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| More sightseeing: Petrikirche (St Peter's Church) as viewed across the Schlei Lake at Schleswig. |
Tuesday
(23 August)
Recital
8: Hubert Rutkowski (7.30 pm)
It is not too surprising to see a Polish
pianist performed a nearly all-Polish programme. Since this is Husum, there was
no Chopin on the list! The first half started and ended with polonaises,
including Beethoven's rarely heard Polonaise in C major (Op.89) and
Paderewski's barnstorming counterpart. In between was all Leschetizsky,
beginning with his edition of the Rameau Gavotte and Variations, which
is more florid than the original.
Completely unknown is his Venetian Ballade
(with barcarolle-rhythm to be expected), Hommage a Czerny (a
toccata-like study), Hommage a Chopin
(mazurka rhythm with a grand ending) and Aria, a rhapsodic nocturne-like
piece. Speaking of nocturnes, I must revisit Paderewski's B flat major Nocturne,
which came off beautifully in Rutkowski's hands.
More Polish fare in Ignaz Friedman's
transcriptions of songs by Stanislaw Moniuszko – Printemps, Chant du
soir and Dumka, all of which were very pleasant if not completely
memorable. To close was the large sprawling Sonata by the young Witold
Lutoslawski, composed in 1936. Like the early sonatas of Stravinsky or
Dutilleux, it is a product of youth and impressionability, unlike resembling
anything of the mature composer. The influences of Debussy, Szymanowski and the
late Russian romantics are there, and the even the slow movement has touches
resembling Mompou. It plays for over half an hour, and does get a little
tiring, but it deserves to be heard once in a while.
Rutkowski’s encores included a Szymanowski Mazurka
(Op.50 No.1), Rameau's Gavotte and one variation, a familiar Chopin Mazurka
(in A minor, he does get a spot after all) and quite appropriately Der
Dichter Spricht from Schumann's Kinderszenen, good to close any set
of music.
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| A view of the Marinedenkmal (Marriners' Memorial) at Laboe, near the entrance of Kiel Firth. |
Wednesday
(24 August)
Recital
9: Severin von Eckardstein (7.30 pm)
A
more eclectic programme than the one by German pianist Severin von Eckardstein
would be hard to find. The first half comprised mostly short pieces, beginning
with two Barcarolles (Nos. 9 and 8) with their svelte and sometimes
elusive harmonies typical of the French composer's late style. Then came a
selection of Preludes by French pianist Robert Casadesus, all of which
have a late Romantic Scriabin-like feel with a witty play on sonorities.
The
short-lived Liszt pupil Julius Reubke's Scherzo in D minor is filled
with high spirits, more Schumannesque than Lisztian, and this was a perfect
foil for Anatol Alexandrov's Vision which was mellow and dreamy,
benefiting from wonderful pedal-work from Eckardstein. The half ended with
three Techludes by the pianist himself, the second of which required
some preparation of the piano, with its John Cage-like plinks and plonks
qualified by thuds in a dance-like number.
His
second half qualifies to be the best half-programme thus far, as the
juxtaposition of Medtner, Scriabin and York Bowen has an almost
spiritual-musical connection in their idioms. Medtner's Dithyramb (Op.10
No.2) provided a big and beefy sonority, not to mention its piquant harmonies,
which led to the smouldering and dark Polonaise Op.21 of Scriabin, cut
from the same cloth as the better known Fantasy Op.28.
York Bowen's Sonata
in F minor Op.72 in three movements is a true gem waiting to be discovered, and
Eckardstein played it with the vehemence worthy of the best Rachmaninov or
Medtner. One gets the feel that Bowen was the most cosmopolitan and eclectic of
the four late-Romantics, as one senses a distant whiff of film and show biz
music within a solid classical frame.
There were two very differen encores, the
hymn-like Fantasiestuck (Op.111 No.2) by Schumann and Louis Brassin's
transcendentally difficult transcription of Wagner's Magic Fire Music
from Die Walkure. A most satisfying evening was concluded with yet
another round of drinks at Hartmann's Country Kitchen.
