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A visit to the Austrian Cultural Forum last night for a short recital and presentation by pianist Alisdair Kitchen to mark the launch of a new interactive online project Haydn on Flipboard.

I first met Alisdair on Twitter last July when he launched his TwitterGoldbergs project, in which he released a single Goldberg Variation every day for a month. The project was supported by Norman Lebrecht via his Slipped Disc blog. Soon after, Alisdair and I met in Real Life, and we made a podcast in which Alisdair discusses his fascination with Bach’s Goldbergs, the value of recording and sharing music in the 21st century and a general conversation about his musical influences and career to date. What I particularly liked about the TwitterGoldbergs project was its immediacy and accessibility: one could listen whenever one wanted to, and catch up on missed installments via Alisdair’s Twitter feed or on YouTube (where the recordings were hosted). It also allowed one to really enjoy each individual variation and appreciate the artistry of Bach’s writing.

Keen to explore the piano music of Haydn, which Alisdair feels is sadly underrated (and somewhat under-represented in concert programmes), and in an attempt to create an interactive project redolent of the Viennese coffee house culture, which Haydn would have known well, Alisdair’s Haydn on Flipboard uses an application, Flipboard, which allows the user to create an online scrapbook of links which can be shared, and he is inviting readers to contribute items for future issues (you may see something from this blog amongst the pages of the first issue). While perusing the articles, one can enjoy Alisdair playing Haydn via SoundCloud. This aspect of the application works best on tablets and smart phones: if viewing the Flipboard on a PC or Mac, you can listen to Alisdair via his YouTube channel. Thus, Alisdair hopes to create a community of listeners, readers and contributors – a kind of “virtual coffee house”, if you will. You can in fact enjoy a cup of coffee while reading Alisdair’s Flipboard.

For his recital, Alisdair chose to play what is generally considered to be Haydn’s last piano sonata, the great E flat, No. 52. This is well-known and widely performed, sometimes in a programme featuring the last piano sonatas of Beethoven and Schubert (as here). Before this, he played the Andante and Variations in F minor, Hob.XVII: 6, a work with an interesting “double variation” device, which Haydn pioneered, of two themes, in minor and major respectively. Played with commitment and a very obvious affection for this music, there were moments of great poignancy and melancholy which seemed to look forward, beyond Beethoven, to Schubert. The E-flat Sonata was performed with equal commitment, Alisdair enjoying the full range of sonorities available from the magnificent Bosendorfer piano which resides at the ACF.

Haydn on Flipboard

Twitter Goldbergs Podcasts

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Last month I was fortunate enough to have a piano lesson with noted pianist and pedagogue Alan Fraser.

Originally from Montreal, Canada, Fraser is a professor of piano at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia, where he now lives with his family. Alan Fraser is best known for his writings on piano technique, including The Craft of Piano. His piano technique is the result of much research into earlier piano schools and methods, and has resulted in a deeper understanding of the complex physical, mental and emotional processes of artful piano playing. The underlying unifying theme is his analysis of the the innate structure and function of the human hand, which helps you replace tension or over-relaxation with effective hand activation – it’s not so much about the hand’s shape or position as how it moves. He is also an ardent champion and senior practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method, which focuses on learning and movement, and which can bring about improved movement and enhanced functioning. Not dissimilar to Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais can permanently improve  posture, balance and coordination, and relieve tension and physical discomfort.

I was curious to meet Alan, having come across his writings online and in his book, and via the recommendations of colleagues, and I found him an enthusiastic and inspiring teacher (I was also permitted to observe him teaching another student). While some of his technique and suggestions runs counter to my own teacher’s philosophy, he had interesting and valuable advice and techniques for relieving tension and producing a vibrant sound, and I think as an adult student it is always useful to play for teachers other than one’s regular tutor.

Alan runs regular seminars and masterclasses across Europe and America. Further information about his teaching, writing and performing can be found on his website

It is standard practice for him to film his lessons, and I have uploaded my lesson with him to YouTube to allow others to observe the lesson.

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Violinist Fenella Humphreys

Bach to the Future is an exciting new project to commission a set of new works for unaccompanied violin to be performed alongside J.S. Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas. The brainchild of violinist Fenella Humphreys, the aim of the project is to commission new works from some of the UK’s finest living composers, including Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Cheryl Frances Hoad, and Sally Beamish. As Fenella says “It’s almost 300 years since Bach finished writing his pieces in 1720, and a lot has happened in music since then.   While there’s some great music out there for solo violin, a lot of my favourite composers both from the past and present haven’t written anything at all.   So it made sense to commission some new works”.

The project is being funded via Kickstarter, the world’s largest crowd-funding platform which enables people to develop creative projects, such as recordings, films, and exciting new music commissions like Fenella’s. For every donation made to the project, Fenella will give donors a special “thank you”, from a fee MP3 of her playing Bach, to an original manuscript from one of the composers, your name set to music, or tickets to the special Supporters’ Concert.

The project needs pledges totalling £3000 by 24th February 2014 to enable it to go ahead. Please consider donating to this excellent project, which will make new music available to musicians while also celebrating the special genius of J S Bach.

Donate here:

Bach to the Future

My Meet the Artist interview with Fenella Humphreys will be published next week.

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Who or what inspired you to take up composing, and pursue a career in music? 

When I started playing piano and clarinet at Gnessin Music School, Moscow,  my first influence for composing was my performance – playing music with very bright and talented musicians. The main trigger, however, was performing in Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du temps together with cellist Alexander Knyazev. It was a profound experience which unveiled to me the mysterious and cathartic power of great music.

Who or what were the most significant influences on your musical life and career as a composer? 

Paradoxically enough I would refer to great performers rather then great composers: Vladimir Horowitz, Glenn Gould, Rostropovich, Jascha Heifetz and other masters. Through their art of interpretation of great music I discovered the link between their endeavour to rediscover the composer’s world as they saw it, and the composer’s world as the composer saw it in its entirety.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far? 

Any new work or project seems the greatest challenge at the beginning and less so nearer the end.

What are the special challenges/pleasures of working on a commissioned piece? 

To be focused on the specific task of forming the project and then… to share an excitement with parties involved.

What are the special challenges/pleasures of working with particular musicians, singers, ensembles and orchestras? 

Probably the most pleasurable experience for me which unifies all these types of musicians is to the opportunity to discover musicians and their ability to respond the music.

This premise is based on my belief in the uniqueness and versatility of every singer or a member of ensemble or orchestra.

Which works are you most proud of?  

There are few, among them are two the most recent choral works: Prayers for Mankind, the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, and 24 piano pieces  written in 24 different keys.

Do you have a favourite concert venue? 

I would leave it to the audience, however a good church acoustic always adds something extra to the performance.

Who are your favourite musicians/composers? 

People like Miles Davis, John McLaughlin, Glenn Gould and some Spanish Renaissance composers.

What is your most memorable concert experience? 

The recent London première of the Divine Liturgy with the choir Tenebrae.

What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?  

Complete honesty in writing music. For performers – relentless striving in achieving the most eloquent and original interpretation of the music.

What are you working on at the moment? 

I have just finished writing a piece for VOCES8 and about to start revising my Second String Quartet which I wrote for the Tippett Quartet.

Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time?

Alive and with my family

What is your idea of perfect happiness? 

Absence of unhappiness

What is your most treasured possession? 

My family.

What do you enjoy doing most? 

Making people smile

What is your present state of mind? 

Enlightened and connected with my inner self.

Born in Moscow in 1955, Alexander Levine studied piano from the age of six at the Gnessin Music School (Moscow), and later he took up the clarinet. Upon graduation he was offered a place at the Moscow Gnessin Music Academy where he studied from 1976-1980. During his college years he also held the position of Principal Guitar in the Orchestra of Russian National Radio and Television.

In the years that followed he established himself as a composer working in collaboration with a variety of highly acclaimed performers in Russia. His compositions won prestigious awards from the Russian National Radio and Television in 1989, 1990 and 1991.

Since 1992 Alexander Levine has lived in the United Kingdom.

In 1993 he was awarded the honored Wingate Foundation Scholarship to study in the Postgraduate Composition course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In that year many of his compositions received awards and won prizes at various composers’ competitions.

In 1994, in recognition of his achievements, he was awarded the GSMD Bursary to continue his studies in the Advanced Postgraduate Composition. He also did his Master Degree (MA) in Composition at the GSMD in 1995, studying under Prof.Gary Carpenter and Simon Bainbridge.

In 1994 he was commissioned to write music for the Barbican production of War and Peace, directed by Peter Clough, which was performed by the GSMD Symphony Orchestra on stage. The Times wrote about this work: “It is not often you go to the theatre and get an orchestra thrown in: not providing cues for numbers but underscoring dialogue with a grand swell, like a soundtrack for the big screen.”

He also was engaged as music director for the restoration of The Beggar’s Opera and Love’s Labour’s Lost.

In the following years Alexander collaborated with various artists such as Maria Freedman, Christian Forshaw, Stanzeleit/Jacobson Duo, Darragh Morgan, Mary Dullea, Fidelio Trio, Konstantin Boyarsky, Jonathan Powell, Andrew McNeill, Bozidar Vukovic, Tippett Quartet, Orlando Consort, BBC Singers, 21st Century Choir, Tenebrae, Mariinsky Opera Choir. Russia State Orchestra “Novaia Rossia”, Bel Canto Chorus.

alexanderlevine.com