Beethoven, Piano Sonata no. 31 in A flat major, Op.110
Haydn, Piano Sonata in D major, Hob XVI:51
Schubert, Piano Sonata no. 20 in A major, D.959
Wigmore Hall, London, Wednesday 6th April 2016
Sir András Schiff is traversing the final three piano sonatas of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert in concerts across America and Europe. Twelve sonatas in total are spread across three concerts which celebrate the sonata form, “one of the greatest inventions in Western music” (Schiff), a structure central to the oeuvres of all four composers and a means by which we can observe their development at key stages in their creative lives.
The triptych of concerts also explores the notion of “late style”. In considering Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, lateness is relative, almost a philosophical construct. Haydn and Beethoven were long-lived (by the standards of their day), while Mozart and Schubert died young. But it is the intensity of their lives and creativity that matters here: for example, in the last year of his life, Schubert’s output was astonishing – the string quartets and Symphony in C major, the ‘Schwanengesang’ song cycle and many other works in addition to the three final piano sonatas.
Who or what inspired you to take up the piano and pursue a career in music?
I discovered the piano at a very young age but I remember feeling instantly connected to the instrument and knew almost immediately that I wanted to be a musician. I didn’t understand what that implied but I was very sure and have been ever since. I also played the violin for about eight years until it became clear in my early teens that I had to be a pianist.
Who or what were the most important influences on your musical life and career?
I’ve been so lucky to have always had wonderful teachers who understood how I needed to develop at different stages. I established a very good and solid foundation with my first teacher, Ilana Davids, so that when I went to study with Imogen Cooper at 14 I was ready to be introduced to a completely new way of thinking and listening. It was extremely liberating and overwhelming.
After that I studied with Joan Havill, who has so much experience and detailed knowledge both as a performer and a teacher. She has helped me tremendously to feel more in control of my body and mentally stronger on stage so that (hopefully) there is an uninhibited flow from the imagination to the keyboard.
Equally importantly, my mother has always supported and understood me and in a way we discovered music together when she took me to the Purcell School. Families often have to make huge sacrifices to create the right atmosphere for a serious musical education.
What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?
Trying to reconcile developing as a musician with developing a career and dealing with the business side of things. Being on time for flights.
Which performance/recordings are you most proud of?
I was proud of my performance of Bartok’s 3rd Concerto with the CBSO last November as I think it’s such an imaginative and subtle piece and I felt we were able to find a free and natural way of communicating with each other. My performance of some Ligeti Etudes in the summer felt like death but I adore these pieces and find them beautiful and fascinating and was so happy that people in the audience felt that too.
Which particular works do you think you perform best?
It’s probably not for me to say, but I always love playing Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin and much more.
How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?
Pianists have such a wealth of great works to choose from and I always choose far more than I could actually play. I try to think of interesting programmes which have some kind of narrative or idea behind them and I also love including little-known works alongside more famous ones. I think a recital programme should be a kind of statement of one’s musical personality.
Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?
Wigmore Hall is maybe the ideal recital venue, and I also love Symphony Hall, Birmingham and St. James’ Church in Chipping Campden is really special.
Favourite pieces to perform? Listen to?
Too many to choose from.
Who are your favourite musicians?
Again, there are so many, but just to mention a few, Alfred Cortot, Pablo Casals, Jacques Thibaud, Radu Lupu, Richard Goode, Alfred Brendel , András Schiff, Steven Isserlis, Imogen Cooper and Fischer-Dieskau.
What is your most memorable concert experience?
The most recent one.
What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?
That the music is bigger than us
Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time?
Here, with a whippet beside me.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
The Goldberg Variations
What is your most treasured possession?
My EpiPen, because I have a nut allergy and I literally couldn’t live without it.
What do you enjoy doing most?
Playing the piano.
Mishka Rushdie Momen performs at the Hebden Bridge Piano Festival, 22-24 April 2016. Further details here
Mishka Rushdie Momen, born in London 1992, studied with Joan Havill and Imogen Cooper at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has also periodically studied with Alfred Brendel and Richard Goode. She has twice been invited by András Schiff to participate in his summer class in Gstaad as part of the Menuhin Festival.
In November 2014 Mishka was unanimously voted the 1st Prize winner of the Dudley International Piano Competition and performed Bartok 3rd Concerto with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Seal at Symphony Hall, Birmingham. In September the same year Mishka won 2nd Prize at the Cologne International Piano Competition and most recently she was a prizewinner at the Dublin International Piano Competition 2015. She was awarded the Prix Maurice Ravel at the 2013 Académie Ravel in St. Jean-de-Luz, France where she returned to give three concerts at the Ravel Festival last Spring. Previously she was selected for the Tillett Trust Young Artist Platform Scheme 2012-2013 and other prizes include the Kenneth Loveland Gift and First Prize in the Norah Sande Award 2012, First Prize in Piano at the Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artists Competition 2010, the Chopin Prize at the EU Piano competition 2009, Prague, and at the age of 13 she won 1st Prize in the Leschetizky Concerto Competition, New York.
Mishka has given solo recitals at the Barbican Hall, the Bridgewater Hall, The Venue, Leeds, St. David’s Hall , Cardiff and in the Harrogate and Chipping Campden Festivals. Her concert experience includes most major London venues including the QEH, RFH, Purcell Room, Wigmore Hall, and abroad in New York, France, Germany, Prague, and Mumbai.
Featuring a New Elegant Design, Wooden Keys, and Three Historic Grand Piano Sounds
Tokyo, April 7, 2016 — Casio Computer Co., Ltd., announced today that it will release the GP-400BK, a new elegantly designed digital piano model in its CELVIANO Grand Hybrid lineup. CELVIANO Grand Hybrid pianos combine the advantages of both digital and acoustic pianos while delivering the performance of a grand piano in tone, keyboard quality and playing comfort.
Casio previously released two pianos in this lineup in 2015—the GP-500BP and GP-300BK. Both were equipped with its AiR* Grand Sound Source, which reproduces the same beautiful sound and rich reverberation as a grand piano, and keys made from spruce, a wood used in grand piano keyboards. These models also featured piano tones jointly developed with the piano maker C. Bechstein. The natural Grand Hammer Action Keyboard has an action mechanism that faithfully simulates piano hammer movements, which have a significant impact on the playing response of a grand piano. These innovative hybrid pianos moved beyond the realm of the conventional digital piano, and gained a strong reputation among people who appreciate the nuanced sound and feel of a grand piano.
* Acoustic & Intelligent Resonator
The new GP-400BK comes with the three historically popular grand piano sounds featured in the GP-500BP and GP-300BK, as well as the same reliable key response and supple playing comfort. New with the GP-400BK is the design, which boasts a curved rear panel and thicker side panels and legs to capture the bold and refined image one expects of a high-quality piano. The height from the keyboard to the music stand has also been made the same as a conventional grand piano, for an experience even more like that of playing a grand piano. In addition, Casio used a black wood grain finish for the entire piano to give it a dignified look. All of these design features come together in this latest elegant model in the CELVIANO Grand Hybrid lineup.
Thoroughly refined sound and reverberation reminiscent of a grand piano
■The AiR Grand Sound Source reproduces the same beautiful sound and rich reverberation as a grand piano.
Multi-dimensional Morphing smoothly transforms sound waves, and realizes tonal changes based on both time passage and intensity. Even during a gradual crescendo from pianissimo to fortissimo, the technology allows even and natural tonal changes.
Moreover, the String Resonance System, designed to deliver the string resonance of a grand piano, controls the amount and combination of resonance according to the playing situation. By producing reverberation that fits each of the 88 keys, the technology enables natural and comfortable performance.
By combining these two technologies, the new model offers the sounds of three grand piano styles. The Berlin Grand is known for its elegant clear sound and reverberation that gives each performance rich melodic color, while the Hamburg Grand delivers gorgeous power and strength with a lot of string resonance. The Vienna Grand provides calm bass with a solid feeling along with soft and beautiful sound.
■Natural Grand Hammer Action Keyboard enables even more delicate expression
The GP-400BK features keys made from high-quality spruce, which is also used in grand piano keyboards. The keys are also finished in the same way as on a grand piano. Since this makes them more familiar to the pianist, fingers are less likely to slip or fatigue. The new model also boasts a new unique action mechanism that delivers the right hammer movement, which has a big impact on the playing response of a grand piano. The mechanism conveys delicate finger nuances more accurately, and enables dynamic touch to translate directly into expressive power.
■Grand Acoustic System generates a space of three-dimensional sound
Casio has developed a Grand Acoustic System that faithfully represents the sound of a grand piano as it emanates from above and below the soundboard. Through careful positioning of six speakers and the creation of sound pathways, the system delivers three-dimensional sound with tonal elongation, expansion and depth.
Special playing experiences made possible by a digital piano
■Scene feature enables pieces to be played with the optimal sound
The Scene feature consists of 15 preset types for different composers such as Chopin and Liszt, as well as musical genres such as jazz and easy listening. The presets combine the best optimal tones, reverberation, and effects for the type of piece being played. Users can also create and save their own presets.
■Concert Play offers an experience like playing with an orchestra
The spectacular sound of a live orchestra is recorded in a high-quality digital format. By playing the piano together with the recorded orchestra, users can enjoy the feeling of performing at an orchestral concert. The technology can also be used in practice, as it allows the tempo to be slowed, and also features rewind, fast forward, and repeat playback of A-B sections.
■Hall Simulator provides the experience of performing in a special venue such as a concert hall
The Hall Simulator allows the pianist to enjoy the immersive sound found in different types of venues such as an Amsterdam church, or a classical concert hall in Berlin. Also, the GP-400BK enables users to switch between the Player’s Position, which provides a sense of playing a real grand piano, and three types of Listener’s Positions, which gives the pianist the effect of listening to the performance from the audience.
The Françoise-Green Duo at St John’s Smith Square, Thursday 31st March 2016
The five-concert residency at St John’s Smith Square by the Françoise-Green piano duo is exploring the music of Vienna’s musical landscape through its salon culture, from Mozart and Schubert to Schoenberg and the Second Viennese School. Vienna’s unique system of private and public patronage allowed composers such as Mozart to present their music to a select audience via the salon. For Schubert, who did not have the kind of patronage and support Mozart enjoyed, nor publishers eagerly clamouring for his music, performances within the privacy of his own circle of friends was the only way his audacious music found a truly receptive audience. This salon culture became even more pronounced at the turn of the twentieth century, when Schoenberg and his cohort broke away from the Vienna Tonkunstlerverein and built their own community for the performance of their music outside of the mainstream where much of their music was premiered through private performance societies. The Françoise-Green Duo pay a special hommage to this by performing new works which they have commissioned especially for their residency.
Music for piano duo is often, and mistakenly, regarded as “light” – music to be enjoyed at home amongst friends, and the enduring popularity of music for piano duo is testament to its appeal, variety and inventiveness. Both Mozart and Schubert wrote fine works for piano 4-hands, including the latter’s Fantasie in f minor, D940, arguably the most profound work ever written for this genre.
This particular concert, the third in the series, revealed the contrasting characters of Vienna, from the elegance and wit of Mozart through Schubert’s bittersweet Allegro in A minor ‘Lebenssturme’, D947, to the decadence and eroticism of fin de siecle Vienna of Alban Berg, reimagined by British composer Kenneth Hesketh in his Die letzten Augenblicken der Lulu, and the world premiere of ‘Fable’, a new work by Colin Alexander which was dedicated to the duo.
The Françoise-Green Duo are notable for their confident and convincing handling of contemporary repertoire – one has the sense of two musicians who actively relish the challenges, both technical and artistic, that this music presents – yet their opening piece, the Sonata in F K497, written at the end of Mozart’s life, proved them at home in more traditionally “classical” repertoire. In this sonata, the two pianists are equal players, sparking off one another, and creating witty dialogues interspersed with rich orchestral textures. In the softer dynamic range, the pianists brought a tenderness which immediately shrank the large space of St John’s Smith Square to an intimate salon.
Kenneth Hesketh’s work is both a redaction of Berg’s ‘Lulu Suite’ focusing on the main material in the suite, but also providing a flashback of Lulu’s life in the immediate moments before her death. Soprano Sarah Gabriel’s performance in this work was dramatic and vulnerable, and the combination of spoken word and vocal line, culminating in a full-throated scream signifying Lulu’s death at the hand of Jack the Ripper, was searing. The piano part created an unsettling undercurrent, increasing in urgency towards the tragic denouement.
After the interval came the world premiere of Colin Alexander’s ‘Fable’, a work which fully utilised the fine acoustic of St John’s Smith Square, the resonance of the Steinway D, and the duo’s technical assuredness. At times, the sounds emanating from the piano recalled bells, bassoons, horns and chanting, which built in intensity to create a hypnotic whole. It put me in mind of Somei Satoh’s mesmeric Incarnation II, which uses the resonance of the piano to similar effect.
It’s all too easy to ascribe a certain mindset or state of health to Schubert’s music: his illness, syphilis, and its disturbing and debilitating treatment and side effects are well-documented. Whatever the composer’s mental state in the final year of his life, there is no doubt that this was a period of fervent, boundary-breaking creativity. The ‘Lebenssturme’ (Life’s Storm – a title assigned by the publisher after Schubert’s death) opens with a dramatic motif of forte (check) chords which gives way to an ethereal second subject, which Antoine Françoise seemed to float across the upper register of the piano. It’s a substantial work whose structure hints that Schubert might have had something longer in mind and which demonstrates fully the breadth and daring of his creativity in the year of his life.
For an encore, the duo played the opening movement of Mozart’s Sonata in C major, K19d (dropped from the original programme better to accommodate the new works) Written when the composer was still a boy, yet already bright with promise, witty, colourful, and elegantly turned by Robin Green and Antoine Françoise.
‘The Viennese Salon’ continues at St John’s Smith Square on 7 April with a rare opportunity to hear Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 arranged for piano four-hands by Alexander von Zemlinsky together with works by Mozart and the world premiere of a new piece by Alissa Firsova. Further information here
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