notorious difficulty and unrelenting drive.The weight that Alessandro brought to the Recitativi brought to mind the Tortelier’s who had asked me if I knew what they meant by weight!The beautiful overlapping of the last movement was of pastoral beauty as it built up to the final passionate outpouring from them both united as they brought the sonata to fever pitch of excitement.

Daniele Sabatini’s beautiful romantic violin playing with such eloquent discreet slides was just one of the wonders in a superb performance of the piano Quintet.Alessandro uniting with Carlotta Libonati to reply to the passionate beauty of both Daniele and Enrico Massimiliano Cuculo.But they were all united around Ruben who gave a musicianly performance integrating and creating a sumptuous whole with his colleagues.The actual technical difficulties disappeared in a picture of passionate drive and a real ‘explosion’ of sumptuous music making .

The Violin Sonata in A was written in 1886, when César Franck was 63, as a wedding present for the 28-year-old violinist Eugene Ysaye .Twenty-eight years earlier, in 1858, Franck had promised a violin sonata for Cosima von Bulow .This never appeared; it has been speculated that whatever work Franck had done on that piece was put aside, and eventually ended up in the sonata he wrote for Ysaÿe in 1886.Franck was not present when Ysaÿe married, but on the morning of the wedding, on 26 September 1886 in Arlon,their mutual friend Charles Bordes presented the work as Franck’s gift to Ysaÿe and his bride Louise Bourdeau de Courtrai. After a hurried rehearsal, Ysaÿe and Bordes’ sister-in-law, the pianist Marie-Léontine Bordes-Pène.played the Sonata to the other wedding guests.The work is cyclic in nature, all the movements sharing common thematic threads. Themes from one movement reappear in subsequent movements, but usually transformed. Franck had adapted this technique from Liszt – his friend, and Cosima von Bülow’s father.Vincent d’Indy described the Sonata as “the first and purest model of the cyclical use of themes in sonata form”, and referred to it as “this true musical monument”.

The setting for cello and piano was the only alternative version sanctioned by Franck.This was created by the renowned cellist Jules Delsart.After thorough historical study based on reliable documents, Delsart’s transcription for cello (the piano part remains the same as in the violin sonata) was published by G.Henle Verlag as an Urtext.Based on oral history (Pablo Casals)and written document (letter written by Antoine Ysaye, Eugène Ysaÿe’s son),it has often been speculated that the work was first conceived as a sonata for cello and piano, and only later reset for violin and piano when the commission from Eugène Ysaÿe arrived.

The Sonata was given its first public concert performance on 16 December of that year,at the Museum of Modern Painting) in Brussels.Ysaÿe and Bordes-Pène were again the performers.The Sonata was the final item in a long program which started at 3pm. When the time arrived for the Sonata, dusk had fallen and the gallery was bathed in gloom, but the museum authorities permitted no artificial light whatsoever. Initially, it seemed the Sonata would have to be abandoned, but Ysaÿe and Bordes-Pène decided to continue regardless. They had to play the last three movements from memory in virtual darkness. When the violinist Armand Parent remarked that Ysaÿe had played the first movement faster than the composer intended, Franck replied that Ysaÿe had made the right decision, saying “from now on there will be no other way to play it”. Ysaÿe kept the Violin Sonata in his repertoire for the next 40 years of his life, with a variety of great pianists, and his championing of the Sonata contributed to the public recognition of Franck as a major composer.This recognition was quite belated; Franck died within four years of the Sonata’s public première, and did not have his first unqualified public success until the last year of his life (on 19 April 1890, at the Salle Pleyel , where his String Quartet in D was premiered).

Piano Quintet in F minor was composed in 1879 and has been described as one of Franck’s chief achievements alongside his other late works such as Symphony in D minor ,the Symphonic Variations,the String Quartet and the Violin Sonata ^.The work was premiered by the Marsick Quartet with Camille Saint-Saens playing the piano part, which Franck had written out for him with an appended note: “To my good friend Camille Saint-Saëns”. A minor scandal ensued when at the piece’s completion, Saint-Saëns walked off stage leaving the score open at the piano, a gesture which was interpreted as mark of disdain.The work has been described as having a “torrid emotional power”, and Lalo that it as an “explosion”.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2021/11/27/peter-the-great-peter-frankl-with-the-kelemen-quartet-in-budapest/

It was Peter Frankl one of the great chamber music players of our time who confided that the Franck Quintet was one of the most challenging of all the chamber repertoire.He was alarmed that the late Menahem Pressler had chosen to learn it and play it in Berlin at the age of 90.It turned out to be Peter’s last public performance and one of his greatest too in this historic performance only two years ago.

La musica per un mondo nuovo

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Alessio Santolini, al suo debutto nelle stagioni di Roma Tre Orchestra

In collaborazione con il Master Rec&Play del Conservatorio di Rovigo
Martedì 9 maggio 2023 ore 19 Convitto Vittorio Locchi
Alessio Santolini – Young Artists Piano Solo Series 2022 – 2023
F. Chopin: Notturno (n. 8 op. 27 n. 2 ) op posth in do diesis minore in omaggio a Prof Piero Rattalino
F. Chopin: Ballata n.1 op. 23
C. Franck: Preludio, Corale e Fuga
E. Casale: Piove vita
G. Taglietti: Sette piccole storie
A. Santolini: White flavours

Alessio Santolini è stato selezionato dalla Direzione Artistica di Roma Tre Orchestra nel luglio del 2022, tra i partecipanti al Master Rec&Play del Conservatorio di Rovigo coordinato dal Maestro Roberto Prosseda, amico da tanti anni di Roma Tre Orchestra.

Ecco un un interessante video dove Roberto Prosseda ci illustra il tipo di lavoro fatto con Alessio Santolini, anche in vista del concerto di martedì: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr8AzPqLwAx/

Fascinating to be able to see the remarkable Roberto Prosseda at work sharing his extraordinary multi faceted musicianship with his twenty year old student .I remember when Roberto was barely the same age and studying in the Cafaro household of the much loved Sergio Cafaro and Mimmi Martinelli.Roberto would often walk down the hill to the Ghione theatre to ask if he could try out new programmes for the obligatory competitions and auditions that are part of the arduous training to enter the music profession.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2021/01/13/roberto-prosseda-pays-tribute-to-the-genius-of-chopin-and-the-inspirational-figure-of-fou-tsong/

Fou Ts’ong would come once a year to play and give masterclasses that were a true inspiration to generations.He was always pleased when I told him that Roberto would play.Ts’ong admired the young Roberto for the way he could immediately do whatever he suggested they could try.Roberto went on to study with Fou Ts’ong at the International Piano Academy in Como that William Naboré had created on the Lake where Artur Schnabel had made his home.Karl Ulrich Schnabel,the son,was still alive and together with Leon Fleischer was one of the first of the important teachers at ‘Bill’s’ newly founded Academy.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/09/26/william-grant-nabore-thoughts-and-afterthoughts-of-a-great-teacher/

It was born ten years after I had realised my dream at the Ghione theatre in Rome.

Bill’s wish was to give the most talented young pianists the possibility to work in harmony and peace and spend time working alongside the great master of our time.Naturally Bill asked me if I could persuade Ts’ong to join this new adventure – he stayed twenty years and was joined by Rosalyn Tureck,Alicia de Larrocha,Peter Frankl,Murray Perahia,Alfred Brendel,Moura Lympany etc etc ……..Once the word had spread there was a queue at the door with all the greatest musicians and the most talented of young hopefuls who wanted to be part of this Academy of inspiration and ideas.By the nature of the Academy numbers were limited to the few super talented pianists.Roberto was one of these and it is where he met his wife another supertalented pianist Alessandra Ammara.Together they now have a music academy of their own ‘Music Felix’ in Prato and a career of such musical activity it would take a page or two just to make a list!Poliedric might be the term!

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2021/01/22/duo-prosedda-amara-french-women-composers-for-four-hands-from-palazetto-bruce-zane-in-venice/

It was the Intermezzo op 117 n.1 by Brahms offered as an encore that showed of Alessio’s sensitivity to sound and the beauty of a cantabile that had a fluidity created by his stroking of the notes and use of pedal.It was in this little work that his fantasy was contained within the framework that Brahms had so clearly etched.He chose a very slow tempo for the middle section which made for an unusually poignant contrast to the simplicity of one of Brahms’s most tender thoughts.It was the same fantasy and kaleidocopic sense of colour that brought the three contemporary works in the second half of his programme vividly to life.’Piove Vita’ by Casale and ‘Sette piccole storie’ by Taglietti showed a sensitivity to sound as their whispered secrets were shared by a convinced interpreter.His own work ‘White flavours’ was a triumphant virtuoso piece that brought this very interesting recital to a refreshing conclusion.

The Chopin Nocturne in C sharp minor had some ravishing moments but the dramatic contrasts were of a composer digging too deeply into a work that is already formed by others and just needs to be played simply.It was the same with the First Ballade that was played with some ravishing moments but with contrasts that did not keep in mind the architectural shape of one of Chopin’s greatest works.The Franck Prelude Choral and Fugue suited more Alessio’s sense of improvisation and voyage of instant discoveries.The Choral was played with beautiful sounds built up from the bass that gave great resonance to the melodic line.There was a strange distortion to the melodic line that had me checking the score to see what I might have missed but it was only Alessio’s fantasy at work.The mighty fugue was played with a driving rhythmic energy and the appearance of the opening theme on a wave of sounds was a moment of magic before the tumultuous build up to Franck’s great affirmation of faith.

Alessio (nato a Recanati nel 2002, ma residente da anni a Senigallia) inizia a studiare pianoforte a 5 anni. A otto risulta tra i primi idonei ammessi al Conservatorio di Musica G. Rossini di Pesaro dove nel 2020 consegue il diploma di pianoforte (vecchio ordinamento) con il massimo dei voti con la prof. Maria Picciafuoco. Ha studiato con i maestri Giovanni Valentini e Annamaria Raffa. Ha partecipato a Masterclass (interne ed esterne con i maestri Andrea Lucchesini, Maria Cristina Carini, Alexander Romanovsky, Francesco Libetta, Roberto Prosseda) ed ai Concerti Finali, organizzati dal Conservatorio e riservati ai migliori allievi dell’istituto.In ambito pianistico ha ottenuto il 1° premio in concorsi nazionali e internazionali, e si è esibito in occasione di manifestazioni pubbliche e private. Ha partecipato al progetto ”Zoom Beethoven”, la rassegna di concerti organizzata dall’Associazione Appassionata e Marche Concerti. In ambito compositivo, nel 2019 vince il 2° premio del Concorso Nazionale di Composizione “Poesia in Musica: Verso l’assoluto di Mauro Crocetta” con la composizione per violoncello e pianoforte titolata Spark and roses eseguita in prima esecuzione assoluta ad Ascoli Piceno il 28 settembre 2019, e nel 2020 partecipa al progetto ”Oltre l’ascolto – esperienze di diversa abilità nella dimensione della Musica” – Accademia d’arte lirica di Osimo, Lega del Filo d’Oro, Museo Tattile Statale Omero – realizzando una composizione per pianoforte e voce musicando la poesia All’alba eseguita in prima esecuzione assoluta il 12 dicembre 2020 al Teatro La Nuova Fenice di Osimo.Parallelamente all’ultimo anno di liceo, nell’anno 2020-2021 ha frequentato il corso di perfezionamento pianistico presso la scuola “Musica Felix” a Prato con il maestro Roberto Prosseda, il 1° anno del Triennio di composizione e il 1° anno di tirocinio di pianoforte previsto dal vecchio ordinamento presso il Conservatorio Rossini. Attualmente studia perfezionamento pianistico con il maestro Roberto Prosseda ed è iscritto al 2° anno del Triennio di composizione presso il Conservatorio Rossini sotto la guida del maestro Lamberto Lugli.