ANOTHER HUSUM DIARY 2017
This
is the third year in succession that I will be attending that rarest of piano
festivals, Rarities of Piano Music at Schloss vor Husum. Held in the northern
German seaside town of Husum, this festival delights in presenting piano music
that is not often heard, the unknown, underrated and undiscovered gems of the
piano repertory. All too often, the likes of Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and
Rachmaninov dominates the programmes of piano recitals (and piano
competitions), and the risk of over-familiarity and contempt looms large for
pianists and listeners alike.
Husum
is that breath of fresh air and much-needed shot in the arm, a chance to listen
to music afresh, without pre-conceived ideas and prejudices. Some works may
prove to be too arcane but much awaits discovery and the experience of new
ears. This 31st edition of a
well-loved and all too unusual institution provided me with year another 9 days
of musical bliss, a welcome relief from the humdrum of daily toil.
DAY 1: Saturday (19 August 2017)
It
did not start well at all. First, my flight to Helsinki was cancelled. I only
learnt that fact a few hours before leaving for the airport. Thankfully, there
weren't so many people flying British Airways, so I arrived in Hamburg via Heathrow.
Next, having not read the weather reports, my suitcase was packed with
beachwear all set for last year's sunny Husum summer. The reality was cold and
drizzly. I will freeze but will survive.
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| A canopy of green leading to the Schloss. |
Nothing
beats the frisson of anticipation when one walks through Husum's Schlossgang
and be greeted by the canopy of trees leading to the Schloss and the chatter of
birdsong. It is a good sign, and the familiar faces that make it to the Mecca
of pianophiles – Satoru, Ludwig, Jesper, the Peters (Froundjian and Grove),
Elisabeth, Kathy, Bertrand, Fritz und Norbert - all add to this unremitting
sense of well-being. We're all on first-name basis now.
Recital
1 (4.30 pm)
LUKAS
GENIUSAS
No
matter what one thinks, Paul Hindemith's Ludus Tonalis will always be a
rarity. This was his version of The Well-Tempered Clavier and Die
Kunst der Fuge wrapped in one, comprising a Prologue and a series of
Interludes and Fugues, all in his typically quirky and astringent
style. There is as much conformity to structure and form as there is much wit,
the improvisatory interludes followed by the wryly wrung fugues, brought out
trenchantly by the young Lithuanian-Russian's hands.
Some
of the themes sound atonal (borne from tone rows), but when heard repeated
through a series of voices, these become listenable, even likeable. The piano
sounds more reverberant that usual, and this serves the music well. Dryness
makes its taste like cardboard, but we're having chocolate mousse now.
Geniusas' encores of Wagner's Elegie (hints of Tristan), Leonid
Desyatnikov's madcap Chasing Rondo and Grieg's Vision (from Lyric
Pieces) close the first of two Young Explorers recitals on a winning high.
Recital
2 (8 pm)
SATU
PAAVOLA
The
Schloss' longtime avian residents are on full song today, noisily greeting the
second of the Young Explorers recitals by the Finn Satu Paavola. The personable
young lady looks far younger that her bio suggests. She's supposed to be 37 but
appears less that half that age. A teenager appearing in Husum would be a
first. But she is as serious as they come, playing a rare combo of Sigismond
Thalberg and Charles-Valentin Alkan, both early Romantics. The two Thalberg
opera fantasies (after Mercadante and Donizetti) showcase the best bel canto
qualities on the piano, a singing line and florid filigree.
One
almost feared she be overmatched in Alkan's Sonata “The Four Ages”, a
wild 4-movement beast that begins with the uproarious 20s and ending with a
resigned 50s (people did not live that long in the early 19th
century). Her phrasing is clipped and almost awkward in its opening but she
soon settled as the ages progressed. One supposes it gets easier when the
tempos slow down. She compensates for her diminutive physical stature by
projecting a big sound in the octaves and chords. Her two encores, Thalberg's
well-known transcription Casta Diva (Bellini's Norma) and obscure
Air d'Eglise (Fetis) served as slow and satisfying bookends.
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| The Art of Listening, a collage I made from last year's festival. |
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