Surrounded by a collection of De Chirico paintings Maurizio Baglini shared with us the divine sounds that Liszt had captured in music during his Years of Travel in Italy.
The Raffaello ‘Sposalizio’ was played with the same radiance and kaleidoscope of colours that Genius could inspire.His masterly use of the pedal – the soul of the piano- allowed him to create etherial sounds of sublime poetic beauty .Here poetry and sumptuous regality were united in a tone poem of searing fluidity . The morbose sounds of pure marble as sculptured by Michelangelo were captured with the same deep intensity as his ‘Thinker.’ Deep moving bass notes were of overpowering potency. A jaunty interval with the countrified simplicity of the Canzonetta del Salvatore Rosa with its infectious lilting jig like dance was followed by subtle whispered confessions of the poetic inspirations of Petrarch. A very subtle sense of balance and architectural shape made these three tone poems into works of intimate confessions and searing emotions.And finally the call to arms of Dante with his demonic sonata of heroism and submission.A masterly control and aristocratic sense of style of timeless beauty with an extraordinary range of emotions. His understanding of the meaning behind the notes allowed him to play fearlessly with breathtaking power and technical mastery.Even the treacherous octaves at the end were thrown off with the ease of someone who had something important to say where problems simply dissolved in the face of the message he had to transmit.
Playing of aristocratic control and masterly poetic understanding with a range of colours on an old ‘casserole’ that had never been aware that it was capable of such cordon bleu mastery until it was placed in the inspired hands of Maurizio Baglini.
‘Widmung’ by Schumann transcribed by Liszt was an encore that summed up the artistry that we had been witness to in this short Sunday morning recital. A wonderful sense of balance that allowed the melodic line to sing with fluidity and beauty full of the same subtle inflections as the human voice. A technical mastery that allowed him to embellish Schumann’s outpouring of love for Clara with fearless abandon just as he was able to share with us Schumann’s whispered and most intimate thoughts.
Années de pèlerinage (S.160,161,162,163) is a set of three suites for solo piano by Franz Liszt. Much of it derives from his earlier work, Album d’un voyageur, his first major published piano cycle, which was composed between 1835 and 1838 and published in 1842. Années de pèlerinage is widely considered as the masterwork and summation of Liszt’s musical style.Surrounded by beauty with an inspired and inspiring recital by Maurizio Baglini in the Bilotti museum in the sumptuous park of Villa Borghese.
Maurizio Baglini with Roberto Pujia, President of Roma Tre Orchestra
The title Années de pèlerinage refers to Goethe’s famous novel of self-realization, Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, and especially its sequel Wilhelm Meister’s journeyman Years (whose original title Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre meant Years of Wandering or Years of Pilgrimage, the latter being used for its first French translation). Liszt clearly places these compositions in line with the Romantic literature of his time, prefacing most pieces with a literary passage from writers such as Schiller,Byron or Senancour, and, in an introduction to the entire work, writing:
‘Having recently travelled to many new countries, through different settings and places consecrated by history and poetry; having felt that the phenomena of nature and their attendant sights did not pass before my eyes as pointless images but stirred deep emotions in my soul, and that between us a vague but immediate relationship had established itself, an undefined but real rapport, an inexplicable but undeniable communication, I have tried to portray in music a few of my strongest sensations and most lively impressions.’
Deuxième année: Italie
“Deuxième année: Italie” (“Second Year: Italy”), S.161, was composed between 1837 and 1849 and published in 1858 by Schott. Nos. 4 to 6 are revisions of Tre sonetti del Petrarca , which was composed around 1839–1846 and published in 1846.
Sposalizio (Marriage of the Virgina by Raphael) in E major
Il penseroso (The Thinker, a statue by Michelangelo)
Canzonetta del Salvator Rosa ( this song “Vado ben spesso cangiando loco” was in fact written by Giovanni Bononcini )
Sonetto 47 del Petrarca
Sonetto 104 del Petrarca
Sonetto 123 del Petrarca (Petrarch’s Sonnet 123)
Après une lecture du Dante:Fantasia Quasi Sonata
Leslie Howard writes :’There are many similarities in the genesis of the first and second books of Liszt’s Années de Pèlerinage: most of the pieces in both books were conceived in the 1830s during his travels to and from Switzerland and Italy with Marie d’Agoult, a time which saw the birth of the couple’s three children, Blandine, Cosima and Daniel, and for Liszt a period of intense compositional activity, punctuated by a good many concerts. The two books were eventually prepared for publication in their final form by the early 1850s, in Liszt’s busiest period as a composer/conductor at the court of Weimar. Their story is also paralleled by that of the Transcendental Etudes and the Hungarian Rhapsodies, which achieved their final form at about the same time. In the case of the Swiss volume, Liszt had selected all but one of the pieces from the previously published Album d’un Voyageur; with the Italian set only three of the pieces had appeared in print in earlier versions—the Petrarch Sonnets—although all but one of the remaining pieces had been drafted in the late 1830s. The supplementary volume Venezia e Napoli had been ready for publication in about 1840, but was withdrawn by Liszt at the proof stage. The later set of pieces with the same title discarded two of the earlier set, revised two, and added a new piece between them. The important difference between the two books lies in the source of inspiration: although various literary references lie in the background to the Swiss volume, the principal imaginative spring is the landscape of Switzerland itself; the second Année draws entirely upon Italian art and literature.
The Marriage of the Virgin, also known as Lo Sposalizio, by Raphael was completed in 1504 for the San Francesco church in Città downtown Castello it depicts a marriage ceremony between Mary and Joseph and since 1806 it is housed in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan Sposalizio is the title of the first piece in Liszt’s Deuxième Annie de Pèlerinage :Italie (Second Year of Pilgrimage: Italy), published in 1858. The composition starts out with a simple pentatonic melody, described as a “bell-like motif”,turning into a complex musical architecture. The melody then changes to a type of wedding march, continually embellished leading to the grand climax before ending quietly.
Sposalizio was first written in 1838 or 1839, and the manuscript shows at least two levels of revision before the version finally published. Liszt composed the work in homage to Raphael’s eponymous painting of the betrothal of Our Lady and St Joseph (which may be seen in the Brera Chapel in Milan). We know from Liszt’s later use of the second theme (G major, Lento) in the work for voices and organ called Zur Trauung (‘At the betrothal’) and otherwise catalogued as Ave Maria III that this melody honours Mary, but Liszt offers no further clues to the musical characterization. The uncanny presentiment in the closing phrases of Debussy’s First Arabesque has often been noted.
From the first edition of Liszt ‘Il Penseroso’ that was inspired by Michelangelo’s sculpture of the same name. There is also the poem by Michelangelo on the front page of the first edition The statue is actually part of a tombstone made for the Lorenzo de Medici, Duke of Urbino. Michelangelo shows Lorenzo as a man deep in thought. Liszt must have interpreted these thoughts as a dark place, as if he were receding into the shadows. Matching this depiction, Il penseroso is a very dark piece. There is not much movement, and it is confined to the the lower registers of the piano, with many slow chords.
Michelangelo’s sculpture Il penseroso may be seen on the tomb of Lorenzo de’ Medici in the church of San Lorenzo in Florence. The music is amongst the simplest and most stark of Liszt’s early mature works, and appears to have been incorporated as it was originally written in 1838/9. The work was later revised and extended to form the second of the Trois Odes funèbres: ‘La notte’ (in Volume 3), and both works bear Michelangelo’s quatrain:
Grato m’è il sonno, e più l’esser di sasso. Mentre che il danno e la vergogna dura. Non veder, non sentir m’è gran ventura Però non mi destar, deh’—parla basso!
Sleep, nay, being made of rock, makes me happy whilst harm and shame endure. It is a great adventure neither to see nor to hear. However, disturb me not, pray—lower your voice!
Of course, Salvator Rosa (1615–1673) was primarily a painter, but he was also an actor, a poet, a satirist and a musician. Nonetheless, the saucy little Canzonetta del Salvator Rosa is not his music, although the text may be by or about him. The work (originally for voice and basso continuo) is listed in The New Grove amongst the cantatas for solo voice of the once greatly celebrated Giovanni Battista Bononcini (1670–1747)—under the title of its opening line ‘Vado ben spesso’, and unaccountably described as unpublished. Liszt’s version, undated, but at any rate completed by 1849, ranks as one of his lightest and happiest numbers, and exemplifies a catholicity of taste which does not differentiate between wholly original music and music based upon existing source material. The original text is laid out above the music:
Vado ben spesso cangiando loco, Ma non so mai cangiar desio. Sempre l’istesso sarà il mio fuoco, E sarò sempre l’istesso anch’io.
I very often go about to various places, but I never know how to vary my desire. My fire shall always remain unchanged, and so (therefore) shall I.
In adapting the Tre Sonetti di Petrarca for their final piano versions Liszt changed the order from the first publication, reversing the first two, so that Sonetto 47 happily takes up the chord with which the Canzonetta finished. The long introduction to Sonetto 104 is replaced with a passage almost identical to that in the first published vocal setting. The three pieces are intense love-songs rich in passionate harmonies, and generous in their melodic flight, and they have long been amongst Liszt’s most beloved works.
‘Pace non trovo’ Sonetto n. 47
Pace non trovo, e non ho da far guerra,
E temo, e spero, ed ardo, e son un ghiaccio:
E volo sopra 'l cielo, e giaccio in terra;
E nulla stringo, e tutto 'l mondo abbraccio.
Tal m'ha in priggion, che non m'apre, nè serra,
Nè per suo mi ritien, nè scioglie il laccio
E non m'ancide Amor, e non mi sferra;
Nè mi vuol vivo, nè mi trahe d'impaccio.
Veggio senz'occhi; e non ho lingua e grido;
E bramo di perir, e cheggio aita;
Ed ho in odio me stesso, ed amo altrui.
Pascomi di dolor, piangendo rido,
Egualmente mi spiace morte e vita,
In questo stato son, Donna, per Voi.
I find no peace, and yet I make no war:
and fear, and hope: and burn, and I am ice:
and fly above the sky, and fall to earth,
and clutch at nothing, and embrace the world.
One imprisons me, who neither frees nor jails me,
nor keeps me to herself nor slips the noose:
and Love does not destroy me, and does not loose me,
wishes me not to live, but does not remove my bar.
I see without eyes, and have no tongue, but cry:
and long to perish, yet I beg for aid:
and hold myself in hate, and love another.
I feed on sadness, laughing weep:
death and life displease me equally:
and I am in this state, lady, because of you.
Sonetto n. 104 ‘Benedetto sia ‘l giorno’
Benedetto sia 'l giorno, e 'l mese, e l'anno,
E la stagione, e 'l tempo, e l'ora, e 'l punto
E 'l bel paese e 'l loco, ov'io fui giunto
Da'duo begli occhi che legato m'ànno;
E benedetto il primo dolce affanno
Ch'i' ebbi ad esser con Amor congiunto,
E l'arco e la saette ond' i' fui punto,
E le piaghe, ch'infino al cor mi vanno.
Benedette le voci tante, ch'io
Chiamando il nome di Laura ho sparte,
E i sospiri e le lagrime e 'l desio.
E benedette sian tutte le carte
Ov'io fama le acquisto, e il pensier mio,
Ch'è sol di lei, si ch'altra non v'ha parte.
Blessed be the day, and the month, and the year,
and the season, and the time, and the hour, and the moment,
and the beautiful country, and the place where I was joined
to the two beautiful eyes that have bound me:
and blessed be the first sweet suffering
that I felt in being conjoined with Love,
and the bow, and the shafts with which I was pierced,
and the wounds that run to the depths of my heart.
Blessed be all those verses I scattered
calling out the name of my lady,
and the sighs, and the tears, and the passion:
and blessed be all the sheets
where I acquire fame, and my thoughts,
that are only of her, that no one else has part of.
Sonetto n.123. ‘I’ vidi in terra angelici costumi’
I' vidi in terra angelici costumi,
E celesti bellezze al mondo sole;
Tal che di rimembrar mi giova, e dole:
Che quant'io miro, par sogni, ombre, e fumi.
E vidi lagrimar que' duo bei lumi,
Ch'han fatto mille volte invidia al sole;
Ed udì' sospirando dir parole
Che farian gir i monti, e stare i fiumi.
Amor! senno! valor, pietate, e doglia
Facean piangendo un più dolce concento
D'ogni altro, che nel mondo udir si soglia.
Ed era 'l cielo all'armonia s'intento
Che non si vedea in ramo mover foglia.
Tanta dolcezza avea pien l'aer e 'l vento.
I saw angelic virtue on earth
and heavenly beauty on terrestrial soil,
so I am sad and joyful at the memory,
and what I see seems dream, shadows, smoke:
and I saw two lovely eyes that wept,
that made the sun a thousand times jealous:
and I heard words emerge among sighs
that made the mountains move, and halted rivers.
Love, Judgement, Pity, Worth and Grief,
made a sweeter chorus of weeping
than any other heard beneath the moon:
and heaven so intent upon the harmony
no leaf was seen to move on the boughs,
so filled with sweetness were the wind and air.
The casserole that Maurizio managed to seduce
Just as there is inconsistency between the title page and music head titles of the sonnets—in one place ‘di’ and the other ‘del’ Petrarca—the work commonly called the ‘Dante Sonata’ is described both as ‘une lecture de’ on the title page and ‘une lecture du’ at the head of the music and in the amended title on the manuscript. The original title of the piece was Paralipomènes à la Divina Commedia—Fantaisie symphonique pour piano, and the first version (which is in two parts) is probably what Liszt first played in 1839. A first layer of revision in the principal manuscript may well belong to the second projected title Prolégomènes (still in two parts), and Liszt seems to have performed a version of this work under the title Fantasia quasi sonata (Prolégomènes zu Dantes Göttlicher Comödie). A further, much more extensive layer of revision carries the final title and one-movement structure, but a good many final corrections and alterations were made at the proof stage to produce the present work.
The principal manuscript with its revisions in Liszt’s hand is actually in a copyist’s hand and contains several errors which went uncorrected by Liszt through the various stages of revision. Problem bars include: 65 (first left-hand group may be incorrect—the second left-hand chord should perhaps have a B flat instead of an A); 102 (second harmony should surely have E sharp—MS has a (redundant) natural sign); 255 (first left-hand chord should probably have an F sharp instead of an E); 262–3 (almost certainly B flats and hence E flat major—otherwise the augmented triad is the only such chord in the work in all versions, and it is a chord to which Liszt normally grants particular importance in a musical structure—furthermore, this theme is always extended elsewhere by common triads); and 297 (the right hand should certainly have G sharps on the third crotchet, as in the earlier version—the lack of them in the rewriting, which otherwise preserves exactly the same progression, is clearly a slip of the pen).
Many commentators have essayed a description of the particular reading of Dante which Liszt has chosen to represent, although he himself gave no specific clues. (The case of the Dante Symphony is quite another matter: each movement represents Liszt’s reaction to Inferno and Purgatorio, with a hint of Paradiso in the concluding Magnificat, and the musical text is laid out upon occasion to fit various quotations of Dante’s work.) Clearly, the diabolus in musica tritone—heard at the outset, and at all the important structural junctions—suggests Inferno, and suggestions have been made concerning the Francesca da Rimini episode. But calling the reprise of what amounts to the second subject (10 bars of ethereal tremolo at bar 290) a representation of Paradiso as some commentators have done is surely wide of the mark, and the piece as a whole is much less celestial or purgatorial than it is relentlessly infernal. Formally, the structure is a much tighter sonata-form than the epithet Fantasia might suggest, and the musical form outweighs any attempt there might have been to convey a poetic narrative rather than just a general reaction to Dante’s work. Leslie Howard Hyperion Complete Liszt recordings
Dudamel and the Nutcracker a potent mix for the Christmas festivities in Rome . With the ballet at the opera house too ,Tchaikowsky reigns in the Eternal city.
The very first time I heard Dudamel was many years ago on this very stage with his Bolivar Orchestra from Venezuela and Abreu’s El Sistema that Claudio Abbado had discovered and brought to Europe . An infectious joy of making music and turning concerts into an exhilarating party experience showing the power of music to conquer even the most desperate situations. Gustavo had been first violin of that orchestra when Abreu took the kids off the most desperately poor streets and got them making music together. And what music it was when the lights were lowered at the end and suddenly all the youthful players donned their multicoloured jackets and intoned their native music throwing their instruments into the air while they played with an infectious ‘joie de vivre’ that gradually conquered all the capitals of Europe and the world .
Dudamel has learnt the ropes with his friends as did Rattle in Birmingham or Pappano in Rome and like his illustrious colleagues he too now conducts the greatest orchestras in the most hallowed halls worldwide . In London Dudamel signifies a queue for tickets as we used only to do for Rubinstein or Klemperer.
And Dudamel at the helm of the magnificent Santa Cecilia Orchestra had sparks flying in all directions .Dancing on the podium ,just as the ballet dancers are at the Costanzi Opera House ,with the music deep in his heart as he brought a scintillating Nutcracker to the magnificent Parco della Musica. S.Cecilia’s youngest ever leader Andrea Obiso like Dudamel when he was leading the Bolivar Orchestra looking his colleagues in the eye as his spontaneous music making ignited his whole being.
Andrea Obiso greeting friends in the party atmosphere created by Gustavo and he together
Even the children’s choir magnificently prepared by Claudia Morelli came marching on just before the interval to join in the fun. Dudamel like a father to each and every one that he saluted as he encouraged them to sing their youthful hearts out .
Claudia Morelli director of the children’s choir
A reception for our friend Gustavo that was worthy of a football stadium,with stamping of feet and cheering not only from the audience but also from an orchestra that has rarely had such an exhilarating and uplifting experience.
Renzo Piano’s magnificent Parco della Musica in Rome Joelle Partner flown in especially with her husband Davide Sagliocca Davide Sagliocca and Joelle Partner flown in especially from London for this Christmas treat
Some quite extraordinary playing of radiance and clarity. A technical command of such natural fluidity that makes all he plays sound so natural and effortless.A precision and brilliance that makes his playing in particular of the Sonatas by Scarlatti so scintillating and brilliant.It was indeed only as an encore that we could admire his quite extraordinary dexterity with ornaments that like tightly wound springs seemed to glisten and glow with an inner life of their own.
But it is not only Scarlatti that this young man excels in because the clarity and his superb simple musicianship illuminate all that he does.He has recently recorded an all Beethoven CD with the ‘Hammerklavier’ op 106 and as a fill up the ‘Grosse Fuga!’ greeted by the press with five star reviews.
An opening with grandiose flourishes but also where everything he played sang with such fluidity.A sense of style as you would expect from his mentor Willian Grant Naboré but allied to an architectural shape that gave a sense of grandeur to this opening ‘Allegro’ of regal importance.I found the left hand of the ‘Largo’ rather sparse where I have always thought of the deep bass notes as marcato not staccato but it did allow Bach’s bel canto to sing with extraordinary flexibility and glowing beauty.There was an infectious ‘joie de vivre’ of the final ‘Presto’ with a clarity to the part playing that I have rarely heard played with such conversant musicality.
Beethoven’s little F sharp Sonata op 78 often known as ‘A Therese’ because of its opening movement with it’s beautiful simple ‘Adagio’ opening up to a florid ‘Allegro’ with a continuous outpouring of song.The ‘Allegro’ second movement was played with dynamic drive and superb phrasing which gave it a continuous forward movement of bucolic drive.
There was radiance and fluidity in Debussy’s ‘Pagodes’ with subtle colouring building up to a climax that burst into streams of notes that Andrea spun with ease as the golden sounds he created filled the perfumed air. A whispered ‘Soirée dans Grenade’ of great atmosphere was followed by the sparkling clarity of ‘Jardins sous la Pluie’.
Leslie Howard had indicated to Andrea this work which he considers to be one of Liszt’s best but most neglected of all his paraphrases. A work that needs a fearless champion with a technical mastery that can allow Bellini’s bel canto to sing above the most transcendental pyrotechnics.Andrea could play with featherlight clarity as he could also play with orchestral fullness but never loosing sight off the melodic line that weaves it’s way in and out of such demonic pianistic elaborations. Missing a little of the sumptuous Philadelphian fullness of sound Andrea made up for it with a dynamic drive and clarity that was breathtaking in its fearless abandon. In Andrea’s hands,as those of his mentor Leslie Howard, it is obviously a work that deserves to be better known and put side by side with the much played Norma Fantasy.
An exciting young Italian piano talent, the 26-year-old Andrea Molteni is building his international profile with performances in the US, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Eastern Europe, and Asia. Three albums, recently released on Brilliant Classics and broadcast on France Musique, Germany’s MDR Kultur and Radio Classica in Italy, have received international praise: the complete piano works of Petrassi and Dallapiccola, a selection of Scarlatti sonatas, and Beethoven: Con alcune licenze, featuring Hammerklavier, Op. 110 and The Grosse Fuge, never before recorded in a piano solo version. Andrea Molteni enjoys the artistic guidance of William Grant Naboré and Stanislav Ioudenitch. He has also participated in master classes with Andras Schiff, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Pavel Gililov, Dang Thai Son, and Vladimir Feltsman.
Mr. Molteni began his career at the age of 15, when he participated at the Bayreuth Festival celebrating Wagner’s 200th anniversary and performed in France and Monte Carlo. Since then he has played at Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Scriabin Museum in Moscow, Esplanade in Singapore, Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, National Opera Center and DiMenna Center in New York, Chopin Music University in Warsaw, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, among other venues. The pianist regularly performs with orchestras, such as Orchestra Antonio Vivaldi, Orchestra Filarmonica Mihail Johra di Bacau in Romania, and Orchestra of the Costa Rica University. In the coming season he will give 25 concerts on three continents, including tours in China and Australia and recitals in Milan, Bergamo, Cremona and other Italian cities.
(Achille) Claude Debussy 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. Vigorously rejecting the term ‘Impressionist ‘ was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Estampes (Prints),L. 100, was finished in 1903 and the first performance of the work was given by Ricardo Viñes at the Salle Érard in Paris on 9 January 1904.
This suite with 3 movements is one of a number of piano works by Debussy which are often described as impressionistic , a term borrowed from painting. Pioneered by Ravel in Jeux d’eau written in 1901, was soon adopted by Debussy (for example in the earlier numbers of Images), but Debussy did not himself identify as an impressionist.The three movements Pagodes, La soirée dans Grenade (An evening in Granada) and Jardins sous la pluie (Gardens in the rain) create a poetic world of landscapes and distant lands. Written in the summer 1903 while he was staying in Bichain in the north of Burgundy. As he wrote in a letter at the time: “If one cannot afford to travel, one substitutes the imagination.”
Franz Liszt 22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886
Leslie Howard writes: ‘Discounting the first publication of Liszt’s Sonnambula fantasy, which differs from the second by having virtually no dynamics or performance indications, there are three versions of the work, which first appeared in 1839, and then shortly afterwards with a few alterations, and finally in 1874, with a German rather than the original French title, ‘Grosse Concert Fantasie S 393.’ This last ignores the middle version and was clearly made by altering a copy of the 1839 version (all the errors missed in proof-reading are to be found in the passages which remain identical to both texts). Unusually in a late Liszt revision, the changes make the piece more rather than less difficult to perform. The work is constructed about five themes from Bellini’s opera, and really presents the drama in miniature by concentrating upon the principal story-line of the sleep-walking Amina who is presumed to be unfaithful to her betrothed Elvino, her rejection by him, her narrow escape from death by drowning whilst sleep-walking, her vindication, and the lovers’ reconciliation. Liszt captures the whole spirit of the piece in what amounts to a three-movements-in-one form whose last section, based on the triumphant ‘Ah! non giunge’, deftly draws all the elements together. It is altogether one of his best fantasies and long overdue for revival in the concert hall.’
‘A major revelation of nineteenth-century ideas and techniques. There is musical nourishment here as well as entertainment’ (Gramophone)
An appreciation from a long standing member off the public for the oasis that Dr Mather and his team have created and so generously share with the world either at St Mary’s or streamed live to many parts of the globe via their highly professional streaming system.Mr Eric bearing gifts for Hugh but as he said the greatest gift is the pleasure their concerts give not only to the public but also to the young musicians who just need to share their music making with an appreciative audience.
A celebration for Marylene Mouquet’s daughter Patrizia who died in a tragic road accident 20 years ago on the 10th December.
A concert in which Mara Gualandris tells the tragic Victorian tale of Enoch Arden. Richard Strauss providing the very important score for piano which was played by Valerio Premuroso. I had met Valerio in 2008 when he was the Deus ex machina of the Rina Sala Gallo International piano competition in Monza and have not seen him since.
A road accident has left him semi invalid but it certainly did not stop him from playing the very difficult piano part with mastery and poetic understanding. Still able to pedal but only with the left foot he was able to create marvels of kaleidoscopic sounds following very closely the story that was unfolding as Mara told the harrowing story of Enoch and Annie.I have had the privilege to play this work with my late wife,Ileana Ghione, all over Italy and could appreciate the hold this work has on audiences of all ages. I remember a young girl being comforted by my wife after a performance we had given in Lucca. Bruno Cagli had translated the text into Italian as only a superb musician could possibly hope to do. We only made one addition to his version and that was to make sure that the last words that were uttered were indeed Enoch Arden. Bruno was thrilled with this addition that made a very moving close to this ,the most successful of melologues or musical declamations.After my wife’s death Milena Vukotic performed the work in many cities in celebration of the only actress that has ever opened and managed her own theatre for over thirty years.Mara Gualandris recited this. moving tale with clarity and simplicity allowing the harrowing tale to unwind without any rhetorical exaggerations.Valerio too listening so carefully and adding music where words were just not enough.
Today Frascati was in festive mood as Christmas approaches and what better way could there be for a mother to celebrate a daughter than with superb music making?
a great success brought two encores .Mara recited the poem of Gianni Rodari ‘A Magical Christmas’Valerio playing on his own a last encore that was Elgar’s ‘Salut D’Amour’ Linda Alberti and Ulrike long term residents in Frascati and avid music loversMassimo Cappello brother of Robert Cappello the first Italian pianist to win the Busoni Competition
Enoch Arden is a narrative poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson , published in 1864 during his tenure as British poet laureate The story on which it was based was provided to Tennyson by Thomas Woolner.The poem lends its name to a principle in law that after being missing for a certain number of years (typically seven) a person may be declared dead for purposes of remarriage and inheritance of their survivors.
Fisherman-turned-merchant sailor Enoch Arden leaves his wife Annie and three children to go to sea with his old captain, having lost his job due to an accident; reflective of a masculine mindset common in that era, Enoch sacrifices his comfort and the companionship of his family in order to better support them. During the voyage, Enoch is shipwrecked on a desert island with two companions who eventually die. (This part of the story is reminiscent of Robinson Crusoe.)Enoch remains lost for eleven and half years. Ten years after Enoch’s disappearance, Phillip Ray asks Annie Arden to marry him, stating that it is obvious Enoch is dead. It was not unusual for 18th-century merchant ships to remain at sea for months or years, but there was always news of a ship’s whereabouts by way of other ships that had communicated with it. Phillip reminds Annie that there has been no word of Enoch’s ship. Annie asks Phillip to agree to wait a year. A year passes, and Phillip proposes to Annie again. She puts him off for another half-year. Annie reads her Bible and asks for a sign as to whether Enoch is dead or alive. She dreams of Enoch being on a desert island which she misinterprets as heaven. She marries Phillip and they have a child.
Enoch finds upon his return from the sea that his wife is married happily to his childhood friend and rival and has a child by him. Enoch’s life remains unfulfilled, with one of his own children now dead and his wife and remaining children now being cared for by another man.
Enoch never reveals to his wife and children that he is really alive, as he loves her too much to spoil her new happiness. Enoch dies of a broken heart.
The use of the name Enoch for a man who disappears from the lives of his loved ones is surely inspired by the biblical character Enoch. In fact, also the entire chronological structure of the protagonist’s life with its cycles related to the biblical symbolism of the “days of Creation” binds to the name of Enoch, as demonstrated by the analysis of an Italian thinker long interested in this work,and denotes Tennyson’s ability to insert theological intentions into simple elegiac mode with an unprecedented complexity in English literature.
In 1897, Richard Strauss set the poem as a recitation for speaker and piano , published as his Op. 38. On 24 May 1962, Colombis Records a recording of Enoch Arden (recorded 2–4 October 1961) with Glenn Gould on the piano and Claude Rains as the speaker. The LP was made at a cost of $1500, and only 2000 copies were released. It remains a collector’s item.In 2010, Chad Bowles and David Ripley released a CD, and in 2020 a recording was made in German by pianist Kirill Gerstein and Swiss actor Bruno Ganx Conductor Emil de Cou arranged a version for chamber orchestra and narrator. This was performed with the Virginia Chamber Orchestra and actor Gary Sloan in 2010.The British actor Christopher Kent and pianist Gamal Khamis performed a semi-staged livestream performance during the 2020 lockdown and subsequently recorded a critically acclaimed CD for SOMM Recordings, which was released in 2022.
The poem is also the basis of the opera of the same name by composer Ottmar Gerster and librettist Karl von Levetzow, which had its premiere in Dusseldorf on 15 November 1936.
Magdalene Ho: an appreciation from Moritz von Bredow
Extraordinary, very idiomatic performance of Beethoven’s Bagatelles op 126 and Schubert’s late sonata in G.
Very subtle, amazing colours, the piano always singing, all pianissimi constantly without left pedal. Absolute control of rhythm and phrasing, beautifully chosen rubato, no kitsch, no wrong romanticising of expression, no exaggerations anywhere – very, very impressive. Beethoven had been completely deaf since 1819 (op 126 written in 1824), and his heavy heart which never succumbed to his depression was in Magdalene’s interpretation, and so was Schubert’s melancholy less than 2 years before his death – but he, like Beethoven, would always move on “against all odds”.
I spoke to the astonishing pianist Magdalene briefly before and after the recital, thanking her on behalf of the Keyboard Trust. She did not say much, but her eyes said all when I told her my deep impressions afterwards.
What an amazing, true artist! So shy, so quiet – and yet (as someone once said about Grete Sultan), at the piano she became a queen!
I also spoke to Maria Busch and Andrea Meyer-Borgwardt of Laeiszhalle as well as to Mrs Hiege of the Palmer Foundation. All were full of awe.
And the audience – so many bravos! One encore, perhaps Brahms (I did not ask).
Christmas comes to Milan and Maura Romano had a treat in store for us at Steinways again this year Not only a sumptuous buffet and abundance of champagne but more importantly giving as stage to young musicians to play the magnificent Steinways on show in the Flagship store that sits in the heart of Milan.
Maura ,Alessandro and Luarda , our genial hosts and more importantly Steinway representatives, were almost dwarfed by a cake that was ceremoniously wheeled into the centre of this sumptuous showroom. Like newly weds our genial trio dissected a small part of this monument and distributed it like in church to all those lucky enough to have been invited to such an extraordinarily enlightening event.
Marina Merola ,12 years old, with superb performances of Scarlatti K.1 and Granados’ Allegro de concert .Scintillating Scarlatti with ornaments that shone like jewels. Fearless romantic abandon in Granados with breathtaking streams of notes played with virtuosity and poetry The indomitable Maura Romano applauding Marina Merola with infectious enthusiasm, always ready to help young super talented musicians to come to the foreGabriele Rizzo winner of the first round of the Steinway Young Musicians Competition with some very persuasive performances of Chopin.A beautifully played Nocturne op 15 n.1 where his cantabile had the true weight of a mature musician and a Scherzo op 39 played with enviable command.Octaves played with nobility and mastery and the beautiful chorale allowed to sing accompanied by etherial bells of poetic beauty.
There may be the next door neighbours singing their inexhaustible hearts out as they exhibit their ‘Force of Destiny’. Here at Steinways ,though, there is a ‘Force of Nature’ in play with the twelve year old Marina Meola and veteran fifteen year old Gabriele Rizzo sharing their remarkable gifts with a discerning public . Moments of superb music making were interspersed with a sumptuous culinary feast. The Trio Hermes ,winners of the Chigiana Award this year and ready to play at the Quirinale on Sunday, gave a radiant and passionate account of a movement from Brahms Trio op 101 on a designer piano that also had a sumptuous voice of it’s own and is ready and waiting to be possessed by an eclectic piano connoisseur.
A discerning public gathered to celebrate Christmas in music Steinway styleTrio Hermes,winner of the Chigiana award last summer.Ginevra Bassetti (violin),Francesca Giglio (violoncello),Marianna Pulsoni (pianoforte) with Filippo Michelangeli of Suonare News.A magnificent performance of the last movement of Brahms Trio op 101 that they will repeat on RAI 3 Sunday in a concert broadcast live from the Presidents’ Palace at the Quirinale in RomeThe genial and greatly talented Francesco Parrino playing four hands with himself thanks to the marvels of the Spiro piano. What fun we had guessing the sound tracks from the films that he played with such ‘joie de vivre’ and considerable mastery.
After the extraordinary fun that Francesco Parrino offered us playing duets with the phantom Spiro piano, a monster cake suddenly appeared.
When the Queen of the Keyboard greets the Prince of Pianos there is the magic of a lifetime in music that ignites the air. The musical world congregated in Pescara to salute and thank Angelo Fabbrini in his 90th year ! A duo recital between friends to celebrate the 90th year of Angelo Fabbrini and the 100th anniversary of Fabbrini pianos founded by Angelo’s father Giulio.
A spontaneous concert of music making to honour and celebrate a man who has dedicated his superb artistry to some of the greatest pianists of our time escorting them around the globe offering a finely tuned piano that could even satisfy Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli.I would often see Angelo Fabbrini tuning the piano during the interval of concerts for Pollini in Rome,London or even New York.He even insisted one year that I come back stage to meet Sokolov.
Tonight Martha Argerich had flown in especially to pay homage to a man who has meant so much to her and so many great artists. A concert with her childhood friend Eduardo Hubert with a spontaneous choice of repertoire that lead to some friendly discussions on stage.
Opening with Ravel’s two piano arrangement of Debussy’s magical ‘L’Après-midi d’une Faune’ there was immediately the magic that only Martha can create the moment she sits at the piano.The first movement of Ravel’s ‘Ma Mère L’Oye’ :’Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant’ was played with the same exquisite beauty of rarified sounds and refined poise.
Solo piano too for both pianists before they joined forces for Eduardo’s own arrangements of Tangos by Guastavino and Piazzolla. Friendly discussions over which order they would play them lead to some sumptuous performances of beguiling insinuating sounds full of the atmosphere of Buenos Aires where they had both spent their childhood.
Eduardo had earlier appeared with a drum stick to play one of his solo compositions – looking Angelo Fabbrini in the eye as he very discreetly searched for sounds under the bonnet of Fabbrini’s own magnificent Steinway ( the first piano that he had restored and has never allowed to leave his shop).
Eduardo is a very sensitive artist who I have known for over fifty years since we were all pianists studying in Rome in the early 70’s with Zecchi, Agosti or Zadra.Some beautiful sounds played with great respect for the beautiful instrument that stood between him and Angelo!
Martha appeared and played some solo pieces which she rarely does except on very special occasions.The ‘Gavotte’ from Bach’s English Suite in G minor was played with a kaleidoscope of sounds but always of great style which is the marvel of this giant of the keyboard that she can be so free but also so respectful of the composers wishes.This was Bach where the ink was still wet on the page.
Swopping over pianos to be near Angelo Fabbrini and Lucio Fumo (who created the Society dedicated to Theatre and Music in the ’60’s and is still very much at the helm!) ,Martha played with youthful energy Schumann’s Traumes Wirren from op 12. Played with bewitching colour and enticing jeux perlé, the same that her great friend Shura Cherkassky had done on this very stage thirty years ago when I brought him from Teatro Ghione in Rome to play for Lucio Fumo. Our theatre company lead by my wife Ileana Ghione was often invited to play in Pescara by Dr Fumo who became a great friend and admirer of our activities in Rome. Martha had now joined in the party atmosphere and played the Scarlatti Sonata in D with dynamic rhythmic energy and lightness turning a bauble into a gem of jewels that sparkled as never before.The first of Schumann’s Kinderszenen of ‘Distant lands and places ‘ was played with a poetic freedom that only the greatest of artists can share.
Flowers for Martha and Eduardo from which Martha took a beautiful red rose to give to her lifetime friend,Angelo.
There had been, though ,short interviews with Lucio Fumo about his activities of bringing culture to Pescara and both had expressed the difficulties of finding a suitable space for serious culture in a city that has had to adapt to converted cinemas rather than a better equipped concert hall or theatre.Fabbrini too, suffering from a bad cold and apologising for wearing his overcoat on a stage that was not heated.(We know a lot about that as actors regularly wear ‘long johns’ to cope with the cold that they often found on stage. Nikolaeva once even wore boots to play the Art of Fugue with a bitter wind blowing in from the stage ) Angelo,now on his feet ,to say how important music was for a caring society and finished with a heartfelt plea :’Viva La Musica- Viva Italia’ !
Marco Patricelli had attempted an interview with Martha who was much more interested in playing to Angelo than talking.
Angelo ,father of Michelangelo wanted to publicly hand over to his son the tuning fork that in turn had been given to him by his father Giulio.
Many friends backstage ,much to the consternation of the theatre manager ,to salute the artists but above all to thank Angelo for a lifetime of dedication to music .
Photo with Angelo Fabbrini, Michelangelo Fabbrini and ten year old grandson Luca .
The great cellist leader of the Orchestra of the Accademia di S Cecilia, Luigi Piovano with his father – William Naboré with the distinguished pianist Riccardo Risaliti
The extraordinary thing about a Mark Viner recital is his ability ,one might even say a mission or passion, to bring a fresh light to all he does. Whether delving deep into the archives for works too long kept in obscurity or looking at the most revered classics afresh with the same microscope and absolute fidelity to the composer that he uses to bring neglected masterpieces to the fore. And so it was today with two of the most played classics :Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ and Chopin’s G minor Ballade and relatively unknown works with a Christmas appeal. A transcription of two movements from Tchaikowsky’s ‘Nutcracker’ in the transcription of Taneyev which has long been overtaken by the genial much played one by Mikhail Pletnev. ‘A Christmas Tree Suite’ by Liszt that has long been in oblivion as are too many of his misunderstood later works. And the final triumphant March of the ‘Three Holy Kings’ from Liszt’s rarely heard oratorio ‘Christus’.
Mark’s annual Christmas Concert in Bedford Park where he resides
A programme decided only three days ago with Dr Hugh Mather to be able to substitute a sick colleague at St Mary’s Perivale. Luckily Mark has been playing this programme or similar in seven pre Christmas recitals in Oxford ,several in Germany for Moritz von Bredow.
The Tabard Inn Bedford Park Chiswick
Finally on Thursday in his beloved St Michael’s and All Angels where he and his partner officiate and feel at home as much in the Church as in the Tabard Inn opposite or their sumptuous home next door.
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Beethoven’s miss-named ‘Moonlight’ Sonata had no sign of dreamy rays in Mark’s ‘illuminated’ reading. ‘Adagio sostenuto’ first movement in two not the tainted moonlit twelve! There was a fluidity and glowing beauty of Beethovenian strength and nobility. An authoritative performance that would come as a surprise to those that have struggled with a much maligned piece. Even Beethoven’s long pedal markings were intelligently noted and interpreted on an instrument very different from the one that Beethoven could actually still hear.The Minuet was played with unusual weight and seriousness which suited the sumptuous rich sounds of the Trio.The ‘Presto’ finale was played with extraordinary clarity and dynamic rhythmic drive where even the beautiful mellifluous episodes were on a burning cauldron of bubbling energy.
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Chopin’s First Ballade was given an aristocratic reading of nobility and refreshing simplicity. Gone were all the layers of dirt that tradition has accumulated over the years and like Rubinstein Chopin’s vision of beauty was allowed to tell it’s own untarnished story.
Everything sang in Mark’s remarkable hands even the first great climax usually played like the 1812 overture,whereas in Mark’s hands the top notes of the sumptuous chords were allowed to glow with a radiance of architectural brilliance. The coda was taken at breakneck speed and might have enjoyed a more mellifluous ride but this was a vision of a man who had a story to tell and this was an integral part of his story of beauty and the beast!
Has the ‘ Sugar Plum Fairy ‘ ever sounded so radiant and glowing as she retraced her steps with infinite delicacy and stealth. There was a wonderful fluidity to the ‘Pas de deux ‘ which in Taneyev’s agile transcription should at least be rechristened ‘ de trois’ or ‘de quattro’. Not quite as pianistically daring as Pletnev it was nevertheless good to hear what was obviously the starting point for a pianistic genius of our times. Mark played it with sumptuous sounds and expansive melody of grandiose beauty with streams of notes just pouring from his well oiled fingers, just as ballet stars would be inspired to great heights by this magnificent score.
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As a teenager I would frequent the music department of Chiswick Library and bring home scores to look at and try to play on my grandmother’s upright Broadwood. A piano that her husband had bought before going to the 1914 -18 war never to come back to enjoy the piano that stood in the parlour and would eventually be played by his two daughters. One of the pieces I brought back from the library was Liszt’s ‘Christmas’s Tree Suite’ . I remember the bright orange cover and my disappointment at what I found inside.Today Mark played three pieces from the suite the whole of which he has just recorded on one of his numerous CD’s. This is late Liszt where the composer was looking to the future with a sound world that was no longer necessarily with a tonal centre.This of course explains the strange inconclusive finish of the first piece and the resonant sounds in reply to the melodious recitativi of the second.The final piece was with a strident melody opening out to a full sumptuous outpouring. I must say I am still not completely convinced or maybe I am just mislead by the title.Mark played it with masterly conviction and burning authority and I look forward to listening to his recording of the whole work with that orange covered score at hand – I wonder if it is still languishing on the shelf sixty years on !!!
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Liszt”s own transcription of the March from his ‘Christus’ Oratorio was played with astonishing mastery with an outpouring of great resonance expanding into a show piece of great effect .
Another wondrous voyage of discovery from one of the most important young artists before the public today
Described by International Piano Magazine as “one of the most gifted pianists of his generation”, Mark Viner is steadily gaining a reputation as one of Britain’s leading concert pianists; his unique blend of individual artistry combined with his bold exploration of the byways of the piano literature garnering international renown. He began playing at the age of 11 before being awarded a scholarship two years later to enter the Purcell School of Music where he studied with Tessa Nicholson for the next five years. Another scholarship took him to the Royal College of Music where he studied with the late Niel Immelman for the next six years, graduating with first class honours in a Bachelor of Music degree in 2011 and a distinction in Master of Performance 2013; the same year which afforded him the honour to perform before HM the King.
After winning 1st prize at the Alkan-Zimmerman International Piano Competition in Athens, Greece in 2012, his career has brought him across much of Europe as well as North and South America. While festival invitations include appearances the Raritäten der Klaviermusik, Husum in Germany, the Cheltenham Music Festival and Harrogate Music Festival in the United Kingdom and the Festival Chopiniana in Argentina, radio broadcasts include recitals and interviews aired on Deutschlandfunk together with frequent appearances on BBC Radio 3. His acclaimed Wigmore Hall début recital in 2018 confirmed his reputation as one of today’s indisputable torchbearers of the Romantic Revival. He is particularly renowned for his CD recordings on the Piano Classics label which include music by Alkan, Blumenfeld, Chaminade, Liszt and Thalberg, all of which have garnered exceptional international critical acclaim. His most important project to date is a survey of the complete piano music of Alkan: the first of its kind and which is expected to run to some 18 CDs in length. Aside from a busy schedule of concerts and teaching, he is also a published composer and writer and his advocacy for the music of Alkan led to his election as Chairman the Alkan Society 2014.
The indomitable Marcella Crudeli created the Rome International Piano Competition amazingly 33 years ago.The eternal city was one of the few capital cities that did not have an International Piano Competition.Although it was talked about and envisaged, it was never actually realised (various ideas to name one after Carlo Zecchi or Guido Agosti came to nothing).It was Marcella Crudeli who created a competition in the name of Rome itself.
She also holds masterclasses for young musicians where every year she ensures that a selected few can give a public concert with orchestra, a rare occurrence indeed for masterclasses.This year Prof Franco Ricci ,a close collaborator of Marcella Crudeli, invited four of her prize students to play in his 25th Anniversary Series in Viterbo.A movement each of concertos by Paisiello,Beethoven and Chopin with the splendid orchestra of young players directed by Daniele Camiz
Marcella Crudeli applauding her four prize students at the end of the concertGiulio Ginobi
A very youthful looking Giulio Ginobi seemed made for playing the piano. Fingers that were like limpets clinging to the keys with commanding assurance as he brought radiance and precision to the first movement of Paisiello’s concerto n. 2 in F. Playing with simplicity and great poise, he brought a freshness and refined good taste to this early work that was quite exhilarating.The surprise was the encore where his technical assurance and sense of style in Rachmaninov’s Prelude op 23 n.5 was worthy of a pianist twice his size! A beautiful central episode where the inner counterpoints were allowed to float so magically on a wave of sumptuous sounds.
Alessio Falciani
Alessio Falciani brought rhythmic drive and beauty to Beethoven’s Concert op 15 ( n. 1 but was actually written after n. 2).A beautifully shaped central episode where the question and answer with the orchestra was of real chamber music ensemble.Not attempting Beethoven’s glissando into the recapitulation instead he played a rock solid scale after the communing with the orchestra in whispered tones before this devilish explosion. A cadenza that was not one of Beethoven’s two but was very virtuosistic and played with commanding authority. A very elaborate cadenza with some beautiful cantabile playing of great style and a very grandiose ending taken over majestically by the splendid orchestra. A Schubert song in the arrangement by Liszt was played with subtle style and sumptuous beauty of sound.
Davide Conte
Davide Conte played the first movement of Beethoven’s 3rd Concerto in C minor op 37.It was played with great fluidity and clarity with a good sense of tempo maintained with dynamic drive.Some beautiful cantabile playing leading to Beethoven’s own cadenza.Played with great control with the great flourishes spread over the whole keyboard with radiance and mastery inspite of some rearranging of the hands! A beautiful ending ,where the exchange between the piano and orchestra was quite magical. An encore full of charm with a central episode that was surely inspired by Spain but unfortunately I have no idea what it was.
Vera Cecino
Vera Cecino formed at the remarkable school of Maddalena de Facci in Venice as was her brother Elia Cecino who won the Premio Venezia and has gone on to win many other International Prizes as his career takes wing. Vera , a few years younger, is fast following in her brother’s footsteps. A beautiful performance of Chopin’s second concerto ( like Beethoven it was written before the first!).A very expansive melodic line was played with great assurance where everything sang with radiance and style. Playing of great eloquence and aristocratic good taste where even the most virtuosistic passages were allowed to sing and were given great architectural shape. Some beautiful ensemble playing with the horn and bassoon, from a pianist who lived every moment with passionate conviction and mastery. An encore of a paraphrase by Liszt of Ernani (?) was played with commanding authority and ravishing beauty
ICNT Orchestra conducted by Daniele CamizThe beautiful young percussionist of the ICNT orchestraProf Franco Carlo Ricci (left) Artistic Director of the Tuscia University Concerts with a fellow jury member of the 33rd Rome International Piano Competition
Currently completing his postgraduate studies, the prize-winning Lithuanian pianist has been selected as a 2024 scholar of the Imogen Cooper Music Trust, as well as of the Countess of Munster Musical Trust and the Keyboard Trust. This programme features movements from Rameau’s Suite in G – including character pieces depicting ‘The Hen’, ‘The Enharmonic’ and ‘The Egyptian’ – alongside Rachmaninov’s First Piano Sonata, composed in 1908 in Dresden.
The triumph of the Lithuanians -Kasparas Mikužis ignites the Wigmore with the two ‘R’s’ There must be something in the air in Lithuania that allows their musicians to play with enviable fluidity and ravishing beauty.
The Ghione programme with Saulius Sondeckis
I remember many years ago in Rome with Saulius Sondeckis conducting the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra playing unbelievably quietly and with such simplicity and fluidity.
It was the same that we heard today from the very first notes of Rameau with a wonderful flexibility and fluidity that the music seemed to just pour from the fingers of this extraordinary young musician .A minuet with ornaments that glistened like jewels contrasting with the profound utterings of ‘L’Egyptienne’ so elaborately embellished and played with poignant dignity and beauty .There followed a deeply poetic ‘L’Enharmonique’ before the delicious hypnotic rhythmic insistence of ‘La Poule.’ Nothing though could have prepared us for the explosion of ravishing sounds and passionate outpourings of Rachmaninov’s much troubled First Sonata. Like Kantorow a few months ago on this very stage Kasparas has seen the secret path through this seeming labarinth of notes .The throbbing passion and innocent nostalgia together with the menace of the opening were the leit motifs of quite overwhelming authority and command.A performance for all those present ,including his teacher Christopher Elton, that will be placed on a pinnacle next to that of Kantorow restoring a masterpiece to it’s rightful place in the piano repertoire
Kasparas with Christopher Elton
Just five movements from Rameau’s suite of eight, beautifully chosen and placed in an order that made one unified whole. The first minuet played with remarkable poise for a debut recital on such an important stage.
I remember Vlado Perlemuter telling me even at his last public performance aged 90 ,as I opened the door for him, he confided that every time those few steps were like going to the guillotine! Kasparas too confided afterwards that for him ( as for all great artists), those few steps were the most difficult but that once he had summoned up the courage, the arrival at the piano was like being greeted by a great friend.
From the very first Minuet there was a lucidity and flexibility of natural stylish playing with ornaments like tightly wound springs . There was the continuous flowing sounds of the second minuet where the ornaments glistened like sparkling jewels .These contrasted with profound outpouring of the elaborately embellished ‘L’Egyptienne’ played with poignant dignity and beauty.Paired with ‘L’Enharmonique’ that was deeply poetic .’La Poule’ burst onto the scene with a radiant glowing insistence with some ravishing contrasted layers of sound and hypnotic characterisation.
A short break and a long pause of reflection before Kasparas embarked on his long voyage of discovery with Rachmaninov’s First Sonata. The second sonata had enjoyed a revival since Horowitz presented it in one of his recitals during his long Indian summer.Since then there is rarely a season where it does not figure on recital programmes. The first has fared less well and it is enough to say that even Rachmaninov found it a difficult work to compose.Taking standard forms but like the Liszt Sonata or Schubert Wanderer giving the main motifs a life of their own as they are transformed during a long voyage almost as if there was a great story unfolding. Ogdon was one of the first to bring it to light but was more of an intellectual performance of a pianistic genius than creating a platform for dramatic story telling of menace,exhilaration and reconciliation.It was Kantorow in his historic Philharmonie recital that suddenly shone a light on a misunderstood masterpiece.Since that performance it has now almost taken the place of the second in conservatories,competitions and concert halls.
Lukas Genusias recently found the original manuscript with changes that the composer was later to make as with his 1913 and 1931 versions of the second sonata. Horowitz was to make his own version of the second from both versions , sanctioned by his friend Rachmaninov who was plagued with depression and doubts.
I think the newly found original score closely resembles the final published one that Kasparas played today but I would be very interested to see changes made by the composer as he did with many works that were not immediately of the success of his more popular scores.
Kasparas brought streams of golden sounds and a pulsating passion from the very opening. A frightening amount of notes that are infact streams of sounds after the opening menace of the first notes deep in the bass.The third motif is a wonderful fluid melody of heartbreaking nostalgia and warming reconciliation that between the menace and the pulsating hypnotic insistence of a single note that is like a heartbeat naked for all to see. A passionate climax of overwhelming emotion was played with transcendental mastery as it died to a mere whisper with a gentle drooping tear barely whispered in our ear .Kasparas painted a canvas of such unconcealed emotion and passion that this might well be given an X certificate on it’s next appearance ! An etherial opening to the ‘Lento’, building in emotional beauty with a ravishing sense of balance .The melodic line rose like an eagle of radiant beauty above the seething cauldron of ever more intense sounds .There was a timeless beauty to the ending where the magic wand of this young musician had cast his spell on a thankfully large audience.
This was short lived as the ‘Allegro molto’ exploded with supersonic energy and astonishing mastery. Bursting into a rhythmic march of exhilaration and breathtaking daring .Rachmaninov’s melodic line coming through a maze of sounds like a knight in shining armour with glorious romantic abandon and with our Prince leading the way with fearless authority. Here the reappearance of the theme of reconciliation was one of those magic moments, all too rare in this mechanical age , when a group of unknown people are suddenly united in a joint experience of emotional beauty .A miracle and one that this young Lithuanian performed with mastery and humility. The final tumultuous awakening was quite overwhelming and was greeted with rapturous applause by those that had been fortunate enough to share in such an experience .
A simple little piece by a compatriot composer was Kasparas’s way of thanking us.
Rachmaninov’s First in D minor op 28 was completed in 1908.It is the first of three “Dresden pieces”, along with the symphony n.2 and part of an opera, which were composed in the quiet city of Dresden.It was originally inspired by Goethe’s tragic play Faust,although Rachmaninoff abandoned the idea soon after beginning composition, traces of this influence can still be found.After numerous revisions and substantial cuts made at the advice of his colleagues, he completed it on April 11, 1908. Konstantin Igumnov gave the premiere in Moscow on October 17, 1908. It received a lukewarm response there, and remains one of the least performed of Rachmaninoff’s works.He wrote from Dresden, “We live here like hermits: we see nobody, we know nobody, and we go nowhere. I work a great deal,”but even without distraction he had considerable difficulty in composing his first piano sonata, especially concerning its form.Rachmaninoff enlisted the help of Nikita Morozov , one of his classmates from Anton Arensky’s class back in the Moscow Conservatory, to discuss how the sonata rondo form applied to his sprawling work.Rachmaninov performed in 1907 an early version of the sonata to contemporaries including Medtner.With their input, he shortened the original 45-minute-long piece to around 35 minutes and completed the work on April 11, 1908. Igumnov gave the premiere of the sonata on October 17, 1908, in Moscow.
Lukas Geniusas writes about his premiere recording of the Rachmaninov Sonata n. 1 to be issued in October : ‘About a year ago I came across a very rare manuscript of the Rachmaninov’s Sonata no.1 in its first, unabridged version. It had never been publicly performed. This version of Sonata is not significantly longer (maybe 3 or 4 minutes, still to be checked upon performing), first movement’s form is modified and it is also substantially reworked in terms of textures and voicings, as well as there are few later-to-be-omitted episodes. The fact that this manuscript had to rest unattended for so many years is very perplexing to me. It’s original form is very appealing in it’s authentic full-blooded thickness, the truly Rachmaninovian long compositional breath. I find the very fact of it’s existence worth public attention, let alone it’s musical importance. Pianistic world knows and distinguishes the fact that there are two versions of his Piano Sonata no.2 but to a great mystery there had never been the same with Sonata no.1.’
Sergei Rachmaninov (1873–1943)
Piano Sonata No. 1 in D Minor Op. 28 (1907)
Allegro moderato
Lento
Allegro molto
Rachmaninoff wrote to his friend Nikita Morozov on 8 May 1907:
‘The Sonata is without any doubt wild and endlessly long. I think about 45 minutes. I was drawn into such dimensions by a programme or rather by some leading idea. It is three contrasting characters from a work of world literature. Of course, no programme will be given to the public, although I am beginning to think that if I were to reveal the programme, the Sonata would become much more comprehensible. No one will ever play this composition because of its difficulty and length but also, and maybe more importantly, because of its dubious musical merit. At some point I thought to re-work this Sonata into a symphony, but that proved to be impossible due to the purely pianistic nature of writing’.
It is said that Rachmaninoff withdrew this reference to literature and certainly the music contains other associations.
The ‘literature’ he referred to is Goethe’s Faust (possibly with elements of Lord Byron’s Manfred) and there is convincing evidence to believe that this plan to write a sonata around Faust, Gretchen and Mephistopheles was never entirely abandoned. of course there are other musical elements present as it is not programme music. The pianist Konstantin Igumnov, who gave its premiere performance in Moscow, Leipzig and Berlin, visited Rachmaninoff in November 1908 after the Leipzig recital, the composer told him that ‘when composing it, he had in mind Goethe’s “Faust” and that the 1st movement related to Faust, the 2nd one to Gretchen and the 3rd was the flight to the Brocken and Mephistopheles.’
Faust in the opening monologue of the play:
In me there are two souls, alas, and their
Division tears my life in two.
One loves the world, it clutches her, it binds
Itself to her, clinging with furious lust;
The other longs to soar beyond the dust
Into the realm of high ancestral minds.
A man whose soul is rent between the hedonistic pleasures of the earth and spiritual aspirations – Sacrum et Profanum. Exploring this all to human dichotomy, Rachmaninoff builds almost unbearable tension.
In the Allegro moderato as Faust wrestles with his soul and temptations. Kantorow constructed and extraordinary edifice of unique sound, each note of each the massive chord weighted perfectly against the others to create a richness of great magnificence and splendour, rather like an organ His tone is liquid gold and even in passages of immense dynamic power he did not break the sound ceiling of the instrument. There was superb delicacy here. The delineation of eloquent melody and the dense polyphony of Rachmaninoff’s writing was miraculously transparent.
The Lento second movement could well be interpreted as a lyrical poem expressing the love of Gretchen for Faust. Kantorow was so poetic here yet managing the dense polyphony once again with great artistry, tenderness and delicacy. His melodic understanding was paramount. The legato cantabile tone was sublime, the execution carrying with it an uncanny feeling of lyrical improvisation. A fervent and impassioned love song…
The wildness of the immense final movement Allegro molto with its references to a terrifying Dies Irae and death can well associate this massive declamation to Mephistopheles and insidious and destructive evil. Kantorow built a Chartres Cathedral of sound here with immense structural walls embroidered with the most delicate of decoration relieved by moments of refined reflection. Are we exploring the darker significance of Walpurgis Night? Kantarow extracted and expressed a diabolism seldom encountered in any piano recital. All my remarks are assuming his towering technical ability and nervous pianistic concentration of a remarkable kind. Overwhelming.
The French Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau wrote three books of Pièces de clavecin for the harpsichord. The first, Premier Livre de Pièces de Clavecin, was published in 1706; the second, Pièces de Clavecin, in 1724 ;and the third, Nouvelles Suites de Pièces de Clavecin, in 1726 or 1727. They were followed in 1741 by Pièces de clavecin en concerts, in which the harpsichord can either be accompanied by violin (or flute) and viola da gamba or played alone. An isolated piece, “La Dauphine“, survives from 1747.
The exact date of publication, at Rameau’s own expense, of the Nouvelles Suites de Pièces de Clavecin remains a matter of some controversy. In his 1958 edition of the works, the editor Erwin Jacobi gave 1728 as the original publication date. Kenneth Gilbert, in his 1979 edition, followed suit. Others later argued that these works did not appear until 1729 or 1730. However, a recent reexamination of the publication date, based on the residence Rameau provided in the frontispiece (Rue des deux boules aux Trois Rois), suggests an earlier date, since Rameau’s residence had changed by 1728. As a result of this and other evidence, the closest approximation for the original publication date stands between February 1726 and the summer of 1727. This dating is given further authentication by the comments of Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg, who provided their publication date as 1726. There are almost 40 extant copies of the original 1726/27 edition.
Two later editions followed both around 1760. The first (printed perhaps slightly before 1760) was simply a reimpression of the original engravings, although several plates were reengravings, suggesting that the original plates had undergone sufficient impression to wear them down to a state of illegibility. A second appeared in London under the title A Collection of Lessons for the harpsichordfrom the printer John Walsh which was based on the earlier Parisian edition.Suite in G major/G minor, RCT 6
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 