HMM newsletter - March 2006
The February Concert is still being talked about! I told you Dominic John
was astonishing – and he was, and is.
With fingers flying everywhere almost imperceptibly touching the piano’s
keys, an almost death-defying programme poured out amongst us. Beginning with
the wonderful Bflat Prelude & Fugue from Book I of the ‘48’
(by Bach) Dominic gave a flawless rendering with sheer brilliance in the Prelude
and a keenly felt Fugue. One of our audience members practices/plays Bach
every day of his life and co-incidentally had played the very same piece in
the morning of the concert. He fully approved of the way it was played in
the afternoon.
It may have seemed rather odd to have performed just the opening Allegro of
a Haydn sonata but all can now be revealed. The entire first half of Dominic’s
programme was music to be played this week in a competition being held in
Italy. Then came two Etudes by Debussy – the deceptively simple sounding
opening of the ‘five finger exercise’ motif of the first was followed
by Pour Les Sixtes – power and disarming lightness (where applicable)
were the pianistic companions in these pieces. Following without a break the
soloist then performed Liszt’s Transcendental Study No 8 and he was
intending to conclude the Petrarch Sonnet 123 before taking his next brief
pause. The audience did not allow this and erupted into applause as the thundering
din concluded the first of the two Liszt pieces.
With a settled audience once more, the gentle Sonnet was followed by the Abegg
Variations Op 1 of Schumann. The first part then ended with a passionate performance
of the meaty Piano Sonata of Samuel Barber in which the slow movement –
marked mesto – wreaked great depths of emotion. This piece is quite
a tough work for the early listener and remote from the beautiful Adagio for
Strings but repeated hearing eases all of this. On the strength of his performance
of these works this afternoon, we really feel that Dominic John should come
home with the Italia Prize (or whatever the title will be…)
A very moving and occasionally ‘different’ Les Adieux Sonata of
Beethoven opened part two and that was very well received. By now, the audience
had had a cup of tea and a biscuit or two and the warmth shown towards the
pianist was palpable. Another short set of variations by Schumann, his Papillons
Opus 2 was followed by Busoni’s staggeringly difficult Chopin Variations
(the theme being the 20th Prelude from Opus 28). The audience applause was
eminently satisfying to behold. After his third call, Dominic John –
seemingly tireless then gave us an encore. The Etudes Tableaux No 8 in C sharp
minor, from the Opus 33 set. The concert ended a few minutes after five.
This month’s concert is also a piano recital. A very different kind
of pianist will be found in the hugely talented hands of the gifted Rosie
Richardson whose musicality is no less great than Dominic John’s. Rosie
will be playing one of Brahms’s best loved works – the Six Intermezzi
Opus 118 as well as music by Mozart, Chopin and Liszt.
Hoping to see you there,
Dennis Day