THALBERG-LISZT-CHOPIN Concert / Francesco Nicolosi / Review

THALBERG-LISZT-

CHOPIN CONCERT
FRANCESCO 

NICOLOSI, Piano
NAFA Lee 

Foundation Theatre
Sunday 

(5 December 2010)

This review was published by The Straits Times on 7 December 2010.

In 1837, an unusual concert took place in Paris, pitting the pianistic skills of the two leading virtuosos of the time, Franz Liszt and Sigismond Thalberg (above). The contest was adjudged a draw, with Thalberg declared the “first pianist of the world” and Liszt the “only one”. Posterity has however heavily favoured Liszt, with Thalberg a mere footnote in Romantic piano literature.

Thalberg’s legacy lives on, championed by Italian pianist Francesco Nicolosi, who devoted half of his hour-long recital to the Swiss-born phenomenon. His music was mostly transcriptions and fantasies on operatic subjects, including The Art of Songs Applied for the Piano, which involves his transformation of bel canto singing into keyboard textures.

Thus Vincenzo Bellini’s quartet A te o cara from I Puritani and the famous Casta Diva from Norma take on a seamless gloss on the piano. That the flowing melody, lightly ornamented, never leaves the spotlight is a tribute to Thalberg’s writing and Nicolosi’s sensitivity. While cherished memories of Maria Callas are not effaced, a new dimension to these classics is gratefully accepted.

For Thalberg’s Grand Caprice on Bellini’s La Sonnambula, all pretence to modesty is shed as this fantasy equals the most florid of Liszt’s conflations. Heavy chords open and a flourish of sound effects, before the familiar A! Non credea mirarti takes centrestage. The melodic line is passed from right hand to the left, and later shared by both thumbs, a favourite technical device of Thalberg’s to simulate three hands playing simultaneously.

Like Italian opera and life itself, the sublime and the vulgar are happy bedfellows. Its finale is choc-a-block full of interlocking octaves and noisy bravura guaranteed to send audiences into rapture. Nicolosi achieved that quite effortlessly.

Liszt’s transcription and variations of Chopin’s song The Maiden’s Wish was probably the weakest piece on the programme, but nonetheless flashy enough for present company. It was Chopin’s own early Variations Oo Mozart’s La ci darem (Don Giovanni), a sly combination of innovation and virtuosity, that closed the evening on a high.

Nicolosi combined both piano and orchestral parts for a grandstanding finale that included that most Polish of dances, the Polonaise as the apotheosis. His three Mediterranean encores of a Verdi waltz, Granados’s Andaluza and Thalberg’s Tarantella were an added treat. Schumann once exclaimed, “Hats off! A genius!” The modern equivalent would be “IPhones off! That’s wicked!”

This recital was the closing event of the First International Chopin Piano Competition Singapore 2010.

First International Chopin Piano Competition Singapore / Prizewinners Concert (Categories E)

FIRST

INTERNATIONAL

CHOPIN

PIANO

COMPETITION

SINGAPORE 2010

Prizewinners Concert

(Category E)

After the usual slew of speeches by a host of important people (from the chairman of the organising committee to the Polish Ambassador to Singapore), the prizewinners concert for Category E, the oldest category of pianists below the age of 25, soon got underway.

But first, special dispensation was made for a prizewinner from Category B (under 12) who had not featured at an earlier concert to perform. Nicole Ong Shu En (Singapore) was not overawed in the presence of older pianists. Her view of Chopin’s Variations Brillante on Je vends du Scapulaires (Op.12) was a model of clarity, control and perfect phrasing. She seemed to know when to pause, breathe and apply herself to the highly technical (and often fussy) figurations of this early piece. Never unfazed by its difficulties, she also has that winning smile, often neglected by many young pianists. The fact that she only placed 5th in the second youngest category was a testament to the high standard of the competition.

Sixth place in Category E was awarded to the platinum blonde Kseniia Vokhmianina (Ukraine) who performed the Nocturne in B flat major (Op.55 No.2). She took the piece deliberately, perhaps too much so that the pace lagged. By the time the big melody arrived, there seemed not enough momentum or fire to carry the work through. No questions about her lovely sound projection though.

The highest placed Singaporean was the hearing-impaired Azariah Tan who won the 5th prize. His view of the Nocturne in B flat minor (Op.9 No.1) was simply so beautiful as to defy description. With an intuitive sense of rubato, his was a portrait of quiet desolation, a calm that belied underlying tensions which do not come to a boil. Beyond a mastery of the notes, he showed an understanding of the silences and deeper meanings implicit within the score.

Fourth prize went to the amusingly named Randy Ryan (Indonesia) who also bagged 1st prize in Category D (Under 16). At only 15, this batik-clad young man was impressive in the 1st movement of the Second Sonata (Funeral March, Op.35). Again, it was another example of one going beyond the confines of the printed notes to find an inner struggle, replete with turmoil and violence. There was passion aplenty, coupled with the fingers to match.

A Pole, Anna Grabowska grabbed the Third Prize. Her stunning blue evening gown seemed just right for the glittering showing of the Grande Valse Brillante in B flat major (Op.18). Lightness and buoyancy were the order of the evening, with that bit of rubato that helped the beat from becoming too rigidly metronomic.

The Audience Award went to the second placed Zhao Yangmingtian (China), with matinee idol looks, who performed the final five Préludes from Op.28. His was clearly the best performance of the concert, with a vast palette of sound and emotions. From gravity, flowing cantabile, overarching agitation, the limpidness of spring water to the final Prélude’s embodiment of appassionato, the sweep he achieved was awe-inspiring. Did the audience know something which the jury did not?

After that, the 1st prizewinner Fryderyk Hoang Dong (Vietnam), so appropriately named, came as an anti-climax of sorts. It was a pity as his performance of the First Scherzo in B minor (Op.20) had drive and contrasts, but was marred by messiness in the opening turbulence, and a prestidigitation that was far from clean. The central cradle song came as good respite and the final third which mirrored the first was a vast improvement.

Was it nerves? Had he performed far better in the competition proper? It only goes to show that artistry is never to be taken for granted, and you are as good as your last performance.

First International Chopin Piano Competition Singapore / Prizewinners Concert (Categories A & B)

FIRST

INTERNATIONAL

CHOPIN

PIANO

COMPETITION

SINGAPORE 2010

Categories A & B

Prizewinners Concert

At the First International Chopin Competition Singapore, 51 young pianists competed for Categories A (Under 10 years) & B (Under 12 years) on Wednesday. Eight of the best performed at the Prizewinners Concert, held just before Boris Kraljevic’s piano recital.

The youngest pianists from Category A opened the concert, beginning with 5th prized Juventia Ie (Indonesia) with the Étude in F minor (Op.10 No.9). Although the easiest of the 24 studies, it nevertheless requires a large stretch of the left hand. She managed quite well despite some unsteadiness and slips, but overall a good effort for someone this young.

Tuxedo-donning Luxsuwong Nattawat (Thailand), who was awarded 4th prize, coaxed a lovely legato from the little-known simple posthumous Nocturne in C minor. Not a deep piece by any rate, but playing of such innocence is always welcome.

Third prize went to Kennis Ang Wen Xi (Singapore), who obviously enjoyed the challenge of prestidigitation in the well-known posthumous Waltz in E minor. She did so with confidence and lots of gusto, closing with those big chords.

Second-placed Amanda Lee Yun Yee (Singapore, above) gave the best performance from Category A, with the vertiginous Impromptu No.1 in A flat major (Op.29), with impeccable runs and lovely sense of rubato. A pianist double her age would have been proud of this performance. She was incidentally also awarded 4th prize in Category B playing almost an identical programme. Bryce Morrison will be thrilled by her progress.

The winner of Category A was Celestine Yoong Qian Yi (Malaysia) who played a far simpler piece, the Mazurka in F sharp minor (Op.6 No.1). She had an unerring sense of lilting rhythm, shaped the music beautifully and provided adequate contrasts in the middle section. Well done!

The under-12s of Category B were altogether a cut above, and impressed with works of a more complex and technical nature. Third Prize was awarded to Gavin Jared Bala (Singapore) who played the early Polonaise in D minor (Op.71 No.1), written by Chopin when he was about the same age as him. His handling of the right hand ornamentations was delightful, capping a performance of quiet assurance.

Naomi Druskic (Bosnia-Hercegovina) won the Second Prize with the first Nocturne in B flat minor (Op.9 No.1), in a reading of wonderful smoothness and clear lines. She truly understands the bittersweet nature and pathos of Chopin’s soul, so being Slavic really helps!

Gavin Bala and Jonathan Chua

with their teacher Benjamin Loh

The sheer confidence and maturity of Jonathan Chua Yujing (Singapore) won him the coveted First Prize with the obscure Variations on a German National Air (Op. Posth), based on the bucolic melody called Der Schweizerbub (The Swiss Boy). Its introduction was florid enough and the ensuing variations were dealt with great clarity and amazing aplomb. More will be heard from Der Singapurbub in time to come