ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary

Peter Donohoe with a full house at Bechstein Hall and a fascinating programme based on Chopin’s C minor prelude op 28 . A second half with two sets of variations on that very prelude that Peter had played together with the other 23 in the first half.

 

SCHUMANN: Abegg Variations, Op. 1 

CHOPIN: 24 Preludes, Op. 28 

Intermission 

BUSONI: Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22 

RACHMANINOV: Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22

Variations by Busoni and Rachmaninov both coincidentally their op 22 .

The concert had begun with Schumann’s op 1 Abegg Variations played with a jeux perlé of beguiling charm and rubato that made this Bechstein glow with an intimate warmth.The starlit ceiling seemed to shine ever more like will o’the wisps with the fleeting charm that the youthful Schumann could exert on his lady admirers. Peter too played with a fluidity and subtle kaleidoscope of sounds that belong, all too often, to a past age.

The Chopin Preludes ,a new work to Peter’s repertoire, and if they did not yet have the same familiarity as the Schumann each one was sculptured in marble full of individual character and deeply contemplated emotions.The deep brooding of the second with the disarming simplicity of the shortest, the seventh, with its fleeting gasps of seeming innocence. It followed the mellifluous third where the washes of sound in the left hand merely accompanied the simple radiance of the melody. There was a dramatic opening to the fourth and the sixth soon evaporating to ever more whispered sounds.

The long lines of the sumptuous eighth ( obviously a great inspiration to the earlier studies of Scriabin ) were sacrificed for the gasps of a heart that beat with such searing intensity throughout his interpretation. Ravishing jeux perlé of the tenth was with a sense of improvised ease after the majestic nobility of the ninth and the beautifully sung eleventh with its beguiling rubato. The twelfth so often played like a bull in a china shop was played with masterly lightness and an architectural shape that could add exhilaration without hardness. The thirteenth surely one of Chopin’s most original bel canto creations, was played with radiance and beauty.A glowing bel canto and left hand meanderings of poetic simplicity with a central episode with moments that touched the sublime . Dynamic pulsating and ferocity were soon spent as the fourteenth fell to one side to make way for the simple radiant beauty of the so called ‘Raindrop’ prelude. In Peter’s hands it became a real tone poem of poignant beauty. The sixteenth feared by all but the bravest was played with quite extraordinary mastery and clarity which could only have been more exhilarating with more participation from the pounding insistence of the left hand. A beautiful flowing tempo to the seventeenth where the deep bass notes from the opening were the anchor on which such radiance could flourish.The improvised cadenza, that is the eighteenth, was played with insinuating insistence but the nineteenth ( perhaps the most technically difficult of all twenty four) was rather too slow to allow us to imagine the Aeolian harp on which the bel canto can simply float. A very rude awakening for the C minor, that is to become so important after the interval, was played with extraordinary vehemence but allowed Peter to judge with great sensitivity each recurring layer of sound until it became a dying whisper, simply discharged with a single glowing chord.The twenty first was shaped with great beauty if a little too ponderous to allow the melody to breathe with simplicity.The twenty second with the great bass octave declaration was played rather too staccato instead of the legato line that Chopin so clearly indicates. It was played with great clarity but sacrificing the grandeur and nobility before the disarming pastoral simplicity of the twenty third. Peter played this with ravishing fluidity and delicacy before the final mighty twenty fourth. Again sacrificing grandeur and nobility for clarity and remarkable technical authority where Chopin quite clearly indicates long pedal notes. The last three imperious ‘D’s’, though, were played with the undeniable authority of a great pianist .

After the interval we were treated to two very unfamiliar works of which Peter is an authority. I well remember our old piano teacher Gordon Green telling me about a fellow student in Manchester who could play anything even the Busoni Piano Concerto. Gordon had studied with Egon Petri a pupil of Busoni and his enthusiasm for Busoni was contagious and was passed on to all his students, John Ogdon and Peter amongst many others.

Two works I have rarely heard in the concert hall and both were played with mastery and total conviction. A fluidity that was missing in the original Chopin op 28, but here in both works there was a kaleidoscope of colour and chameleonic changes of character. One could even sense Brahms in one of the Busoni variations and the quixotic lightness of Schumann. Both had a ‘fugato’ towards the end that Peter played with clarity, but in Busoni there was the unmistakeable atmosphere of impersonal intellect ,whereas in Rachmaninov, whatever he did, was tinged with his unmistakable Russian nostalgia.

Two masterly performances greeted by a full house with a standing ovation and Peter only too happy to play Chopin’s miraculous Prelude op 45 as a thank you on his auspicious debut at the Bechstein Hall.

Greeted by Lady Rose Cholmondeley and many distinguished guests who were in a hall that has the courage to invite great artists to play in London with such fascinating eclectic programmes.

The Nine Variations on a Chopin Prelude resulted from a substantial revision of a large set of Variations and a Fugue on the celebrated Prelude in C minor (Op 28 No 20), which Busoni wrote in 1884 at the age of eighteen. In 1922 he added an introductory fugato and reduced the number of variations from eighteen to ten for inclusion in the first edition of the Klavierübung (1922), and then reduced it further to nine (by dropping the ‘Fantasia’) for the second edition (1925). Its final pages consist of a ‘Scherzo finale’ in tarantella style with an ‘Hommage à Chopin’ in waltz rhythm as its middle section

Rachmaninov’s Variations on a theme of Chopin, Op 22, emerged during one of his most productive periods, in the wake of the second piano concerto. It was in these years that he developed his own distinctive voice, which comes through clearly in this piece. Chopin’s well-known C minor prelude (No 20 from his set of 24 Préludes, Op 28) gave rise to a stylistic challenge: how to transform Chopin into Rachmaninov and was also Rachmaninov’s first large-scale piece for solo piano, exploring an wide range of pianistic elaborations of great technical difficulty .It was dedicated to the world-famous virtuoso piano teacher Theodor Leschetizky.

The simplicity of Chopin’s Prelude lends itself to use as a variation theme and Rachmaninov returned to Chopin’s original conception, in two phrases (the repetition of the second phrase was only at the behest of Chopin’s publisher). The enormous set of twenty-two variations falls into three distinct phases: 1-10, 11-18 and 19-22.

Rachmaninov premiered the Chopin variations himself in 1903, but the audience showed much more enthusiasm for his Op 23 Preludes, which he played in the same programme. This put doubts in Rachmaninov’s mind, and he gave performers options for shortening the piece; he would himself cut several variations when he felt his audience was restive.

The Variations on the name “Abegg” was composed between 1829 and 1830, while as a student in Heidelberg, and published as his op 1  The name is believed to refer to Schumann’s fictitious friend, Meta Abegg, whose surname Schumann used through a musical cryptogram  as the motivic basis for the piece. The name Meta is considered to be an anagram of the word “tema” (Latin). Another suggestion is Pauline von Abegg. Apparently, when he was twenty years old, Schumann met her and dedicated this work to her, as witnessed in Clara Schumann’s edition of her husband’s piano works.

The first five notes of the theme are A, B♭ (B), E, G, and G. This use of pitch names as letters was also used by Schumann in other compositions, such as his Carnaval .

It is composed of:Theme and 5 Variations.

Chopin’s 24 Preludes op.  28, are a set of short pieces for the piano, one in each of the twenty-four keys , originally published in 1839. He wrote them between 1835 and 1839, mostly in Paris, but partially at Valldemossa,Mallorca, where he spent the winter of 1838–39 and where he, George Sand , and her children went to escape the damp Paris weather. In Majorca, Chopin had a copy of Bach’s ’48’, and as in each of Bach’s two sets of  Chopin’s Op. 28 set comprises a complete cycle of the major and minor keys, albeit with a different ordering. Whereas Bach had arranged his collection of 48 preludes and fugues according to keys separated by rising semitones, Chopin’s key sequence  is a circle of fifths, with each major key being followed by its relative minor , and so on (i.e. C major, A minor, G major, E minor, etc.). Since this sequence of related keys  is much closer to common harmonic practice, it is thought that Chopin might have conceived the cycle as a single performance entity for continuous recital of his préludes .Chopin himself never played more than four of the preludes at any single public performance. Nor was this the practice for the 25 years after his death. The first pianist to program the complete set in a recital was probably Anna Yesipova for a concert in 1876. Nowadays, the complete set of Op. 28 preludes has become repertory fare, and many concert pianists have recorded the entire set, beginning with Ferruccio Busoni  in 1915, when making piano rolls for the Duo-Art label. Alfred Cortot  was the next pianist to record the complete preludes in 1926.

They were actually already finished before setting foot on Majorca, however, he did finalize them there, as referenced by him in his letters to Pleyel: “I have finished my préludes here on your little piano[…]”

The manuscript, which Chopin carefully prepared for publication, carries a dedication to the German pianist  and composer Joseph Christoph Kessler. The French and English editions (Catelin, Wessel) were dedicated to the piano-maker and publisher Camille Pleyel, who had commissioned the work for 2,000 francs (equivalent to nearly €6500 in present-day currency). The German edition of Breitkopf & Härtel was dedicated to Kessler, who ten years earlier had dedicated his own set of 24 Preludes, Op. 31, to Chopin.

Fou Ts’ong called them 24 problems such are their quicksilver technical and poetic challenges

Peter Donohoe is in high demand as a jury member for major international competitions, including the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, Hong Kong International Piano Competition and the Artur Rubenstein Piano Competition. Peter Donohoe is one of the UK’s most respected and sought-after pianists; we are honoured to welcome him to Bechstein Hall

Peter Donohoe was born in Manchester in 1953. He studied at Chetham’s School of Music for seven years, graduated in music at Leeds University, and went on to study at the Royal Northern College of Music with Derek Wyndham and then in Paris with Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod. He is acclaimed as one of the foremost pianists of our time, for his musicianship, stylistic versatility and commanding technique.

In recent seasons Donohoe has appeared with Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic and Concert Orchestra, Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, St Petersburg Philharmonia, RTE National Symphony Orchestra, Belarusian State Symphony Orchestra, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He has undertaken a UK tour with the Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as giving concerts in many South American and European countries, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Russia, and USA. Other past and future engagements include performances of all three MacMillian piano concertos with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; a ‘marathon’ recital of Scriabin’s complete piano sonatas at Milton Court; an all-Mozart series at Perth Concert Hall; concertos with the Moscow State Philharmonic Orchestra, St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestraat Royal Festival Hall; and a residency at the Buxton International Festival.

Donohoe is also in high demand as a jury member for international competitions. He has recently served on the juries at the International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow (2011 and 2015), Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels (2016), Georges Enescu Competition in Bucharest (2016), Hong Kong International Piano Competition (2016), Harbin Competition (2017 and 2018), Artur Rubenstein Piano Master Competition (2017), Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition and Festival (2017), Alaska International e-Competition (2018), Concours de Geneve Competition (2018), Ferrol Piano Competition (2022), and Hong Kong International Piano Competition (2022), along with many national competitions both within the UK and abroad.

Donohoe’s most recent discs include six volumes of Mozart Piano Sonatas with SOMM Records. Other recent recordings include Haydn Keyboard Works Volume 1 (Signum), Grieg Lyric Pieces Volume 1 (Chandos), Dora Pejacevic Piano Concerto (Chandos), Brahms and Schumann viola sonatas with Philip Dukes (Chandos), and Busoni: Elegies and Toccata (Chandos), which was nominatedfor BBC Music Magazine Award. Donohoe has performed with all the major London orchestras, as well as orchestras from across the world: the Royal Concertgebouw, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Munich Philharmonic, Swedish Radio, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Vienna Symphony and Czech Philharmonic Orchestras. He has also played with the Berliner Philharmoniker in Sir Simon Rattle’s opening concerts as Music Director. He made his twenty-second appearance at the BBC Proms in 2012 and has appeared at many other festivals including six consecutive visits to the Edinburgh Festival, La Roque d’Anthéron in France, and at the Ruhr and Schleswig Holstein Festivals in Germany.

The 23/24 season kicked off with Peter Donohoe performing as a soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra and Simon Rattle with four performances of Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie in London, Edinburgh, and Bucharest. In January 2024, Peter returns to Philadelphia for performance with the Ama Deus Ensemble and will then travel to Dubai to adjudicate the 3rd Classic Piano Competition 2024.

Music making of rare dedication and searing commitment .There has been no greater example of selfless dedication and humility than the Beaux Arts Trio and it was the image of it’s founder Menahem Pressler that cast a shadow over the last two days of music making at the Wigmore Hall.

Last night the Lozakovich/Kantorow duo and tonight the Schumann Quartet.
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2025/04/02/daniel-lozakovich-alexandre-kantorow-burning-intensity-and-passionate-mastery-ignite-then-wigmore-hall-as-never-before/

A sixteen year old Lozakovich in Berlin, the Deutsche Grammophon’s yellow lounge and the early formation of the Schumann brothers with whom Pressler gave many concerts including one of his first Franck Quintet’s when he was well into his 90’s!

For two consecutive nights the Wigmore has resounded to music making of rare mastery and commitment and which just demonstrated the perfect size and famous acoustic of the Wigmore Hall for listening to chamber music.

The Schumann quartet playing with authority and masterly musicianship. Ken watching closely his brother as they united with the ravishing sounds of Mark’s cello and the subtle beauty of Veit Benedict Hertenstein’s viola.

Flying in from Frankfurt with not a little difficulty. Lost baggage, hence improvised concert suit for Mark, not to mention the booking for the cello unable to be found and only thanks to BA’s caring staff allowed to arrive for the concert

I think the relief to sit down and make music added a different dimension to their playing and gave a driving intense feeling to all they did.

Nowhere more than in the Weiner String quartet that was played with ravishing colour and a driving masterly intensity. A true discovery of a quartet that had the same astonishing mastery of writing for all four instruments that was so evident in Beethoven’s Razumovsky op 59 n.2

What a joy to see the relish on Ken’s face as his brother added such Razumovskian charm to Beethoven’s final Presto op 59 and to the early op 18 played as an encore .

Haydn is alway a revelation and this string quartet op 54 n2 was astonishing for it’s mastery of writing that just pointed his pupil,Beethoven, in the direction of his inspirational final thoughts of his late quartets op 127 to 135

I look forward to hearing more Beethoven from them on their next visit .

This summer they are performing the 16 Beethoven quartets in their first complete cycle and are even tonight back in Frankfurt with their first ‘Harp’ quartet op 74.

The Wigmore resounding to quartets this week with their International Competition that moves from the early rounds at the Royal Academy onto this hallowed stage on Saturday and Sunday for the semi final and final. All streamed live and not to be missed.

Sensational would be too little to describe what we have heard today. I was here when Vengerov made his London debut at the age of fourteen and we stood on the chairs and cheered in disbelief at the end of Waxman’s Carmen Fantasy just as they did with Horowitz . It must have been like that with Liszt and Paganini with an overwhelming mastery and commitment that has a hypnotic effect on anyone within range.Tonight though was different because not only was there a violinist who could lean back with sounds of sumptuous piercing beauty but there was also a pianist whose mastery and humility are conquering the world.

A potent combination that now in the interval I can contemplate what wonders I have just experienced. Grieg and Schumann sonatas played with overwhelming power and united burning intensity, combined with a poetic beauty of ravishing authority .To see Daniel on his 24th birthday lean back just as actors are told to do arching their back to appear even more imposing than they are in life ,but playing with the intensity of an Arrau, with real weight .Yes I know Arrau was a pianist but he more than any other knew what weight and intensity allied to interpretative mastery really meant. Kantarow with streams of notes just thrown off as if he too was playing a magnificent Strad. Such was their unity that the actual instruments became one glorious voice of a communicative mastery that reached every one of us in this sold out hall .The unified silence and tension was more palpable than I have ever felt with such intensity. in the concert hall. Now after the interval our two young heros arrive without the score because they have the music engraved in their being .The magic opening notes of the Franck played with a glowing luminosity answered by the whispered barely audible reply of the violin . A continual building of intensity until reaching an unbearable pitch of passionate dynamism that I have rarely experienced in the concert hall. Unbelievable virtuosity in the second movement that made the mellifluous outpourings such a relief, as we could feel this turbulent cauldron about to erupt again. And erupt it certainly did where suddenly Kantarow reduced the sound to prepare us for the breathtaking race to the final dramatic note. A recitativo played with audacious authority by both players but diffused with the simple ravishing beauty of the Allegretto. Chasing each other with pastoral ease until they caught up with each other and sparks really were ignited in a burning passionate outpouring of quite extraordinary potency.

Liebesleid was the only antidote for such youthful passionate mastery and with a twinkle in their eye they played with irresistible charm and with a sense of colour and refined phrasing truly of the age of Kreisler

After a confab at the keyboard where someone from the audience shouted out Happy Birthday and Kantarow looking incredulously at his partner as this was news to him! So Brahms it was, the Scherzo from the FAE sonata, played with sumptuous sounds but of kaleidoscopic insinuation and the devilish rhythmic motif chiselled out of the bass by Kantarow like a devil in disguise enticing his partner to even greater heights. And heights there were with a climax to beat all climaxes leaving these two lads to go off arm in arm discussing what heights they had achieved together and judging by the queue of people backstage I should think this should be some birthday party .

Alexandre Kantorow bestrides the Wigmore Hall like a Colossus.

Tuesday 1 April 2.00 pm 

Sonya Pigot (piano)

Haydn: Sonata in B minor no 47 Hob:XVI:32
Allegro / Minuet / Presto

Chopin: 2 Nocturnes 
Nocturne Op 9 no 1 in B flat minor
Nocturne Op 48 no 1 in C minor  

Liszt: ‘Lyon’ from Album D’un Voyageur S 156/1

Weber: “Invitation to the Dance” Op 65   

Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody no 17 in D minor  

Some very intense music making from Sonya Pigot today, but what an interesting choice of repertoire. Fresh from playing in the semi finals of the Utrecht Liszt Competition. Every year Leslie Howard delves deep into the enormous amount of works by Liszt that are still lying on dusty shelves in the archives and makes them obligatory set pieces to all those that wish to participate. It was the two works by Liszt that particularly ignited the fantasy and dynamism of this young pianist who has so much passionate commitment to share. On occasion it is this desperate need to communicate that can lead to moments of uncertainty but it is a small price to pay for the ravishing sound and beauty that she can combine with moments of real inspiration.

The Haydn B minor sonata showed off her well oiled fingers with streams of jeux perlé runs and trills that were like tightly wound springs that just gave a glitter to Haydn’s impish civilised sense of humour. If the Minuet was rather slow it was because she felt it more of a beautiful song than a dance. The Presto finale,however, took wing with dynamic drive and great character and was played with great style where even Haydn’s final declamation was played with the civilised voice of its time.

The Chopin Nocturne ,his first, was played with great expression but lost some of Chopin’s aristocratic nobility to more earthy emotions of dramatic intensity. A beautiful sense of balance allowed her to play with ravishing sound of glowing beauty. The C minor Nocturne is one of Chopin’s longest and a tone poem of majestic proportions. Nobility and beauty combined in Sonya’s performance and although rather slow at the beginning it was played with sensitivity and beauty.The gradual build up to the climax was played with masterly control as the octaves were just underlining the musical line that explodes into shimmering vibrations on which the melodic line floats with golden beauty.

Weber’s invitation to the Dance I think I have in Tausig’s arrangement but I certainly know Schnabel’s most unexpected recording.Weber is a composer much overlooked but which both Gilels and Richter were great admirers and would play the second and third sonatas which are of great originality and beauty.I remember hearing Claudio Arrau,another great thinking musician, playing the Konzertstück at the Albert Hall together with Liszt Totentanz .He is a composer that could well do with a revival and is a cross between Beethoven and Schubert with Sonatas in four movements even. The Invitation to the dance was often included in programmes of the virtuosi of the Golden age of piano playing and was played by Sonya with great style and charm and she even managed to catch the audience out with the surprise whispered coda that Weber adds mischievously at the end.

The two Liszt works are new to me and they were very impressively played even though they seemed rather bombastic showpieces rather than the introspective genius of Liszt’s later works or the ravishing beauty of Liszt the seducer of his early years.However well worth hearing them at least once and hats off to Sonya for presenting them with such conviction and authority.

In January 2025 sonya was a semi-finalist in the Liszt Utrecht International piano competition at the TivoliVredenburg, Netherlands and her performing career has taken her world wide to prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall, Steinway Hall, the Royal Albert hall and concert halls throughout Asia, Australia and Europe. While studying her Undergraduate, Masters and Artist Diploma Degrees at the Royal College of Music she has studied and worked with renowned professors that include; Norma Fisher, Sofya Gulyak, Ashley Wass, Dimitri Alexeev and Ian Jones. She is now on a scholarship studying a PhD that explores the relationship between personality and the interpretation of music at the RCM. 

As well as having performed for members of the British Royal Family, Sonya has won and taken part in many international music competitions across Australia and Europe; most notably the Busoni International piano competition, semi-finalist in Liszt Utrecht International piano competition, First prize in the Grand Prize Virtuoso International music competition, Gold Medal in the Berliner International Music competition, First prize in the Hephzibah Menuhin Memorial Award piano competition and First prize in the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Rising Star competition. She is generously supported by the Talent Unlimited Charity and she is looking forward to performing at Steinway Hall, London as a “New Artist” for the Keyboard Charitable Trust. 

Sonya has had concert engagements with orchestras since she was 15, most notably the Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra conducted by Richard Gill AO and the Perugia Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marius Stravinsky in Tuscany. Sonya has performed for and been in masterclasses with many international artists, such as: Alfred Brendel, Boris Berman, John Perry, Ewa Pablocka and Pavel Gililov. Alongside her solo career she is looking forward to performing with the violinist David Nebel, Concertmaster of the Berlin Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in the upcoming 25/26 season. 

Sonya Pigot a magic wonderland of sounds at St James’s Piccadilly

A return to Bechstein Hall having opened the Young Artists Season and now returning in the ‘Roast’ Series on Sunday afternoon. Having heard the Haydn B minor Sonata last time Thomas opened this time with the most beautiful of Busoni’s transcriptions of Bach Chorale preludes, that of ‘Ich ruf zu dir,Herr Jesu Christ’. It was a sumptuous opening with beautiful rich sounds from which arose one of the most poignant of Bach’s chorale preludes. It was played with quiet authority as the melody was allowed to unfold with the heartrending beauty of a true believer.

There was a crystalline clarity to the Haydn B minor sonata with a rhythmic drive and sedate ornaments enriched by the scintillating passage work that they unravelled like a finely woven web from his delicate well oiled fingers. Grace and charm of the Menuet was contrasted with the turbulence of the Trio before the dynamic drive of the Finale.Here the brilliance of the jeux perlé was contrasted with the dynamic insistent drive of it’s surroundings, ever more impetuous as the final declaration was punched home with great style and authority.

In his last recital Thomas had played the Chopin B minor Sonata and today he chose the last of Beethoven’s 32 Sonatas op 111. In both works he showed his musicianship with an architectural understanding that allowed him to give an overall shape to these two monumental works without ever wavering from the great rhythmic wave that carries us through from the first note to the last. The opening of op 111 immediately showed his understanding of the struggle that Beethoven implies with the three great leaps fearlessly played with one hand, leading to the true opening of the sonata where at last we arrive at the home key.The ‘Allegro con brio ed appasionato’ was played with great clarity and the drive of water bubbling over at boiling pitch only to find relief in the recitativi that allow a breathing space before the struggle recommences.These recitativI were played with glowing beauty and a shape of improvised freedom.The development too was played with a clarity as it built up to the great declaration of the main theme.There was serene beauty to the coda that allowed the struggle to die down as we reach the major key for the peace of the ‘Arietta: Adagio molto semplice e cantabile’. Thomas played this opening theme with glowing beauty and a string quartet texture that gave great strength to this most poignant of melodies.The variations were allowed to evolve with a natural fluidity as more and more notes were added before the turbulent explosion of the third variation. Even here Thomas managed to keep the same sound world even though playing with such dynamic drive that he allowed to fall away so naturally leading to the gradual disintegration of the theme.

Whispered wafts of melody floating above a gentle murmured bass were played with great control and a perfect sense of balance.The dynamic interruptions were soon dispelled as Beethoven reached for the ‘star’ with a passionate outpouring of radiance and beauty.Thomas always playing with aristocratic control ,the music to dissolving onto gentle vibrations of sound where his beautifully pure trills allowed the theme to be heard on high for a final time.It was the true vision of the beauty that Beethoven could already foresee in the not too distant future.

Siloti’s transcription of Bach’s B minor Prelude was the ideal encore of refined sumptuous reverence where Thomas’s perfect balance allowed the melody to resonate with the purity and beauty that had pervaded the eternal magic of the final bars of Beethoven’s last monumental sonata.

Thomas Masciaga opens the Bechstein Young Artists Series with canons covered in flowers

A dream programme for the Bechstein Young Artists series this morning.

Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring and Sheep May Safely Graze were the opening to Schumann’s most inspired ‘Davidsbündlertanze’.

Played by the recent winner of the Chappell Gold Medal at the RCM and just last week a top prize winner at the International Bach Competition in Leipzig

Mariamna Sherling seems to have been kissed by the Gods with beauty and talent in abundance.

Under the starlit sky at the New Bechstein Hall she opened with Bach’s chorale in the much loved transcription by Myra Hess of Jesu Joy of mans Desiring and she even added some further details that brought it even closer to Bach’s original. But it was the Petri transcription of ‘Sheep May Safely Graze’ that showed off her true artistry with the noble poignancy of Bach’s simple melodic outpouring that she allowed to sing with flowing beauty ornamented by Petri’s discrete ethereal accompaniments. It is not quite as magical as Grainger’s ‘Ramble’ but both were influenced by Busoni,their mentor, in different ways. Petri is more sombre and respectful and it was this noble beauty that Mariamna showed us today.

Thanking Terry Lewis and the Bechstein Hall for giving her an opportunity to play three of the most cherished works in her repertoire.

Schumann opened with gasps of wonderment as Florestan and Eusebius competed with beguiling emotions. It was Eusebius who shone brightly with the second dance of whispered beauty of intimate secrets. Florestan springing onto the scene as Schumann indicates ‘mit Humor’ that Mariamna played with a capricious style of great drive and insinuating rubato disappearing fleetingly into the distance. She brought an unusually delicate opening to the fourth ‘ungedulig’ gradually becoming ever more passionate with sumptuous beauty of golden sounds. Freedom and poignant beauty brought Eusebius with a chiselled melodic line.

In fact every one of these dances was imbued not only with technical perfection but with a sense of style and very strong personal commitment. Mariamna gave Eusebius a ravishingly beautiful voice just as she gave Florestan a robust personal capriciousness.

Nowhere more was her technical mastery evident than in the sixth dance played ‘sehr rasch’ but with a clarity and scrupulous attention to Schumann’s very awkward phrasing.The coda was thrown off with a romantic abandon to the final tumultuous D where Eusebius was waiting with gentle beauty of hesitant expectancy. The question and answer of the eighth was played with disarming simplicity and a very strong personal identification.

Momentarily Florestan seemed to have taken over with the ninth of a playful dance duetting with itself with relish, and just disappearing to two final quiet chords played with insolent nonchalance, very similar to Carnaval’s Pantalon et Colombine, written shortly after this work. There were robust Brahmsian sounds to the tenth with a sumptuous richness of romantic fervour. Beseeching simplicity of Eusebius in the eleventh where slightly underlining the shadowing of the melody gave great depth to a sound of luxuriant beauty .The twelfth just flittered in gleefully capricious with playing of extraordinary dexterity. What wonders there were when Florestan and Eusebius combined in the thirteenth with the rich chorale beauty constantly moving forward to a coda of lightness and charm ‘immer schneller und schneller’ paving the way for one of Schumann’s most beautiful melodies .The fourteenth dance was played with ravishing beauty, the counterpoints just shimmering like gems from within .The fifteenth started in such a spiky decisive way before succumbing to a glorious outpouring of changing harmonies played with fervent conviction and passionate abandon. The playful sense of character of the sixteenth was played with extraordinary control as it dissolved into one of Schumann’s most heavenly inspirations.The seventeenth entering on a mist of sound where etherial recollections of the past waltzes are floated and which Mariamna played with a poetic mastery that could allow her to fearlessly take flight to the tumultuous climax that disappeared just as fast as it had arrived. The final waltz was played with hesitant beguiling nostalgia as we joined in the slumbers of Florestan and Eusebius in a land of dreams of wondrous beauty.

Mariamna played the entire recital with fervent conviction and a great musical personality whilst scrupulously following the composers very precise indications.

An encore of one of Beethoven’s most rumbustious bagatelles op 33 n. 7 was played with gleeful dynamic drive and exhilaration.

The New Bechstein Hall after its initial launching is now accessible to all with a Sunday morning Young Artists Series at only five pounds, with as much coffee as you need at 10.30am!
Thomas Masciaga opened the Bechstein Young Artists Series with canons covered in flowers
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2025/02/02/thomas-masciaga-opens-the-bechstein-young-artists-series-with-canons-covered-in-flowers/
Evening concerts starting from 18 pounds and a sumptuous restaurant that is also opening for luncheon.
A beautiful new hall that is just complimenting the magnificence of the Wigmore Hall and the sumptuous salon of Bob Boas.Providing a much need space for the enormous amount of talent that London,the undisputed capital of classical music,must surely try to accommodate
Here are some of the recent performances :

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2024/12/02/vedran-janjanin-at-bechstein-hall-playing-of-scintillating-sumptuous-beauty/ of a remarkable artist’

Axel Trolese at Bechstein Hall ‘Mastery and intelligence of a remarkable artist’

Diana Cooper ‘Miracles at Bechstein Hall’

Yukine Kuroki at Bechstein Hall ‘A star shining brightly with genial poetic mastery’

Federico Colli triumphs at the new Bechstein Hall as it comes of age

Nikita Lukinov conquers the Bechstein Hall with masterly music making

Guy Johnston and Mishka Momen Rushdie conquer Bechstein Hall in the name of Beethoven

Donglai Shi at Bechstein Hall ‘Young Artists Series’ with playing of clarity and purity of a true musician

Phillip James Leslie debut recital at the long awaited rebirth of Bechstein Hall

Dmitri Kalashnikov at Bechstein Hall ‘Canons covered in Flowers’ of poetic mastery

Andrey Gugnin at Bechstein Hall ‘The pianistic perfection of a supreme stylist’

Jeremy Chan Young Artists Recital at Bechstein Hall ‘Intelligence and Artistry combine with words in music’

William Bracken at Bechstein Hall Mastery and Mystery of a great musician

Margaret Fingerhut reminding us of the rich heritage that is gradually being devoured by aggressive neighbours

Playing of ravishing beauty where even Silvestrov has turned to whispered beauty, as an antidote to his previous percussive style, when the bombs started dropping on his homeland

A fascinating journey through works that were much influenced by Liszt, Rachmaninov , Scriabin and even Prokofiev.

But it was Lysenko who closed the programme being the first composer to express Nationalistic pride in music with a Ukrainian Fantasy much in the style of those of Liszt .

Beauty, mastery and solidarity shone through playing of searing commitment and glowing beauty.

A grandiose opening with Bortkiewicz dissolving into a chorale with droplets of water just suggested as the music opened to an expansive Lisztian outpouring and a heartrending duet of sumptuous rich romantic sounds. A grandiloquent ending worthy of the grandest of Liszt’s creations and was a beautiful way to end this great romantic picture. ‘Sorrow and Loneliness’ indeed of great density for one of the rare pieces to survive the cancellation of his works by an intolerant regime .Folk indioms were woven into the mellifluous outpouring of two preludes by Lyatoshinsky and there was Rachmaninovian inspiration for the virtuosity and sumptuous sounds of Kosenko’s ‘Nocturne Fantasie’ op 4 .’Three Bagatelles’ by Silvestrov, whose music I had heard from the hands of Boris Berman in Cremona and was surprised at the complete change in style as the invasion of his homeland was taking place.
(https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/09/26/cremona-the-city-of-dreams-a-global-network-where-dreams-become-reality/)

Works of percussive prickly violence are now so quiet with indications in the score never to be louder than the quietest whisper.They were pieces of ravishing beauty of glowing fluidity and romantic insistence. Anna Fedorova had recently opened her recital in Florence with barely audible sounds that drew us in and made us listen with new ears at such childlike musings of simple radiance. (https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2025/03/02/anna-fedorova-in-florence-the-triumph-of-a-supreme-stylist-in-la-pergola-the-temple-of-music/) The final work in her recital, Liszt springs to mind again ,as she played Lysenko’s ‘Rhapsody on Ukrainian Themes’ with romantic fervour and sumptuous bravura and he was the first Ukrainian composer of note with a strong National identity. An encore of exquisite beauty by a composer whose name I did not catch but obviously of the Ukrainian romantic tradition and just showed us what we have been missing all these years. Let us open up our ears and hearts and include some of these beautiful works into our rather standardised concert programmes.

Here is her choice of composers and descriptions in her own words

A dream team at the Royal Festival Hall ……..the golden eagle of Petrenko swooping in with such elegance as he hovered over the Royal Philharmonic .Teamed with the refined playing of a young star Bruce Liu winner of the last Chopin Competition and shining now ever more brightly.

Korngold played with the swooping and swooning style of Hollywood as the film star good looks and masterly baton technique of Petrenko delved deep into the very soul of this magnificent ensemble.

Recreating the great era of Cinema when all the greatest composers were sheltering in California and providing funds for the inhumane suffering that was being handed out just the other side of the pond .

Bruce Liu with refined phrasing of exquisite delicacy delved deep into Rachmaninov’s score and revealed many gems that often go unnoticed by less sensitive artists.

Korngold and Rachmaninov were neighbours in Los Angeles and they have much in common with masterly orchestration and heart on sleeve sentiments.

Surrounded by fans at the end of a near perfect performance of the Paganini Rhapsody, Bruce did not need much persuasion to show us what he really could do!

Have Liszt’s bells ever sounded so luminous or perfect as they sparkled and shone in this young virtuoso’s delicate hands? Little did we expect the demonic roar of a Lion of the keyboard at the end of Campanella and an astonished audience, which by now included the players of the RPO, gave him a well earned standing ovation .

In the Green Room with Yisha Xue to thank Bruce before he flies off early tomorrow morning to delight of audiences in every part of the world.

Bruce Liu at the Wigmore Hall London A supreme stylist creating a new Golden Age of piano playing of mastery and refined good taste

Bruce Liu and Sir Antonio Pappano take Warsaw by storm

Stars shine brightly in Warsaw with Dang Thai Son,Bruce Liu and Lukas Geniusas

Bruce Liu’s triumphant debut at the Edinburgh Festival

Bruce Liu takes London by storm

Prokofiev from the hands of a young Tuscan artist with sounds sculptured in marble of authority and dynamic drive that he must have in his blood from his home town of Massa where Michelangelo would choose marble slabs that he would turn into statues that the world had never seen since Roman times.Baubles into gems ?

Nicolas Ventura was not only monumental but also possessed the refined beauty of Da Vinci that lays hidden in much of Prokofiev’s scores. They are also full of refined poetry and visionary sounds of extraordinary poignancy not only being manhandled by bombastic percussive declamations that many lesser artists would have us believe!

Playing with great authority as a star student has become an artist to reckon with .

His two mentors Tatiana Sarkissova and Dina Parakhina looking on with great admiration and awe of the sacrifice and dedication that true artistry demands.

Breathtaking virtuosity too as Prokofiev like Rachmaninov were both master pianists.

But they were above all poets of keyboard capable of reaching deep into their Russian souls to reveal the yearning nostalgia and pianistic genius that was their birthright .

There was the ravishing improvised beauty of the innocuous Andantino of the second movement to be transformed into tempestuous outbursts of extraordinary ingenious invention and vision.

Has the inquisitive questioning of the ‘meno mosso’ in the last movement ever sounded so chameleonic as it led to a melodic outpouring of Rachmaninovian fervour before shooting off with clusters of notes that would have put Charles Ives to shame.

An ovation that if we were in Italy would have been rewarded with many encores.

However the orchestra after warming up with a superbly Hollywoodian style Sicilian Vespers (surely the inspiration for Korngold’s magical Californian sojourn),were now raring to show us their true mettle with Mahler’s ‘Titanic’ Symphony that some have even considered as Beethoven’s 10th .

A performance of youthful energy and passion expertly guided by the veteran of this remarkable ensemble ,James Blair.

Shots below taken also in rehearsal which revealed the professional quality of this youthful orchestra funded only by private or corporate means that has for forty years provided a bridge between college and the profession giving students a real advantage with experience of the major classical repertoire, realistic rehearsal schedules and performances in the great concert halls of the country.

It also gives a magnificent opportunity for young soloists to perform with a major orchestra in London the recognised capital of Classical music.

And now Nicolas Ventura a star shining brightly indeed :

Nicolas Ventura at St Mary Le Strand Elegance and Beauty combine with intelligence and mastery

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/…/nicol…/

Here are the most recent , but there are many ,many more.

Gabrielé Sutkuté plays Grieg with the YMSO under James Blair at Cadogan Hall

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/…/gabri…/

Misha Kaploukhii plays Rachmaninov Beauty and youthfulness triumph

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/10/13/misha-kaploukhii-plays-rachmaninov-beauty-and-youthfulness-triumph/Gabrielé

Chamber music returns to its origins with sumptuous beauty from within and without.

Mozart Mendelssohn and Lili Boulanger from the Kong,Kaslin ,Sandrin Trio under the eagle eye of Mary Orr and with the eclectic good taste of Patrick Matthiesen .

Only the greatest music shall echo in the shadow of the masterpieces that adorn the silk clad walls and it was the refined good taste and the style of it’s age that Mozart’s C major Trio spun it’s magic web.

Embracing the prodigious Lill Boulanger whose short life we are just beginning to appreciate, with the few works that her sister Nadia promoted with such love and professional admiration . ‘D’un matin de printemps’ gave us a taste of what might have been. Played with the ravishing insinuation of Ravel or Debussy a sound world so particular to the turn of the century Paris and played with extraordinary colours and unity of intent.

But it was when Charlotte took front stage with the opening of Mendelssohn’s D minor Trio that the scene was set for some chamber music playing of passionate intensity and heart melting beauty. A composer who dare I say it was the Mozart of the Victorian Era and who knows what the works might have been bequeathed to the world had Mozart and Boulanger lived to experience middle age and maturity

The three superb players played as one ……I can say no more than that but it is much much more that sufficient ! Given a stage by the ever generous Patrick Matthiesen in his sumptuous gallery where music and art are inextricably entwined.

Trio :Cristian Sandrin -Enyuan Khong – Charlotte Kaslin ‘A feast of exhilaration and seduction for Mary Orr’ for the Matthiesen Foundation at the Matthiesen Gallery
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/09/20/trio-cristian-sandrin-enyuan-khong-charlotte-kaslin-a-feast-of-exhilaration-and-seduction-for-mary-orr-for-the-matthiesen-foundation-at-the-matthiesen-gallery/

Timeless Trios -Khong- Kaslin-Sandrin Celestial sounds of refined elegance and intelligence appease even Alexander Pope

Timeless Trios -Khong- Kaslin-Sandrin Celestial sounds of refined elegance and intelligence appease even Alexander Pope

Cristian has just launched his new CD and if his own notes are anything to go by they should be performances of insight and inspiration for the Genius of Beethoven’s last Trilogy of Piano Sonatas.

Cristian Sandrin Visions of Life dedicated to his father Sandu Sandrin .
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/04/26/cristian-sandrin-visions-of-life-dedicated-to-his-father-sandu-sandrin/

Cristian Sandrin a message of Hope and Peace in Florence the cradle of our culture
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/02/25/cristian-sandrin-a-message-of-hope-and-peace-in-florence-the-cradle-of-our-culture/

Cristian Sandrin the Beethoven Trilogy the birth of a great artist
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/02/03/cristian-sandrin-the-beethoven-trilogy-birth-of-a-great-artist/

Dominika Mak at the Matthiesen Gallery – Young Artists Concert Series ‘Dreaming of Utopia with playing of refined finesse’

Ignas Maknickas and Wouter Valvekens Music at the Matthiesen Gallery “If Music be the food of love please,please play on”

Lanyi-Berecz at the Matthiesen Gallery ‘Notre amitié est invariable’

Varvara Tarasova at The Matthiesen Gallery a true Oasis of beauty – If music be the food of Love – ravishing playing of refined artistry

Trio :Cristian Sandrin -Enyuan Khong – Charlotte Kaslin ‘A feast of exhilaration and seduction for Mary Orr’ for the Matthiesen Foundation at the Matthiesen Gallery