Sometimes ...
... you have to set the camera aside and just listen.
The official photographer for the piano festival has been very assiduous, and taken some excellent photos. Moments before I took this photo, she'd been taking close-ups of Will Bracken playing Liszt's Dante Sonata. Then she briefly let herself be caught up in the music.
His concert was superb, the best so far. Both technically and emotionally dazzling. He had chosen the theme of stories from the Bible. Sounds fairly innocuous. First was Fanny Mendelssohn's Easter Sonata. Until last year, it existed only as a manuscript score with "F. Mendelssohn" written on it. Cue expert arguments on whether it was Fanny or Felix. Eat your heart out Felix, this was an amazing experimental piece that sounded surprisingly modern. Here it is played by the man himself. Then a Messiaen piece, Le Baiser de l'Enfant Jésus. I used not to be keen on 20th-century French music, but thanks to repeated exposure, it's growing on me. And finally the marvellous, dramatic Dante Sonata.
A prolonged standing ovation, and for the encore he proposed an improvisation. "Someone suggest a piece of music, it can be anything, classical or not, and I'll improvise on it." A hand in the front row shot up. "The Chimes of Freedom!" Blank look: Will is clearly too young to be familiar with this. "By Bob Dylan" said the man hopefully. No help. "Can you sing it for me?" asked Will. Well, the man was a terrible singer and managed one wobbly line and some la-la-la's. Will worked cheerfully with what he had, and played a simple melody and variations on the few notes he had been given.
T is back from Ireland, so in the evening we picked her up to go to the 9:30 concert, the rather unexpected combination of 18-year-old Constant Despres, last seen in the masterclass here when he was 13, and jazzy Cuban pianist Rolando Luna. Constant, an evidently serious young man, played the first half, dazzling renditions of complex, showy pieces by Ravel, Albeniz, and Granados. He was tremendously impressive. Then Rolando bounded onto the stage and, with lavish grins and flamboyant gestures, played jazzy improvisations on various themes, including the Marseillaise and God Save the Queen King, inviting the audience to join in. Then they joined forces to play some Astor Piazzola with four hands (extra). Thanks to Rolando, Libertango somehow morphed into Windmills of Your Mind. And for part of their duet, Constant played one of those hand-held electronic keyboards that you blow into via a tube. No idea what they are called. He was evidently enjoying it, as were we. A great evening, home at midnight.
Thanks for all the love for little Matisse! I'm slacking on blips as I have important duties playing with him that must take precedence.
Comments
Sign in or get an account to comment.