ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary

From the earliest age Jack wished to be a music teacher. He had a passion for opera, chamber music and the avantgarde, but also the entrepreneurial spirit required to make things happen. His left of centre politics and the interest in spiritual growth and religion supported this calling. By 1954, at the age of sixteen, Jack had already formed a committee with a view to drawing together as many young musical talents in the area as possible to put on chamber music concerts in still-to-be explored venues. This led to the formation of the Accrington and District Young People’s Music Society, which was Jack’s legacy to his town. They performed in various church halls in the district. He contacted the music critic of the Accrington Observer to cover these concerts and achieve publicity. The calling to work creatively with youth was already evident.

Following his A Levels, Jack was admitted to the Northern School of Music in Manchester where he studied for one year before moving to Trinity College in London in 1958. His first position after leaving Trinity was as music master at a school in Rugeley, Staffs. He stayed there two years before moving to Wennington School in Wetherby, Yorkshire, a privately run Quaker school, where he stayed until his move to Rome, in 1967. It was in Wennington School that he met Jane and Gareth both of whom are here with us today. He would remain in Rome until 2018 or approximately 50 years. 

Travel 

One of the few members of the extended family he was close to, his aunt Anne Hindle, shared his entrepreneurial spirit. She was the first person to recruit secretarial assistants for Members of Parliament. On the strength of these contacts  she opened what went on to become a highly successful travel company, Fairways and Swinford, specialising in Hellenic cruises and tours. It was Anne who paid for his needsthroughout his time at Trinity College. Jack benefited from her generosity all his life gaining a detailed knowledge of the Mediterranean cultures during his many free cruises.

Opera and the Avantgarde

As a teacher, Jack never tired of treating his friends and his pupils to accounts of his meetings with the famous. 

One year, while in Bayreuth at the annual Wagner festival, he was honoured to meet Winifred Wagner, the daughter-in-law of the composer. She had married Siegfried, one of the composer’s sons. Although not a party member, she was a fervent admirer of Hitler. She regaled Jack with stories of how Onkel Hitler, as he was known, moved in and out of the family home. 

Later, and by now in Italy, he had the pleasure of interviewing both Maria Callas  and  Montserrat Caballe whose sense of humour he enjoyed.

Fired by his interest in avantgarde music, a largely left wing concern in 60’s and 70’s Italy, he collaborated with Sylvano Bussotti, Luigi Nono and Luciano Berio and ran workshops with some of its principal exponents, while the friendship with the British composer Peter Maxwell-Davies endured until his death from leukaemia.

Career

While in Rome he taught music and English at  St George’s English School putting on a number of memorable productions which he co-wrote and co-produced with the school pupils and which broadened their understanding of theatre and music in a manner well beyond the expectations of the rather conservative curriculum. Again, youth and creativity to the fore.

He finally gave up teaching to take up the post of Arts Officer at the British Council. It was here that his entrepreneurial spirit and imagination found their fullest expression. He argued that the Council should not concern itself with promoting the work of established UK artists or organisations nor with the careers of up-in-comingperformers. Rather, he would focus on promoting the work of established artists as yet relatively unknown in Italy. Amongst these were Sir William Walton (a resident ofIschia) and Lindsay Kemp. Sir William’s opera The Bear was performed at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples, in 1983. Jack himself would  perform another of Sir William’s works, the witty Facade, in a number of European cities often together with Cathy Berberian and with Jan Lathan-Koenig conducting. Sir William was immensely grateful to Jack for this late revival of interest in his work. Jack would play a similar role in bringing the stagecraft of Lindsey Kemp to the attention of Italian theatre promoters. Lindsay enjoyed immense success in Italy and then Spain before eventually retiring in Italy. Jack was a close friend of both.

In the 80’s, alongside his work at the Council, Jack helped Lionel and Joy Bryer, manage the European Community Youth Orchestra which they founded.

He would remain at the Council until the early 90’s when the Thatcherite economies resulted in his post being cut. From now on he would hold only part-time jobs. Amongst these was the post of English Language lecturer in the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy of the University of Rome. Prof. Hilary Gatti, whose teaching Jack supported, was of the opinion that Jack’s wit and impressive cultural knowledge, which went well beyond the field of literature, were in excess of the rather modest position he occupied in the university hierarchy. He had a wide knowledge of contemporary authors, many of whom he had met personally. In the new millennium, he was invited by the then Dean of the Philosophy Faculty, Professor Marta Fattori, to stay on with them, which he did until he finally made his decision to retire and return to the UK in 2017.

By then he was also a regular contributor Seen and Heard International, the‘live review’ section of MusicWeb International, from both Italy and England.

Food

Throughout his life Jack’s friends would enjoy his legendary hospitality. An accomplished cook, he would source the right wines for each course and finish with typically British puddings little known to his foreign friends, all of these prepared in a kitchen of barely 8 square metres. Guests were forbidden from entering the kitchen as he entertained them with his usual brilliant conversation while preparing the offer. But he could also be your simple companion – that is, someone he broke his bread with. On such occasions he demonstrated that rare skill of making the guest feel the centre of attention.

Amongst the many legendary food stories we will mention two. John Cage was in Rome for a concert series. Jack lured him to lunch with the promise of a selection of Italy’s little known bitter greens. It was Cage, however, who stole the show by arriving with a basketful of still lesser known herbs and leaves foraged, unlikely though it may seem, while finding his way to Jack’s apartment. On another occasion at the Hilton in Rome Jack, who had reserved the best table for himself and his guests, Theo and Emma, came in for unexpectedly detailed and obsessive attention including complementary drinks. Jack was amused to be addressed as Mr. Blair throughout the evening. It was only later that they noticed Tony and Cherie sitting quietly in the corner (with security, of course) perhaps grateful for a relatively anonymous evening. The staff error may have been comic but it was also down to Jack’s presence or charisma. Not everyone could have or would have wanted to carry it off.

Spiritual Life

After Wennington, Jack retained a deep respect for Quaker practice. But he had an energetic and restless intellect. During the 70’s and 80’s he turned to Buddhism partly on account of a meeting with HH The Dalai Lama in ‘73 and perhaps as a reaction toChristianity’s demand that its moral codes be followed unquestioningly by all. Morality, for Jack, was contingent, the distinction between Good and Evil not as simple as the monotheistic religions would have us believe. Rather, he aligned himself with what Buddhism and Tao teach, and what George Harrison famously sang: ‘And to see you’re really only very small and life flows on within you and without you’. Birth is random. Life on earth is brief. Live it to the full without regrets.

Jack’s childhood friend, Leslie Walsh, reflects that Jack had his ups and downs but that he circumnavigated these by creating and living in his own world. If this reflected the reality of a situation, then fine, but if not, trouble brewed. He and Leslie used to talk about politics after his move to Croydon, but Leslie regarded politics as one of the areas where Jack’s world collided with reality. This did not prevent him becoming active in Labour Party with Rowenna Davis commenting Jack was a leading light for the local Labour Party.

***

A final reflection. When in the company of Jack at his most unfailingly polite you knew he had little interest in the person; when in the company of Jack the raconteur you knew he had found a listener and Jack enjoyed lapping up the attention; but it was only when someone was subjected to what we might call a Jack Attack that you understood this was a close friend. As he was careful to explain, if you challengesomeone you don’t know, you risk losing them. You can only afford to be short with friends because you know they will remain so.

So there you have him. A working class Lancastrian who had the privilege most of his adult life of living in the Doria palace, Rome, whose private gallery hangs works by Velasquez, Rembrandt and Caravaggio and whose Baroque staircase was adjudged by Anthony Blunt no less to be the most beautiful of its kind in Rome; a man with deeply Christian roots but with no need for a creator God; someone rich in spirit but with no belief in the soul or the afterlife, no belief in heaven or hell; one whose politics was well left of centre and who demonstrated this through his generosity and his consideration of others’ needs including the spiritual; a convivial but also intensely private person; one whose poetics enabled him to transcend all these distinctions and weave these into the rich tapestry of a fully lived life. He died intestate and penniless but not friendless and was immensely grateful to all those who supported him in his latter years. And he was immensely grateful to the staff at Whitgift for their support and care, their generosity and their willingness to meet his needs until the end.

https://seenandheard-international.com/2014/07/the-power-of-alexander-ullmans-pianism/

https://seenandheard-international.com/2022/03/the-love-which-dare-not-speak-its-name-beams-brightly-at-wiltons-music-

hall/https://seenandheard-international.com/2021/03/jonathan-ferrucci-brings-new-life-to-the-goldberg-variations-at-st-marys-

perivale/https://seenandheard-international.com/2021/03/the-wit-and-wisdom-of-hao-zi-yohs-pianism-for-music-at-st-marys-

perivale/https://seenandheard-international.com/2021/04/mozart-the-thick-and-thin-of-it/

https://seenandheard-international.com/2020/12/the-latest-opus-of-graham-johnson-francis-poulenc-the-life-in-the-songs/

https://seenandheard-international.com/2020/10/bombast-lyricism-and-harmonic-inventiveness-of-liszt-by-leslie-howard-at-st-marys-perivale/

https://seenandheard-international.com/2020/09/norma-fisher-recalls-my-life-and-music-at-st-marys-perivale/

https://seenandheard-international.com/2020/07/it-aint-a-gonna-rain-no-mo-more-music-hall-memories/

https://seenandheard-international.com/2020/07/jonathan-ferrucci-is-a-wunderkind-pianist-with-noble-soul/

https://seenandheard-international.com/2020/06/new-did-we-really-need-vera-lynn-during-the-war-and-when-will-we-all-meet-again/

https://seenandheard-international.com/2020/05/new-perfect-pianists-at-the-bbc-education-and-entertainment/

https://seenandheard-international.com/2022/01/christian-blackshaw-alla-mozart-for-the-composers-birthday-at-wigmore-hall/

https://seenandheard-international.com/2020/04/new-remembering-margaret-rutherford-murder-on-and-off-screen/

She Walks in Beauty – Marianne is Faithfull

Puck at the Piano

Celebrating

THE LIFE OF

Jack Buckley 

15.03.38 – 26.09.22

Tuesday February 28^th 2023 09:45

Croydon Crematorium East Chapel

Mitcham Rd (A236), London CR03AA

Thornton Rd (A23) London CR7 6BB

UK

Order of Service

Procession​………………..……… .Conchita Supervia

Introduction and Welcome……………Bishop Peter Price

Poem……….……….………….……………..William Blake

Eulogy 1…………………………………Stefano Pascalino

Poems…………………………………………Jack Buckley

Eulogy 2……………………………..Antony Warde-Jones

Revelation 21.1-5a…………………….Bishop Peter Price

Obituary ………………………………..Bishop Peter Price

Committal…………………………………..Verdi:Trovatore“D’amor sull’ali rosee” Monserrat Caballe

Departure

Eternity

He who binds to himself a joy

Does the winged life destroy 

He who kisses the joy as it flies 

Lives in eternity’s sun rise.

William Blake 1757-1827

Life follows death

Life follows death and back again,

A hundred or so times a day.

Eat, drink, live, die, cry, love, hope, pray.

Sometimes a child shows us the way.

Life follows death and back again.

No fears please, least, not for today.

Happy Christmas is what we say.

Life follows death and back again.

Eat, drink, live, die, cry, love, hope, pray.

With live for the day your refrain,

Life follows death and back again,

A hundred or so times a day.  

A close friend died and left some pain.

Eat, drink, live, die, cry, love, hope, pray.

Most things absent often remain.

I try to live life without gain:

Its own reward.  Say that again.

Eat, drink, live, die cry, love, hope, pray:

A checklist for your mainstay. 

A thousand or so times a day.

Jack Buckley

Grace

When it comes to grace
Eternity’s your space.
Only feel it.
Don’t need it.
Bigger than you.
The joy you never knew.
A smile on your face
when it comes to grace,
when grace should find you,
it’s courtesy to remind you
that grace found you,
but ne’er on a working day:
Breath deeply. Breath calmly.
Then! Then! Quietly pray.
Should you need help
remember yourself.
But quietly: no haste.
‘t is wondrous space

-that gifts us grace.

JB 08/11/2019

Yet

When I was dying,

Thought I was ready,

                              Yet,

Something was missing.

Don’t know what it was

                                  Yet

It felt so familiar

                   Yet

So far away and

Still no conditioner,

No asphyxiating indicator.

No liberating force

                        Yet

You couldn’t help thinking

How kindly is death.

Still,

Death won’t keep quiet,

Quite yet.  

31/10/2019  JB

The link for the funeral of Jack Buckley to be held on 

Tuesday Feb 28^th 2023 at 09:45

Website​​https://watch.obitus.com

Username​​sane2834

Password​​264437

Sherri just two days after playing in London began her Keyboard Trust Italian tour in collaboration with the Robert Turnbull Piano Foundation, with a triumphant appearance in Vicenza.
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2025/03/12/sherri-lun-in-perivale-maturity-and-mastery-of-intelligence-and-refined-poetry/

Incontro Sulla Tastiera for young musicians is the series that the tireless Mariantonietta Righetto Sgueglia has been organising for almost fifty years. Now in the magnificent Teatro Comunale this was just the start of a tour that will finish next week in Florence taking in Venice,Padua and The Ritz at Abano Terme

.https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2025/03/19/sherri-lun-in-florence-harold-acton-library-music-al-british-refined-musicianship-and-mastery-of-a-young-star/

A fascinating programme that starts and finishes with two of the most important works in the Romantic piano repertoire. Chopin’s last great masterpiece the Polonaise- Fantasie where Chopin had created a completely new form that was so revolutionary for it’s time that it was only many years after his death that it was finally recognised for it’s genial invention and poetic beauty. Beethoven’s shortest Sonata but one of the composers favourite for its beauty and simplicity, opening the gate to the composers last period of his thirty two sonatas that spanned his entire life story.

Bach’s mighty Chaconne presented in the famous reworking by Busoni in his centenary year and the rebirth for the piano of one of the greatest of Bach’s works originally written for solo violin. ’Widmung’ and the Fantasie were outpourings of love by Robert Schumann for his future wife Clara .It is fitting that Sherri should include a composition by Clara Schumann too, who apart from being the mother of Robert’s eight children was the first woman virtuoso of the piano and a quite considerable composer in her own right.The Nocturne uses Robert’s theme from the Fantasie and was published in the same year.A secret message between Clara and Robert of one of the greatest love stories of all time.

Chopin Polonaise Fantasie in A-flat major, Op.61

Beethoven Sonata No.24 in F-sharp major, Op.78

Bach/Busoni Chaconne in D minor, BWV 1004

—Intermission— 

Schumann/Liszt Widmung

Clara Schumann Nocturne Op.6 No.2

Schumann Fantasy in C major, Op.17

Schumann ,Wieck and Chopin
Good performances of Sherri Lun
Il Giornale di Vicenza 19 March 2025
Eva Purelli
‘Difficult programme played with great ability by the young refined pianist from Hong Kong .With the only exception of Bach.’

‘In partnership with the Keyboard Trust of London and the Robert Turnbull Piano Foundation, the 21 year old pianist from Hong Kong , Sherri Lun, played for the ‘Incontri sulla Tastiera.
This time for the appearance in Vicenza in the historic collaboration with the English Trust,created by Noretta Conci with her husband John Leech, (Noretta had been a student and assistant of Arturo Benedetto Michelangeli) , there appeared another association that sponsors young concert artists on their International tours : The Robert Turnbull Piano Foundation giving scholarships to young pianists from all parts of the world in memory of the young pianist who died of linfoma in 2018.
These realities do not exist in Italy as they do in England where this same pianist, Lun, is perfecting her studies under Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy of Music.
Her visiting card in Vicenza was with a refined programme of above all the music of Robert Schumann. The Fantasie in C op 17 was written in 1836 and revised in 1838 to raise funds for a monument in honour of Beethoven in Bonn, that Robert Schumann dedicated to Liszt, with it’s outpouring of love for Clara Wieck. It is a work of great originality, strong passions and intimate nostalgia of such importance that it became the inspiration for Liszt’s B minor Sonata that he dedicated to Robert Schumann.
A pianistic masterpiece that found in Lun an interpreter of precision with great attention to the dynamics and an authoritative technical command of expressive sensibility .
There can be no doubt that Schumann is the composer that she has most feeling for, with a ravishing tenderness that was revealed also in her performance of his song ( in reality a Lied).
‘Widmung’ op 25 n 1 was composed by Schumann and trascribed for piano by Liszt. It means ‘Dedication’ and is a profound declaration of love and admiration for Clara Wieck. It was her Nocturne op 6 n 2 that Sherri also played. For some years this composer has been rediscovered and admired for herself and not just as the partner of a Romantic German genius. In fact her nocturne was a surprise for its exquisite fullness and creative style.
Well etched also was Chopin’s Polonaise-Fantasie op 61 .
This important and robust programme also included Beethoven’s F sharp Sonata op 78 in which she revealed a kaleidoscope of colour and sensitive phrasing.
The programme could have finished there with the beautiful romanticism of Schumann without bothering to play the Bach Chaconne in D minor BWV 1004 in the famous reworking of Ferruccio Busoni : where Lun’s interpretation was too romantic, lacking in profundity and contrapuntal shape.
On the other hand she played a glowing encore ‘In des Abends ‘ from the ‘Fantasiestücke’ ………by Schumann of course .

PART 2 Venice – Padua – Abano Terme for Agimus Padua

Beauty everywhere and nowhere more than in Palazzo Albrizzi with an inspired Sherri Lun.

The Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat major, Op. 61 was dedicated to Mme A. Veyret, and written and published in 1846. It was slow to gain favour with musicians, due to its harmonic complexity and intricate form.Its shape and its style caused much consternation and it was quite some time before listeners could come to terms with it as ‘the piano speaks here in a language not previously known’.The “Polonaise-Fantaisie” is among Chopin’s last great piano works, and is a testament to his mastery and maturity. The unusual title betrays the fact that Chopin was uncertain about which genre to assign it to. While the typical rhythm and noble character of the Polonaise repeatedly shine through the notes, the Polonaise-Fantaisie is characterized above all by a great freedom in its thematic and formal aspects. The work brushes through a great variety of keys, moods and motifs, and leads into a grandiose closing apotheosis as if at the end of a long journey.One of the first critics to speak positively of the work was Arthur Hedley,writing in 1947 said that it “works on the hearer’s imagination with a power of suggestion equaled only by the F minor Fantasy  or the Fourth Ballade .He suggested that the Polonaise-Fantaisie represents a change in Chopin’s style from ‘late’ to ‘last’.It is suggested that the formal ambiguities of the piece (particularly the unconventional and musically misleading transitions into and out of the lyrical inner section) are the most significant defining qualities of this ‘last style’, which only includes this and one other piece—the F minor Mazurka op 68 n. 4 Chopin’s last composition.”,

The Piano Sonata No. 24 in F sharp major , Op. 78, nicknamed “à Thérèse” (because it was written for Countess Thérèse von Brunswick in 1809.

It consists of two movements:

1. Adagio cantabile — Allegro ma non troppo
2. Allegro vivace

According to Carl Czerny , Beethoven himself singled out this sonata and the “Appassionata ” Sonata as favourites (once written, the “Hammerklavier “ Sonata” would also become one of Beethoven’s favourites

Who isn’t familiar with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Chaconne, the final movement in his Partita in D minor for Violin solo? Time and again composers have been inspired to make this exceptional piece accessible for other instruments. Perhaps the best-known arrangement is by Ferruccio Busoni. 
Without distancing himself too greatly from Bach’s original, he endeavours to transpose the virtuosity of the string writing onto the piano. Thus Busoni wrote for the piano in a way that congenially makes the most of the capabilities of the modern piano.

Ferrucio Busoni, born in Italy of an Italian father and a German mother, displayed a passion for Bach at an early age. A prodigy who played some of his own compositions in a piano recital in Vienna when he was 10 years old, Busoni made an exhaustive study of Bach’s music and throughout his adult life worked tirelessly at editing and making transcriptions of works by the Baroque master. His philosophical notions of music and the advanced practices of composition that he applied to his own pieces seem now to be at odds with such a bravura, flamboyant piece of work as his transcription for piano of the Chaconne from Bach’s Partita No. 2 for solo violin. The transcription was made sometime in the late 1890s and was dedicated to the pianist Eugene d’Albert; Busoni himself played it frequently in his own blazingly brilliant recitals.

Lest it be thought that Busoni was being irreverent in appropriating the lofty Chaconne for showpiece purposes, one must remember that Brahms made a piano transcription of the selfsame piece, for left hand alone. Wheras Brahms imitates the original as closely as possible, Busoni ventures an arrangement that seems to be a piano realization of a grand orchestral or organ work rather than one for a single violin.In fact, the Chaconne, the final movement of the Partita, is monumental in its original version—a set of more than 60 variations on a simple bass theme. The great Bach scholar Philipp Spitta (1841-1894) gave a description of the Chaconne that might have quickened Busoni’s fascination with it. Wrote Spitta:

“The overpowering wealth of forms displays not only the most perfect knowledge of the technique of the violin, but also the most absolute mastery over an imagination the life of which no composer was ever endowed with… What scenes the small instrument opens to our view!… From the grave majesty of the beginning to the 32nd notes which rush up and down like very demons; from the tremulous arpeggios that hang almost motionless, like veiling clouds above a gloomy ravine, till a strong wind drives them to the tree tops, which groan and toss as they whirl their leaves into the air; to the devotional beauty of the movement in D major, where the evening sun sets in the peaceful valley. The spirit of the master urges the instrument to incredible utterances; at the end of the major section, it sounds like an organ, and sometimes a whole band of violins seems to be playing. [Busoni took this reference seriously.] The Chaconne is a triumph of spirit over matter such as even Bach never repeated in a more brilliant manner.”

The Fantasie in C, Op. 17, was written by Robert Schumann in 1836 and revised prior to publication in 1839, when it was dedicated to Franz Liszt. It is generally described as one of Schumann’s greatest works for solo piano, and is one of the central works of the early Romantic period.

Its three movements are headed:

1. Durchaus fantastisch und leidenschaftlich vorzutragen; Im Legenden-Ton 
2. Mäßig. Durchaus energisch –
3. Langsam getragen. Durchweg leise zu halten.
   The piece has its origin in early 1836, when Schumann composed a piece entitled Ruines expressing his distress at being parted from his beloved Clara Wieck (later to become his wife). This later became the first movement of the Fantasy.Later that year, he wrote two more movements to create a work intended as a contribution to the appeal for funds to erect a monument  to Beethoven  in his birthplace, Bonn . Schumann offered the work to the publisher Kirstner, suggesting that 100 presentation copies could be sold to raise money for the monument. Other contributions to the Beethoven monument fund included Mendelssohn’s Variations sérieuses
   The original title of Schumann’s work was “Obolen auf Beethovens Monument: Ruinen, Trophaen, Palmen, Grosse Sonate f.d. Piano f. Für Beethovens Denkmal”. Kirstner refused, and Schumann tried offering the piece to Haslinger in January 1837. When Haslinger also refused, he offered it to Breitkopf & Hartel in May 1837. The movements’ subtitles (Ruins, Trophies, Palms) became Ruins, Triumphal Arch, and Constellation, and were then removed altogether before Breitkopf & Härtel eventually issued the Fantasie in May 1839.
   The work was dedicated to Franz Liszt , who replied in a letter dated June 5, 1839: “The Fantaisie dedicated to me is a work of the highest kind – and I am really proud of the honour you have done me in dedicating to me so grand a composition. I mean, therefore, to work at it and penetrate it through and through, so as to make the utmost possible effect with it.”
   The Beethoven Monument was eventually completed, due mainly to the efforts of Liszt, who paid 2,666 thaler,the largest single contribution. It was unveiled in grand style in 1845, the attendees including Queem Victoria  and Prince Albert, and many other dignitaries and composers, but not Schumann, who was ill.
   Schumann prefaced the work with a quote from Friedich Schlegel :
   Durch alle Töne tönet
   Im bunten Erdentraum
   Ein leiser Ton gezogen
   Für den, der heimlich lauschet.
   (“Resounding through all the notes
   In the earth’s colorful dream
   There sounds a faint long-drawn note
   For the one who listens in secret.”)
   The musical quotation  of a phrase from Beethoven’s song cycle An die ferne Geliebte  in the coda of the first movement was not acknowledged by Schumann, and apparently was not spotted until 1910.The text of the passage quoted is: Accept then these songs [beloved, which I sang for you alone]. Both the Schlegel stanza and the Beethoven quotation are appropriate to Schumann’s current situation of separation from Clara Wieck. Schumann wrote to Clara: The first movement may well be the most passionate I have ever composed – a deep lament for you. They still had many tribulations to suffer before they finally married four years later.

The six Soirees musicales, Op. 6. Robert Schumann himself was appreciative enough of Clara’s romantic ”Notturno”, Op. 6 No. 2, (growing from the five falling-note motif so symbolic for both of them while forbidden all communication by Clara’s father) to quote it as the ”Stimme aus der Ferne” in his last Novellette.

Widmung is much more than a mere showpiece – containing probably the most passionate music writing and most heartfelt feelings. Written in 1840 (this piece was from a set of Lieder called Myrthen, Op.25), this piece was later arranged for piano solo by Liszt . Myrthen was dedicated to Clara Wieck  as a wedding gift, as he finally married Clara in September, despite the opposition from Clara’s father (who was also Robert’s piano teacher).

Below is the text of Widmung, with English translation:

Original Text by Friedrich Rückert

Du meine Seele, du mein Herz,

Du meine Wonn’, o du mein Schmerz,

Du meine Welt, in der ich lebe,

Mein Himmel du, darein ich schwebe,

O du mein Grab, in das hinab

Ich ewig meinen Kummer gab!

Du bist die Ruh, du bist der Frieden,

Du bist vom Himmel mir beschieden.

Dass du mich liebst, macht mich mir wert,

Dein Blick hat mich vor mir verklärt,

Du hebst mich liebend über mich,

Mein guter Geist, mein bess’res Ich!

You my soul, you my heart,

You my rapture, O you my pain,

You my world in which I live,

My heaven you, to which I aspire,

O you my grave, into which

My grief forever I’ve consigned!

You are repose, you are peace,

You are bestowed on me from heaven.

Your love for me gives me my worth,

Your eyes transfigure me in mine,

You raise me lovingly above myself,

Sherri Lun, named ‘2020 Performing Artist of the Year’ by the South China Morning Post, has garnered acclaim for her “pinpoint clarity and convincing bravura” (Chicago Tribune). Born in Hong Kong and currently based in London, Sherri has swiftly established herself as a rising soloist on the international stage. A Young Scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, Sherri made her concerto debut at the Ravinia Festival with the Midwest Young Artists at just 10 years old. Since then, she has performed in prestigious venues including Wigmore Hall in London, Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, and Millennium Park in Chicago. Her international appearances span the UK, US, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Malaysia, and China. Sherri has also collaborated with esteemed ensembles such as the Salzburg Chamber Soloists, Hong Kong Youth Orchestra, and Kölner Kammerorchester. Recent performances include the Hammerklavier International Piano Series in Girona, the Festival Musicale delle Nazioni in Rome, a 4-concert Malaysian tour, recitals in Steinway Hall London and Drapers’ Hall. In December 2023, she released her debut album with KNS Classical, featuring works by Robert Schumann and César Franck. Sherri’s artistry has been recognized with top prizes in numerous national and international competitions. Most recently, she won First Prize and Audience Prize in the 2024 Birmingham International Piano Competition, following her First Prize win at the 2023 Hong Kong Generation Next Arts Competition. Sherri also won top prizes in the Robert Schumann Competition (Du¨sseldorf), Zhuhai International Mozart Competition for Young Musicians, ASEAN International Chopin Piano Competition, Singapore International Piano Competition, and Steinway & Sons Youth Piano Competition, to name a few, and is a quarter-finalist of the 2024 Hamamatsu International Piano Competition. At the Royal Academy, she won consecutively the 2022 Sterndale Bennett Prize, 2023 Chung Nung Lee Prize, and 2024 Harold Craxton Prize. She was also invited to perform in RAM’s 2022 Bicentenary celebration concert in Wigmore Hall. In Hong Kong, she is a frequent winner of local competitions, and her performance has been broadcasted by the Radio Television Hong Kong. Born in 2003, Sherri majored in piano and viola as a junior student of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She is currently studying under Prof. Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy of Music on a full scholarship, supported by both the Academy and the Hong Kong Scholarship for Excellence Scheme. She is also an artist with KNS Classical and the Keyboard Charitable Trust. For more information, visit http://www.sherrilun.com.

Sherri Lun in Perivale ‘Maturity and mastery of intelligence and refined poetry’

The Strand Rising Stars Series – Sherri Lun The magic and artistry of a star shining brightly

Sherri Lun at St James’s Piccadilly Poetry and grandeur with crystalline clarity and impeccable musicianship

Sherri Lun at Steinway Hall for the Keyboard Trust Mastery,passion and intelligence of twenty year old pianist.

Quite extraordinary playing of two masterworks for piano by Beethoven and Schubert. Not only superb playing but a very moving introduction from a young lady whose whole philosophy of life is in her music making. It was nice to be reminded of Alfred Brendel’s ‘bon mot’ of Beethoven being the architect and Schubert the sleep walker. In the entire recital there was not a single note that was out of place. It reminded me of Rosalyn Tureck saying she did not play wrong notes, meaning that every note had a place in a musical equation of a deeply thought out interpretation.

Here was an artist who had a whole orchestra in her hands, where even the simple bare notes of the Eroica theme were played with an extraordinary depth of sound. A beautiful fluidity to ‘a due’ and ‘a tre’ until springing to life in the ‘a quattro’ and finally the theme appearing in all its charm and simplicity.There was the beguiling charm of the first variation and the cascades of notes of the second which were more in effect moving harmonies as notes just disappeared in the hands of such a poetic artist. The rugged edges of the turbulent Beethoven of the third were answered by the meanderings of the fourth with the left hand played with gentle persuasion as the bare outlines of the theme were etched above. She brought a glowing beauty to the fifth with a beautiful mellifluous outpouring of refined sensibility.There was the dramatic entry of the sixth with it’s sinister bass notes and the spiky brilliance of the seventh.The elegance of the eighth bathed in pedal and played with simple beauty. The chiselled ragged brilliance of the ninth with its obstinate left hand eruptions was followed by the quixotic playfulness of the tenth before the exquisite charm of the eleventh. Each hand chasing each other in the twelfth with gymnastic precision and then the tongue in cheek insistence she brought to the acciaccaturas in the thirteenth.The searching contemplation of the fourteenth in the minor key before the extraordinarily poignant final variation in the major. An ornamentation of fervour and improvised freedom with a coda of great uncertainty searching for a way out, and finally drifting on a cloud to a final cadence, and the decisive entry of the fugue. Knotty twine played with remarkable clarity and architectural shape. And here the remarkable genius of Beethoven ( in some way similar to Bach’s Goldberg Variations) with the return of the theme played with disarming simplicity but that Beethoven decides to bring to a glorious conclusion of great exhilaration just as Busoni had mistakenly done with Bach’s genial creation!

There was a wonderful sense of legato and weight which gave nobility and poignancy to this outpouring of song that was to be Schubert’s last. I imagine she did not play the repeat in the first movement because of the time restriction with the live stream, because a musician of her stature would realise what a wonder are those few extra bars that take us back to the beginning. There was beauty of great solidity and intelligence with an extraordinary sense of balance with a glorious outpouring of deeply felt playing. The ‘Andante sostenuto’ with a melodic line played with disarming simplicity and searing intensity, an extraordinary legato where the embellishments were merely fragments adorning such poignant outpourings.There was great intensity and sublime beauty to the central chorale of almost Brahmsian richness, before dissolving into the disarming whispered simplicity of the ending played with extraordinary poise. She brought a pastoral simplicity to the ‘Scherzo’ and even the troublesome’Trio’ was played with a clarity of line that is rare indeed. The last movement revealed the whole of Schubert’s world, from the disarming simplicity of the ländler to the mellifluous outpouring of song and also a rare dynamic turbulence of urgency and demonstrative vigour.

As Dr Mather said we had been treated this afternoon to playing of extraordinary beauty and shown the real meaning of technical perfection. It is when the composer’s wishes can be turned into sounds without any circus tricks or gymnastics, just allowing the music to speak with humility, intelligence and poetic sensibility. This is what Elisabeth Tsai share with us today.

American pianist Elisabeth Tsai was born into a musical family and began playing the cello at the age of four, switching to the piano at age seven. Throughout her adolescent years, she garnered top awards in local and international competitions and received opportunities to perform throughout the United States, including appearances at Carnegie Hall and From the Top’s radio show. Her recent endeavours have been largely repertoire-based, with recitals programming the last three Beethoven sonatas and the last four Brahms opuses for solo piano. She was recently awarded the first prize ex aequo at the 2024 Brahms Piano Competition Detmold. 

Elisabeth received a bachelor’s from the Schwob School of Music and two master’s degrees from the Yale School of Music, where she studied with Boris Berman and Boris Slutsky. She is currently studying with Ronan O’Hora as an artist diploma candidate at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In addition to solo and concerto performances around the US, Germany, Italy, the UK and the Netherlands, she has played in masterclasses for artists such as Peter Serkin, Robert Levin, Christopher Elton, Paul Lewis, and Roberto Prosseda. An avid chamber musician, Elisabeth was a Fellow at the 2024 Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and was invited to the Smithsonian Chamber Society in 2023 to perform Beethoven piano trios on historical instruments. 

Elisabeth is passionate about music education as well as performance. She previously held a Teaching Artist position at Neighborhood Music School in New Haven and taught at Through the Staff’s online music education program. 

Elena Vorotko co Artistic Director of the KT writes : ‘Bridget Yee, effervescence of youth with a heart of gold. From the first bright runs of the Bach Partita, through the mind-bending complexity of Gubaidulina’s Chaconne to the last luscious chords of the Rachmaninov Sonata, Bridget’s sweet nature, enthusiasm and passion for music shone through. All the pieces were her favourites and it showed – there was complete command of the material and the pleasure she took in shaping her musical sentences and voicing her textures brought delight to the audience too. The Bach had a balance of flexibility and pulse and an enviable crispness and lightness of finger work. Some of the lyrical movements spoke with moving fragility and genuine charm. The final Gigue was full of fireworks which was just a glimpse of treats to come! The following Chaconne by Gubaidulina was written in 1962 for Marina Mdiwani, winner of the first Tchaikovsky Competition and a student of Emil Gilels. The composer said that she tailored the piece to the pianist who was of lively temperament and could play amazing chords. The construction of the piece is very clever, as was expressed by Bridget in the discussion after the concert, the 23 note row is manipulated in many different ways, often made evident to a lay listener, while constructing a tremendous architecture of a marriage between a Chaconne and a Passacaglia. Bridget’s grasp of the musical ideas was astonishing as she took us through the narrative in one breath. But her true heart revealed itself in the first notes of the Rachmaninov Sonata, of which she is hoping to make her own version one day. The golden warmth of sound and the organic moulding of her phrasing took us to another realm. Tremendously virtuosic, her technique, always serving the music, created breathtaking moments of genuine beauty and power. This young lady, so full of enthusiasm for life, art, mountains and music has a lot of joy to give this world. We look forward to witnessing her flourish.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/11/18/bridget-yee-at-st-jamess-sussex-gardens-intellect-and-keyboard-command-of-breathtaking-audacity/

Point and Counterpoint 2024 A personal view by Christopher Axworthy

Some remarkable playing of great maturity from this twenty two year old pianist from the class of Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy in London. A class where above all musical values are the basis for a profound study of the score, taking for granted a mastery of the keyboard but explaining the style and the very meaning behind the notes. It is only from this beginning that the true meaning of technique can be understood and mastered. It is born from a wish to delve ever deeper into the score to find the meaning of the music when still wet on the page. It was exactly this that came across in all that Sherri played today.Two Fantasies,both representing the pinnacle of the Romantic piano repertoire, and a Chaconne not by Bach but by the 93 year old Sofija Gubaidulina written for the winner of the Tchaikovsky competition in 1962. The most notable thing about Sherri’s playing is the limpet type weight that her fingers have as they cling to the keys, never hitting them but sucking the sound out with an enviable concentration that denies any showmanship or eccentricities.This was a pianist who listens to every sound she was making with a mastery and intelligence that would be the envy of pianists twice her age!

Chopin’s Polonaise- Fantaisie is one of his last works,when he had found a unique form that united the Polish dance with the fantasy of a poetic genius. Sherri played it with aristocratic authority, where notes we have heard many times before now had a significance and meaning that demanded our attention. The opening imperious chords were allowed to vibrate over the entire keyboard with a single web of sound that are true reverberations of the soul. Sherri realised this and played the notes with one beautiful movement ( so often divided up between the hands to make it pianistically easier).It was her total identification with the music, where the beauty of the music was the same natural beauty of the shape of her hand and body. A sumptuous glowing sound as the Polonaise could be heard in the distance gradually advancing with the clarity of the knotty counterpoints that link the episodes together. Ornaments that sparkled like jewels and just showed Sherri’s mastery of the pedal and above all mastery of true legato. A poignant introduction to the central episode was played with timeless beauty and opened up to a chorale of ravishing depth of sound and control. Chopin’s counterpoints just adding to the beauty that was unfolding with a clarity that was never intrusive but just contributing to the magic that was being recreated. There was a beautifully judged build up to the heroic climax where she created the culmination of nobility and aristocratic control with breathtaking exhilaration, dying away to a mere whisper before the final bare A flat.

The Gubaidulina Chaconne opened with imperious authority of luminosity with a kaleidoscope of colours.There was a great clarity even with such a knotty web of sounds. Played with a transcendental mastery but always with an architectural shape that could reconcile the fervent outpourings with the actual overall shape of this extraordinary work. Astonishing mastery of non legato and legato and with the use of the pedal that even allowed for such clarity. Ending as it had begun with nobility and unashamed declamations of intensity and strength. Sherri had warned us in advance that this was a different sound world from Chopin and Schumann .It was a work that had touched her deeply and that she wanted to master and be able to share her enthusiasm with others, which she certainly did today with fearless courage and masterly authority.

The Fantasy op 17 is one of Schumann’s greatest works and is dedicated to Liszt and was Schumann’s contribution to the expense of a monument to Beethoven in Bonn. Liszt is famed for having sight read it with total mastery. The first performance I ever heard was the very first recital I went to of Artur Rubinstein in London, and it has remained in my heart ever since. I have since heard many pianists ,great and small, play it but rarely have I heard it played with such understanding or beauty as today. There was a wonderful opening with just a wash of sounds on which floated Schumann’s miraculous outpouring of love for his Clara. How often have we heard that first G played like a bomb going off instead of just creating a magic web of sound. Agosti often used to stop students when they started the fantasy in such a brutal way with a comment that it was as though Schumann had hit his beloved Clara over the head ! Sherri shaped the melodic line so beautifully but also with passion and a legato of real weight and refined beauty. There was a great sense of line in which Schumann’s chords were merely bystanders as it lead to the first big climax. Deep bass notes and a descending scale prepared us for the central ‘Im Legenden Ton’ that Sherri played with glowing simplicity.There was a beautiful stillness to the coda as her attention to detail and the very precise dynamic marks were interpreted with rare poetic beauty.

The March was played with restrained nobility that allowed her to shape it with maturity in what can seem a very repetitive movement if played full out from the very first notes. Schumann’s infamous dotted rhythms too, were shaped into phrases of beauty that conversed with the inner voices in such a beguiling way. A continual forward movement even in the graceful central episode. Sherri demonstrated a remarkable fearless control where music just poured from her hands and where technical hurdles no longer existed. The treacherous coda too was played with remarkable accuracy and passionate abandon with a dynamic drive that is of a chosen few. A long pause before the final movement allowing her hands to enter into the private domain of Robert and Clara with an outpouring of love and sensibility. Sherri played it with a subtle flexibility that was like a great improvisation where everything was allowed to sing. Even the chordal build up to the two climaxes was played with knowing beauty where the top notes were allowed to sing without ever allowing for a thicker texture. The ending was a beautiful outpouring of song as the melody passed from the soprano to the bass voice with an impeccable sense of balance. Even the crescendo. that Schumann marks, never overstepped the atmosphere that had been created but just added to the poetic intensity of one of the finest performances I have heard for many a year.

Sherri is also an inquisitive musician and her encore by Clara Schumann was the Nocturne op 6, that echoes the melody of Robert in the fantasy and was published in the same year . It was played with the same weight and aristocratic beauty as the fantasy with a sense of yearning that was a deep lament for Robert as his Fantasy had been for her .

The Strand Rising Stars Series – Sherri Lun The magic and artistry of a star shining brightly

Sherri Lun at St James’s Piccadilly Poetry and grandeur with crystalline clarity and impeccable musicianship

Sherri Lun at Steinway Hall for the Keyboard Trust Mastery,passion and intelligence of twenty year old pianist.

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Sofia Gubaidulina on March 13, 2025, at her home near Hamburg.

Sofia Gubaidulina was regarded as the grande dame of contemporary music, the most significant Russian composer of our time, and a person whose deep faith was a constant source of inspiration. Her profound curiosity about the world, people, and spirituality left a lasting impression on all who met her and had the honor of collaborating with her.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/4kIEehL

The Piano: Bach to BeBop is produced by Burnett Thompson https://www.PianoJazz.com https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2019/11/11/tea-for-two-leslie-howard-45th-wigmore-celebrations-and-burnett-thompson-the-age-of-mayhem/

01:22 Helen Ottaway Levantina

08:04 Franz Schubert Drei Klavierstücke D. 946

29:03 Jan Sibelius 6 Impromptus, opus 5

44:59 Aram Khachaturian Sonata I. Allegro vivace II. Andante tranquillo III. Allegro assai

It was nice to hear Iyad live from Washington yesterday, the last stop of his USA tour. Some years have passed since his student days in London when I was already very impressed by his intelligent well prepared programmes and the professional calm he was able to transmit from a very early age. He has long been an advocate of the works of Mozart of which he was already a remarkably mature interpreter but it was his brilliance and total dedication to Khachaturian that captured the imagination. Listening to Iyad today I was impressed not only with his professional stance with playing of authority but above all of the poetic colouring and imagination he brought to all he played. Sometimes old instruments can still have sounds hidden away inside them that even they no longer know they possess. Richter would often enjoy the discovery of an unknown instrument and the challenge to find the soul that was hidden to all but the musicians who were also magicians.

Already with the opening work by Helen Ottaway, although we could not hear the introduction, as a headless Iyad spoke out of range of camera and microphone. It was obvious that this was a work that uses the piano not as a percussive instrument but as the Pandora’s Box it can be in a true artist’s hands. A lot of it reminded me of the hypnotic repetitive sound world of Steve Reich, as there were magical sounds resonating through this ‘historic’ instrument with a mellifluous flow of flowering intensity.

Schubert’s Drei Klavierstücke are a true test of musicianship and poetic sensibility and Iyad opened the first with a joyous outpouring of great urgency on a journey to some distant paradise.The paradise that was waiting in the central episode that was allowed to sing in Iyad’s sensitive hands with beauty and simplicity. Magical arabesques just illuminating the mellifluous outpouring, gradually becoming more agitated as it regained the pace of the opening .The second movement was a simple ‘ländler’ that was deeply felt and played with aristocratic poise.The last movement had an infectious rhythmic drive and an almost Brahmsian richness to the central episode embellished by notes sparkling on high.The doubling of the tenor voice gave depth and added even more sumptuous beauty as the opening was just waiting to take wing and bring us with exultation and excitement to the end. A work that has been likened to a sonata such is the overall architectural shape which Iyad understood with simple mastery today.

A real voyage of discovery with Iyad’s programme today continuing with Six Impromptus op 5 by Sibelius. As Iyad pointed out, we think of this composer as a Symphonist but there is an even greater output of solo piano pieces that are completely overlooked .His orchestral output amounts to 77 works whereas for piano there are 115 out of a total number of compositions of 550 ! These six Impromptus are an early work written in 1893 ( Sibelius 1865- 1957) and are miniatures lasting only a few minutes each, with the exception of the 5th which is the most hauntingly beautiful of them all. Iyad played this 5th with cascades of magical arabesques of ravishing golden sounds almost Schumannesque in its expansive outpouring of romantic fervour.The first was intoned with sombre richness followed by the second which was a quixotic dance played with sparkling colours. The third too was a dance of infectious good humour and bucolic fantasy. The fourth a melody of melancholy and great solemnity.The last pointed in the direction of Scriabin with its melodic uncertainty searching for a star that was nowhere yet to be seen.

Khachaturian has long been in Iyad’s veins and he has already recorded the concertos and many of the solo piano works. Music that owes much to Ginastera and a little to Bartòk with its unashamed virtuosity and fast moving changes of character. Streams of notes just poured from Iyad’s hands with transcendental mastery but also a total self identification with a world of simple naked feelings. Not only was there virtuosity but in the slow movement there were sounds of a hypnotic fluidity of searing intensity. A final movement that showed off Iyad’s remarkable clarity and rhythmic mastery with not a little showmanship as the race was on to the exuberant excitement of the ending.

Jordanian-Palestinian concert pianist Iyad Sughayer, performing music of Schubert, Sibelius and Khachaturian in his first professional American tour. A prize-winner with the Young Classical Artists Trust International Auditions, he was named London’s ClassicFM “Rising Star Artist”. Mr. Sughayer arrives in Washington, DC following critical acclaim for his recording with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, led by the renowned American conductor Andrew Litton. 

Mr. Sughayer’s recent calendar has included performances with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, performances at the Berlin Konzerthaus, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Barber Institute Birmingham, and a series of recitals at the Leicester International Music Festival. Programs include the complete Mozart Piano Sonatas alongside newly commissioned pieces. 

Iyad has appeared with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Mozart Players, Manchester Camerata, European Union Chamber Orchestra, the Cairo and Amman Symphony Orchestras. Iyad also regularly collaborates with oboist Armand Djikoloum, with whom he recently toured Scotland. 

In 2022 Iyad co-founded and launched a new specialist music school, the Mashrek Academy of Music, with the Mashrek International School in Amman. The Academy welcomes students from across Jordan, discovering and nurturing a new generation of creators and musicians. In 2020 he contributed to a BBC Arabic documentary ‘London Lockdown’, in which he took part as a character and recorded the soundtrack for the music. 

Born in Amman, Jordan, Iyad studied at Chetham’s School of Music, the Royal Northern College of Music and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance where he won the College’s prestigious Gold Medal. He completed his International Artist Diploma at the RNCM in 2019 and in the same year became a City Music Foundation Artist. In 2021 he was made an Associate of the Royal Northern College of Music (ARNCM). 

Mr. Sughayer was selected by London’s Keyboard Trust for their career development program. Trust board members include Evgeny Kissin, Alfred Brendel, Leslie Howard and Antonio Pappano. 

 

 

Monday, March 10, 7:00 pm 
Decatur House Museum
748 Jackson Pl. NW 
Washington, DC 20006 
Info: Burnett@PianoJazz.com

JONATHAN FERRUCCI LIVE STREAM TO WASHINGTON FROM ST MARY’S

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2021/03/19/iyad-sughayer-coming-of-age-at-cranleigh-arts-centre/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2020/04/01/iyad-sughayer-at-st-marys-3rd-march-2020/

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2018/11/09/iyad-sughayer-at-conway-hall-in-praise-of-peace/

I have heard Parvis play many times during his studies with Norma Fisher at the Royal College of Music but the pass from being a prize student to becoming an artist can be long and arduous. You have been given a superb training but this is just the beginning and the experience of playing in public and gaining confidence takes time and sacrifice. Most,having finished their scholarship programmes, have to augment the continuation of their artistic ideals with teaching, that can lead to having less time to spend at the keyboard and to prepare programmes. Parvis seems to be an exception to this rule. As a student he was trying to run before he could walk, but his talent was always evident.Today I was very pleased to hear a rather lazy student become a serious artist. Parvis today played with impeccable preparation and authority and if anything he could now take more time and allow the music to unfold naturally allowing more freedom for his stylistic and undoubted poetic sensibility.

Two of the most beautiful of Busoni’s transcriptions of Bach Chorales were played with beauty and deeply felt sentiment. Sentiment that was never sentimental but of the aristocratic fervour of a true believer. There was a flowing line to ‘Nun komm’ that at first seemed very slow but was so full of significance that it was totally convincing.

‘Ich ruf zu dir ‘ is one of the most beautiful of all Busoni’s reimaginings of Bach and I was reminded today of the much missed Nelson Freire who would always include it somewhere in his recitals in Rome together with Gluck/Sgambati : Melody from ‘Orfeo ed Euridice’. Parvis played it with a radiance and a beautiful wave of sounds on which he etched Bach’s glorious melodic invention, sustained by sumptuous bass notes that gave a monumental richness to the beauty that was unfolding from Parvis’s sensitive hands with poignant simplicity.

Nelson Freire RIP……the legacy of a great artist
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2021/11/02/nelson-freire-rip/

Beethoven’s penultimate sonata was played with remarkable technical and musical preparation where even the treacherous leaps in the ‘Trio’ of the ‘Scherzo’ were played with fearless abandon and authority. But as Parvis said in his very interesting and authoritative introductions:’ Is Beethoven a Classical or Romantic composer?’ Well let us not forget that his teacher, Haydn was the inventor of the symphony and inherited the musical forms of his age, bringing them to a new stage of genial invention, but they were mostly of the refined denial of his age. Beethoven took these early forms from his mentor and transformed them with genius, bringing them into a world of ‘Sturm und Drang’ where music could dig deep into the emotions and reveal things that words could never do. Parvis had seen Beethoven as classical and his performance could have had more time to breathe and be shaped with a style that is both classical and romantic. A beautiful opening to op 110, but after a rather prolonged trill suddenly the tempo changed and the ravishing beauty of the opening ( similar to the fourth piano concerto) gave way to a chase. Played with great mastery but lacking the ‘spiritual’ character of one of Beethoven’s gentlest late creations. Beethoven’s irascible contrasting temperament of sudden eruptions and abrupt changes are alien to this last sonata ( and also the one before op 109) giving way to a gentler more accommodating vision of life. Parvis, always playing with a very sensitive sense of balance and extraordinary clarity which suited more the ‘Scherzo’ than the ‘Moderato’ of op 110. The ‘Adagio’ was played with beautiful poise where Beethoven’s own pedalling give a luminous glow to the absolute clarity of the knotty twine that was unfolding. The great ‘Aria’, though, floating on a heart, beating intensely, missed the etherial magic of a composer who had come to terms with a difficult and turbulent life and could now envisage the paradise that was awaiting him only a few years later at the age of fifty seven.

Poulenc’s suave elegance and showmanship suited Parvis much better, as he gave great character to the infectious ‘joie de vivre’ and facade that Poulenc escaped to in his music. A capricious sense of humour to the ‘Très rapide’ was played with a rhythmic elan where Parvis could have been even more fancy free to enjoy the bucolic outpourings of a true Parisian entertainer of the 20’s and 30’s . Sumptuous golden beauty was part of Poulenc’s world too and the ‘Andante’ was bathed in a subtle radiance where Parvis allowed the music to unfold naturally, leading to the ending suspended in air, with a cadence that owed much to the freedom of jazz improvisations of the day.

The opening of Schumann’s ‘Carnaval Jest’ was like the Beethoven, rather breathless, with Parvis’s wish to show us the architectural shape of the opening ‘Allegro’ rather than risking taking a little more time to breathe. I remember a famous pianist friend playing the Schumann Concerto in Rome with a good but not well established ensemble. In the rehearsal she mentioned to the conductor that in various places she liked to breathe .Oh,my dear,he exclaimed, that is very dangerous! It is a risk, but one that I feel Parvis can now allow himself, seeking to be free from architectural constraints and to just turn corners with a little more self indulgence.The indulgence that he did bring to the ‘Intermezzo’, that he played with admirable passion and freedom, allowing the music to unfold with ravishing beauty of romantic intensity.The ‘Romance’ ,too, was played with disarming simplicity and beauty and the ‘Scherzo’ thrown off with admirable nonchalance and ease. There was a rhythmic drive to the finale but here, as in the first movement, the lyrical passages were not given the time that they needed to speak with Schumann’s unique voice – that of Eusebius the poet of his soul.

I had no idea that Parvis was also a composer, and so was impressed with his own improvisation on a Gregorian chant .Beautiful, subtle un constrained sounds, those that had been missing in the masterworks he was interpreting showing a little too much respect.

The notes on the page are only an indication of the sounds that are in the composers head. Beethoven,miraculously, when he was totally deaf, could still write exactly what was in his head to bequeath to posterity.

‘Je sens,je joue ,je trasmet’ is a motto that all interpreters should keep in their studio. Together with humility, respect and intelligence, it is the secret formula of all great artists and one that can open the door to a ‘Pandora’s Box’ of hidden secrets. A voyage of discovery shared with an audience is a unique experience and, as Gilels exclaimed :the difference between fresh food rather than canned!

Parvis Hejazi The Musicanship and Poetry of a true artist – a winning combination at Netherhall Auditorium

Parvis Hejazi the clarity and intelligence of a youthful poet in Perivale

Liszt had been sketching themes for A Symphony to Dante’s Divine Comedy,S 109 since the early 1840s.The French poet Joseph Autran recalled that in the summer of 1845, Liszt improvised for him “a passionate and magnificent symphony upon Dante’s Divine Comedy” on the organ of the empty Marseille Cathedral  at midnight, and later invited him to collaborate with him on a Dante oratorio or opera, which the poet failed to pursue. In 1847, he played some fragments on the piano for his Polish mistress Princess Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein. At this early stage in the composition, it was Liszt’s intention that performances of the work be accompanied by a slide show depicting scenes from the Divine Comedy by the artist Bonaventura Genelli and also planned to use an experimental wind machine to recreate the winds of Hell at the end of the first movement. Although Princess Carolyne was willing to defray the costs, nothing came of these ambitious plans and the symphony was set aside until 1855 when Liszt wrote to his future son-in-law Richard Wagner. “So you are reading Dante. He’s good company for you, and I for my part want to provide you with a kind of commentary on that reading. I have long been carrying a Dante Symphony around in my head – this year I intend to finish it. Three movements, Hell, Purgatory and Paradise – the first two for orchestra alone, the last with chorus. When I visit you in the autumn I shall probably be able to bring it with me; and if you don’t dislike it you can let me inscribe your name on it.” Liszt had been reading Dante’s Divine Comedy in Lake Como in 1937 whilst initially in the company of Marie d’Agoult. A work that would combine music ,poetry and visual arts. Wagner was enthusiastic, but advised against including a choral finale as “Paradise could not be depicted in music.” Liszt discarded the idea of a choral finale and added a brief setting for women’s voices of the first two verses of the “Magnificat,” all ending with a “Hallelujah.”

Liszt played the Dante symphony for Wagner in Zürich in October 1856, who disliked the fortissimo conclusion and as he wrote in his autobiography “If anything had convinced me of the man’s masterly and poetical powers of conception, it was the original ending of the Faust Symphony, in which the delicate fragrance of a last reminiscence of Gretchen overpowers everything, without arresting the attention by a violent disturbance. The ending of the Dante Symphony seemed to me to be quite on the same lines, for the delicately introduced “Magnificat” in the same way only gives a hint of a soft, shimmering Paradise. I was the more startled to hear this beautiful suggestion suddenly interrupted in an alarming way by a pompous, plagal cadence. No! I exclaimed loudly, not that, away with it! No majestic Deity! Leave us the fine soft shimmer!”

Liszt dedicated the Dante Symphony to Wagner but kept both endings; the loud one is indicated in his version for two pianos, but in the orchestral score it is usually omitted.The first performance on 7th November 1857 took place in the Royal Theatre in Dresden conducted by Liszt and ‘the occasion proved a fiasco ‘ wrote Liszt’s son in law Hans von Bulow and even Liszt commented that the performance was ‘very unsuccessful due to lack of rehearsals’

George Bernard Shaw reviewed the work in 1885 and wrote, “the manner in which the program was presented by Liszt could just as well represent a London house when the kitchen chimney is on fire.”

The opening movement is entitled “Inferno” and guides us through the nine Circles of Hell. The “Gates of Hell” opens with a slow introduction (Lento) based on three recitative-like themes, which Liszt has set to four of the nine lines inscribed over the Gates of Hell: Inferno Canto 3

Per me si va nella città dolente,  Per me si va nell’eterno dolore,  Per me si va tra la perduta gente.  …  Lasciate ogni speranza voi ch’entrate.

Through me is the way to the sorrowful city,  Through me is the way to eternal sorrow,  Through me is the way among the lost people.  …  Abandon all hope you who enter here.

1 3 9

and at “The Vestibule and First Circle Hell” the music becomes frantic. When Dante and Virgil enter the “Second Circle of Hell,” the infernal “Black Wind” that perpetually shakes the damned greets them. Here is depicted the tragic love of Francesca, whose adulterous affair with her brother-in-law Paolo cost her life and soul.Liszt sets the music to the words of Francesca da Rimini :Inferno canto 5

…. Nessun maggior dolore  che ricordarsi del tempo felice  ne la miseria.

…. There is no greater sorrow  Than to recall happy times  In the midst of misery.

121 122 123

The “Black Wind” motif returns in the “Seventh Circle of Hell,” and Liszt writes, “this entire passage is intended to be a blasphemous mocking laughter.” The “Eight” and “Ninth Circles of Hell” present slightly varied themes, as Dante and Virgil gradually emerge from Hell. They ascend Mount Purgatorio in the second, initially solemn and tranquil movement. Dante and Virgil ascend the two terraces of Ante-Purgatory, where souls repent their sins. The “Seven Cornices of Mount Purgatory” represent the seven deadly sins, and “Earthly Paradise” guides the soul to Paradise. In the score, Liszt directs that the choir be hidden from the audience in the concluding “Magnificat.” declaring that “Art cannot portray heaven itself, only its image in the hearts of those souls, which have turned to the light of heavenly grace. Thus for us the radiance is still shrouded, although it increases with the clarity of understanding.” Curiously, the Magnificat is not mentioned anywhere in the Commedia; nor is there any Hallelujah; the Hosanna, however, is heard both in the Earthly Paradise of the Purgatorio and in the Paradiso.In the score, Liszt directs that the choir be hidden from the audience:

‘The female or boys’ choir is not to be placed in front of the orchestra, but is to remain invisible together with the harmonium, or in the case of an amphitheatrical arrangement of the orchestra, is to be placed right at the top. If there is a gallery above the orchestra, it would be suitable to have the choir and harmonium positioned there. In any case, the harmonium must remain near the choir.‘

The orchestra concludes with a quiet plagal cadence  in B major; the timpani add a gentle authentic cadence  of their own. The work ends molto pianissimo.

The second ending, which follows rather than replaces the first ending, is marked Più mosso, quasi Allegro. The ppp of the first ending gives way to ff. Majestic trumpets and trombones – accompanied by rising scales in the strings and woodwind, and by chords in the horns, harps, harmonium and strings – set the scene for a reappearance of the chorus. Three repetitions of a single word, Hallelujah, bring the work to a towering conclusion with a plagal cadence in B major.

The Dante Symphony is not so much a symphony in the classical sense as it is two descriptive symphonic poems  consisting of two movements, both in a loosely structured ternary form with little use of thematic transformation.

The Symphony is in three movements : Inferno- Purgatorio – Magnificat

The transcription of the symphony – Liszt’s own, dating from 1859 S 648 – makes for a disquieting experience. Uncompromisingly stark and austere in comparison with the more sensuous orchestral original, the piano writing, particularly in the Purgatorio, seems to pre-empt the dissonant terseness of Liszt’s later works.

 LES PRÉLUDES S.97

Andante maestoso, Allegro tempestoso, Allegretto pastorale, Allegro marziale animato, Vivace, Andante maestoso

The symphonic poems of Franz Liszt  are a series of 13 orchestral works, numbered S.95–107. The first 12 were composed between 1848 and 1858 (though some use material conceived earlier); the last, Von der Wiege bis zum Grabe (From the Cradle to the Grave), followed in 1882. In developing the symphonic poem, Liszt satisfied three of the principal aspirations of 19th century music: to relate music to the world outside, to integrate multi-movement forms … and to elevate instrumental programme music to a level higher than that of opera, the genre previously regarded as the highest mode of musical expression.  In fulfilling these needs, the symphonic poems played a major role, widening the scope and expressive power of the advanced music of its time. Their historical importance is undeniable; both Sibelius and Richard Strauss were influenced by them, and adapted and developed the genre in their own way. The symphonic poems offer many examples of Liszt’s unique pioneering spirit.

In the late 1840s, Franz Liszt settled in Weimar and gave up the life of the international concert star to devote himself to composition and conducting. Liszt’s pioneering series of 12 symphonic poems came to fruition during his time as Kapellmeister at the court of the Duke of Weimar . The final order of the works was not conceived until all the pieces were ready for publication, but it is clear that he thought of all 12 works as a gigantic cycle. He issued them in versions for orchestra, for two pianos, and for piano duet. Its premiere was on 23 February 1854, conducted by Liszt himself. It was published in 1856 by Bretikopf & Härtel and dedicated to Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and is the earliest example of an orchestral work entitled “Symphonic Poem”

Thus, although works such as Les Préludes are familiar in their orchestral guise, they were conceived from the outset for the keyboard. The two-piano versions of these pieces are no mere transcriptions: Liszt allows quite considerable variance from the orchestral scores in order to make real duos, occasionally even adding or omitting some bars or even transforming the material with new harmonies .Les Preludes was published as the third of his twelve symphonic poems but was probably the earliest of orchestral origins, if one considers that the thematic material was derived from his cantata Les Quatre Élémens (The Four Elements), produced at Marseilles in 1844. Liszt’s starting-point for the cycle was Les aquilons (“The North Winds”), a male chorus with piano accompaniment composed on 24 July 1844 . Liszt had arrived in Marseille the day before and met with choristers of a German travelling company, who requested an original chorus piece from Liszt . The poet Joseph Autran, whom Liszt had visited, offered him the poem Les aquilons. In the afternoon of the 24th, Liszt composed the piece. The work was performed on 6 August at Liszt’s fourth concert in Marseille. The accompaniment was on two pianos, one played by Liszt himself .Besides Les aquilons, Autran gave three further poems to Liszt: La terre (“The Earth”), Les flots (“The Floods”) and Les astres (“The Stars”), and Liszt also set these to music. As a series, La terre, Les aquilons, Les flots and Les astres formed a cycle Les quatre élémens (“The Four Elements”). Liszt was not happy with Autran’s words for the movements which depict “The Earth, The North Winds, The Floods, and The Stars,” and looked to Victor Hugo to write him a new text. Hugo, whose Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne was the subject for his first symphonic poem, did not comply. In 1849, while making a fair copy of Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne, he also brought out his earlier score and drafted a purely symphonic version. However, he laid it aside again.

In 1854, wanting a new piece for a pension fund concert of the court orchestra at Weimar, Liszt turned once more to the incomplete symphonic poem, which now had its first association with the poem of his friend Alphonse Lamartine (1790-1869), the fifteenth number of the Méditations poétiques. It is probable that this symphonic poem underwent considerable remodeling when it acquired its final title and form. Les préludes is the final revision of an overture initially written for the choral cycle Les quatre éléments (The Four Elements, 1844–48)

The chorus Les Aquilons was composed and created in a version for male chorus with 2 pianos accompaniment in Marseille in 1844, and the first sketches of the Ouverture des quatre élémens date from 1845, during Liszt’s tour through Spain and Portugal. A manuscript of the overture from 1849 to 1850 shows that the work had by then reached its almost definitive structure and thematic content.

After being partially orchestrated, the choral cycle project was abandoned. The overture was revised in 1853-54 as a stand-alone piece, with a new title inspired by an ode by the French poet Alphonse de Lamartine,Les préludes. Written for a large orchestra of strings, woodwind, brass (including tuba and bass trombone), harp and a variety of percussion instruments (timpani, side drum, bass drum and cymbals). The full title of the piece, “Les préludes (d’après Lamartine)” refers to an Ode from the Alphonse de Lamartine’s Nouvelles méditations poétiques of 1823. The final version no longer contains any reference to Autran or to the Chorus cycle Les quatre élémens.

The 1856 published score includes a text preface, which however is not from Lamartine. ‘What else is our life but a series of preludes to that unknown Hymn, the first and solemn note of which is intoned by Death?—Love is the glowing dawn of all existence; but what is the fate where the first delights of happiness are not interrupted by some storm, the mortal blast of which dissipates its fine illusions, the fatal lightning of which consumes its altar; and where is the cruelly wounded soul which, on issuing from one of these tempests, does not endeavour to rest his recollection in the calm serenity of life in the fields? Nevertheless man hardly gives himself up for long to the enjoyment of the beneficent stillness which at first he has shared in Nature’s bosom, and when “the trumpet sounds the alarm”, he hastens, to the dangerous post, whatever the war may be, which calls him to its ranks, in order at last to recover in the combat full consciousness of himself and entire possession of his energy.’

The earliest version of this preface was written in March 1854 by Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and comprises voluminous reflections of the Princess, into which some lines of quotations from the ode by Lamartine are incorporated. It was drastically shortened for publication in April 1856 as part of the score; there only the sentence, “the trumpet sounds the alarm” and the title “Les préludes”, survive from Lamartine’s poem.

A different version of the preface was written for the occasion of a performance of Les préludes on 6 December 1855, in Berlin. In the 1855 version the connection with Lamartine is reduced to his alleged query, “What else is our life but a series of preludes to that unknown Hymn, the first and solemn note of which is intoned by Death?” However this sentence was actually written not by Lamartine, but by Princess Wittgenstein.

For the occasion of a performance of Les préludes on 30 April 1860, in Prague a further version of the preface was made. This version was probably written by Hans von Bulow who directed the performance. It is rather short and contains no reference to Lamartine at all. According to this version, Les préludes illustrates the development of a man from his early youth to maturity. In this interpretation, Les préludes may be taken as part of a sketched musical autobiography.

Nevertheless, no specific statement by Liszt himself has been found in favour of a particular programme. In a letter to his uncle Eduard List, dated 26 March 1857, he refers to his préludes as: « my preludes (which, by the way, are only the prelude to my path of composition)…», which seems to mean nothing more than the beginning of his interest in cyclical form and new orchestration techniques : the rest of the letter contains indeed only technical considerations on the principle of thematic transformation in his 1st piano concerto, and a plea for percussion instruments despite the reproaches of many other musicians.

Liszt made his own arrangements for two pianos S 637 and for piano duet.The first American orchestral performance of Les Préludes S.97 took place in New York in May 1858 with an unnamed orchestra under the direction of Carl Bergmann (a duo-piano performance had in fact preceded it by a year).

The 12 Symphonic Poems

1 Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne (Symphonic Poem No.1), S635

2 Tasso – Lamento e Trionfo (Symphonic Poem No.2), S636

3 Les préludes (Symphonic Poem No.3), S637

4 Orpheus (Symphonic Poem No.4),

5 Prometheus (Symphonic Poem No.5), S639 12’27

6. Mazeppa (Symphonic Poem No.6), S640 16’26

7 Festklänge (Symphonic Poem No.7), S641 18’56

8 Héroïde-funèbre (Symphonic Poem No.8), S642

9  Hungaria (Symphonic Poem No.9), S643 21’21

10 Hamlet (Symphonic Poem No.10), S644 13’34

11 Hunnenschlacht (Symphonic Poem No.11), S645 15’04

12 Die Ideale (Symphonic Poem No.12), S646

Federico Pische in the Young Artists series at Roma 3 University . From the class of Benedetto Lupo with a programme of Scarlatti, Beethoven and Mussorgsky. Played with a musical intelligence and integrity where his technical mastery was at the service of the composers he was playing and just underlined the title he had given to his recital of ‘Form and Significance’. Crystalline purity of three Scarlatti Sonatas, a poignant profundity to the early Beethoven Sonata op 10 n 3 where the Largo e mesto already marks out the genius that was to recreate the sonata form, bringing it to the celestial heights of his final trilogy. But it was Mussorgsky that marked this young man out as an artist of refined good taste and remarkable technical mastery. A pianist who listens to himself with a sensitivity to balance and a kaleidoscopic range of colours can bring this old war horse back to where it truly belongs as one of the pinnacle’s of the pianistic repertoire.

.The A major Scarlatti sonata was played with a purity and clarity of sound with very discrete ornaments and an even more discrete use of the pedal which gave a glow to his playing of refreshing fluidity.The slow D minor sonata K.213 was beautifully shaped with the refined elegance of it’s time and a glowing poignant fluidity reaching a burning intensity diffused by the ebullient ‘joie de vivre’ of the other D minor sonata K.1 with ornaments that sparkled like tightly wound springs overjoyed to be part of such busy chattering of great buoyancy.

There are three sonatas from Beethoven’s early period that immediately show the genius who could take his master, Haydn’s, model and add his explosive temperament and genius in a fast changing world where music was a personal expression and not just an expression of elegant denial. This was a new age where the sonatas opus 2 n. 3, op 7 and op 10 n. 3 all pointed to a brave new world where the slow movements are personal statements of burning intensity and poignancy. Federico opened the op 10 n. 3 quite gently, a radiance gradually building in intensity .There was a dynamic drive and a sense of architectural shape to the first movement with it’s constant changes between rhythmic and lyrical,without ever loosing that burning drive. The ‘Largo e mesto’ was played with a musical intelligence of aristocratic beauty with a sense of balance that allowed the melody to glow without any forcing but with a kaleidoscope of colours and emotions that was breathtaking in it’s intensity. A sense of orchestral colour with deeply agitated bass notes of frenzied emotional impact diffused with a subtle recitativo of purity and naked emotions.There was a simple elegance to the ‘Minuetto’ that was allowed to unfold so simply as the ‘Trio’ burst into life with its enticing question and answer between the hands. The same questioning but with uncertain answers of the Rondò that was played with refined brilliance and rhythmic energy disappearing into the bass of the piano from where this great tale had begun.

Mussorgsky’s Pictures and tribute to his friend Victor Hartmann,were given a monumental performance with an extraordinary range of colours. Even in the most energetic episodes the sound was never allowed to harden as everything Federico did was shaped like the true musician he is. ‘Gnomus’ burst onto the scene with extraordinary impertinence but also with subtle colouring and an ending played with fearless courage. ‘The Old Castle’ of simple beauty as a heartbeat deep inside the piano carried us into this mysterious landscape. Federico brought an irresistible lilt to the children squabbling in the ‘Tuileries’ only to be overpowered by the prepotentious Bydlo. Federico even played it with a pointed finger but gradually allowed the old cart to disappear into the distance with barely audible whispers. A promenade that was now bathed in pedal as he caught sight of the chicks chattering away with insistent clarity and sparkle. ‘Samuel Goldenberg’ took centre stage with unstoppable authority as he was answered by the beseeching cries of ‘Schmuyle’, only to be overridden by the dynamic drive a extraordinary technical prowess of the hustle and bustle of the ‘Market Place in Limoges’. Suddenly ‘Catacombae’ appeared with a vision of terrifying desolation played with great conviction and enormous resonating sonorities, dissolving magically to ‘cum mortuis in lingua mortua’. ‘Baba Yaga’ entered at a fearsome gait as the tension and excitement rose to fever pitch only to be cut short by the wondrous vision of the ‘Great Gate of Kyiv’. Bells pealing all over the keyboard with a mastery of transcendental playing of overwhelming authority. There was beauty too with the interruption of a gentle chorale gradually becoming overwhelmed by the pealing of bells and the glorious vision of the grandeur of such a monumental vision of peace …………

Rachmaninov ‘s D major Prelude offered as soothing balm after a monumental performance of the Great Gate of Kyiv, demonstrated in just a few bars the simple poetic artistry of this extraordinary young artist

“…a natural virtuoso…an extraordinary talent.” – A. Delle Vigne, Mozarteum University, Salzburg. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2020/11/28/aquiles-delle-vigne/

A standing ovation for Ruben Micieli at the end of a concert dedicated to Chopin. Not only a celebration in Chopin’s 215th birthday week but also the news that Ruben has been selected to go to Warsaw as part of the Chopin competition selection process. Performances of subtle beauty and mastery that began with the whispered beauty of the D flat nocturne. Ruben allowed Chopin’s bel canto to cast a spell as you might expect from a young musician born in the shadow of Bellini in Catania. Beautiful hand movements of grace and beauty the same as in one of Chopin’s most beautiful creations. A whispered veiled sound world of ravishing beauty.

Masterly performances of the first and third ballades showed off this young man’s superb musicianship with performances of aristocratic authority and sensitivity. Great delicacy mixed with nobility, brilliance and passion in the G minor Ballade.A tone poem of so many emotions played with extraordinary intelligence and poetic sensibility.The A flat Ballade had a fluidity as it’s continuous outpouring of song was played with a kaleidoscope of colours.Embellishments that were jewels that glowed with knowing beauty as the Ballade moved with a masterly build up to the final ecstatic goal. A fearless plunge across the keys brought this most pastoral of Chopin’s Ballades to the noblest of conclusions.

The last six of Chopin’s 24 preludes flowed with a natural fluidity from the mellifluous nineteenth where the melody was allowed to float on Aeolian harp strings belying the technical feats that are required. The imperious twentieth of restrained grandeur was played with ever more whispered echoes of extraordinary barely audible delicacy as the twenty first entered with flowing aristocratic poise. The imperious bass octaves of the twenty second rang out with a noble voice of commanding authority. Chopin’s own jeux d’eau just flowed from Ruben’s well oiled fingers like water in a brook that was to take us to the heroic outpouring of passionate glory with the final twenty fourth. Played with fearless abandon but like all that this young man did it was imbued with the poetic musicality which is at the very heart of Chopin’s music .

Canons covered in flowers is how Schumann was to describe Chopin Mazurkas and it was this subtle poetry and beguiling sense of dance that Ruben brought to his op 24 n.4 .

It was followed by the E minor study op 25 that too was imbued with a sense of dance and fantasy until Chopin was to fill the central episode with one of his most magical tenor melodies accompanied by washes of notes of gossamer lightness. Superb playing of ravishing sounds that gave a glowing radiance to a historic Bechstein that has rarely been asked to bequeath such beauty.

The final two works on the programme included the third Scherzo where Ruben played the commanding octaves with a musicianship that shaped all that he did. Dissolving so naturally into a chorale that was accompanied by filigree notes where delicacy and fragility gave a warmth to the solemn beauty of the chorale before erupting into a coda of transcendental exhilaration and excitement .

But it was the genial invention of Chopin in his final year combining fantaisie to the polonaise and which Ruben described as his vision of life and death where fragility is complemented by passion . A masterly performance of the Polonaise – Fantaisie where Ruben was able to give an architectural shape and nobility to one of Chopin’s greatest creations .

After such profound performances of poetic mastery Ruben surprised us with Fazil Say’s jazzed up version of Mozart’s Turkish March . Played with technical wizardry and not a little showmanship it brought the audience to their feet in appreciation .

Back to Chopin for a second encore with the Revolutionary study that was played with extraordinary clarity and passionate intensity .

Pianist ,conductor, and composer, Ruben Micieli has won prizes in numerous international competitions since his debut in 2017, and has performed in concert halls and theaters across Europe and Asia, including Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Salle Cortôt in Paris, Weimarhalle, Palau de Musica Catalana in Barcelona, Steinway Hall in London, Xiao Ke Theater in Beijing, Recital Hall in Hong Kong,   and Sala Solitär in Salzburg.

He has recorded albums for NAXOS, KNS Classical, A2DV Generation (featuring the complete Chopin Études), and IMD Music. His album Verdi & Bellini – Paraphrases de salon for NAXOS will be released in 2025.

In 2025, he will make his debut at the Berlin Philharmonie.

Programme:

Homage to Chopin

Nocturne op. 27 n. 2 

7 Preludes op. 28 no. 19 to 24 

Mazurka op. 24 no. 4 

Etude op. 25 n. 5 

Ballade op. 23 no. 1 

……………

Ballade op. 47 no. 3 

Scherzo op. 39 no. 3 

Polonaise – Fantaisie  op. 61 

Ruben Micieli triumphs in London for the Keyboard Trust at Steinway Hall
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/04/20/ruben-micieli-triumphs-in-london-for-the-keyboard-trust-at-steinway-hall/

César Franck illuminates Roma 3 ‘Che meraviglia’
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/05/08/cesar-franck-illuminates-roma-3-che-meraviglia/