The acclaimed Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes organised a mini-series of three concerts featuring music by his countrymen to coincide with an exhibition of the work of Norwegian artist Nikolai Astrup (1880 – 1928), the first ever outside of Norway. It is a mark of how important this artist is in the cultural landscape of Norway that Andsnes came to the leafy suburbs of south-east London to present these concerts, which amply proved, in the words of Dulwich Picture Gallery’s director Ian Dejardin, “there is more to Norwegian music than Grieg”. In addition to exploring the music, visitors were invited to view the exhibition of Nikolai Astrup’s colourful and expressive paintings, prints and woodcuts.
Nikolai Astrup Midsummer Eve Bonfire, SBF/DNB/The Astrup Collection/KODE Art Museums of Bergen (photo: Stuart Leech)
Music was important to Astrup. He grew up in Jølster in the region of Sogn og Fjordane, a landscape of scattered farms around a scenic lake, surrounded by high mountains. With no towns or large hubs nearby, access to classical music was minimal and the music that was most accessible to Astrup as he was growing up was Norwegian folk music, in particular the type played on the Hardanger fiddle. Dancers and fiddle-players appear frequently in Astrup’s ‘Midsummer Bonfires’ paintings, and references to music and musicians feature in many of his other paintings, along with the landscape of the area of Norway he knew well. Thus the programmes for the three concerts at Dulwich Picture Gallery revolved around the theme of Norwegian folk music and its influence on composers who succeeded Grieg. The music was selected to reflect the themes and beauty of Astrup’s paintings.
andthe world premiere of a new work by Paul Mealor
29 April – 2 May 2016
The Wales International Piano Festival will be held from 29 April – 2 May 2016 at Galeri, the iconic arts centre in Caernarfon. This year’s festival has a new Director, pianist Iwan Llewelyn-Jones and is the third festival to be presented by Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias (CGWM/The William Mathias Music Centre). The festival comprises concerts, competitions, masterclasses, workshops, lectures and interviews with guest artists.
Peter Donohoe, acclaimed international pianist, opens the festival on Friday 29 April at 7.45pm in a recital of works by Ravel, Debussy, Scriabin and Rachmaninov. A former winner and recent jury member of the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition, Peter Donohoe will chair the Jury for the Senior Solo Piano Competition.
The first of three piano competitions begins on the morning of Saturday 30 April with the preliminary stage of the Junior Solo Piano Competition; the final round takes place on the afternoon of Sunday 1 May. The Senior Solo and Piano Accompanist Competitions begin on the morning of Sunday 1 May (preliminary rounds) with the public finals on the afternoon of Monday 2 May. Participants come from all over the UK and abroad.
At lunchtime on Saturday 30 April, there will be a concert entitled ‘Satie on the Sidewalk’, celebrating the music of Erik Satie.
The evening concert on the 30 April at 7.45pm showcases the versatility of Welsh music and musicians, featuring six world premieres of specially commissioned short works for solo piano, inspired by images and words on the theme of ‘Peace and Remembrance’. Three works are by young, upcoming composers and three by renowned composers of international standing: Paul Mealor, well known for his anthem for the marriage of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge; Richard Baker, noted for his orchestral and chamber music, and Owain Llwyd who is at the cutting edge of film and media composition. The young composers are Luke Lewis, Mared Emlyn and Maja Palser.
The Festival Education Project reaches its climax in this Saturday evening concert with the premiere performance of a new work for chamber ensemble by four young A-level students. This three-movement composition with accompanying fanfares will be performed by instrumentalists from CGWM.
On Sunday 1 May at 7.45 it’s ‘Fiesta’ mode when the piano take centre stage to raise the roof with other instrumentalists, singers and narrators in a concert of music from across the globe including Lambert’s Rio Grande, Poulenc’s delightful setting of Babar the Elephant and Milhaud’s Scaramouche. The programme features five pianists, including Festival Director Iwan Llewelyn-Jones, and the CGWM Chamber Choir.
On the final morning, Monday 2 May, two fun events will be held in Galeri’s atrium: ‘Coffee and Croissants with Chopin and Debussy’ at 10.00am and at midday, the ‘Pianothon’, where pianists of all ages and abilities have an opportunity to tinkle the ivories.
Festival commissions (first performances on Saturday 30th April) have been supported by the PRS for Music Foundation and the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust.
Funding for the main prizes in the competitions:
Senior Solo Competition donated by Roberts of Port Dinorwic
Accompanists Competition donated by the Sickle Foundation
Junior Solo Competition donated by the Piano Tutors of Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias (funds raised from a public concert).
The characters in English National Opera’s new production of Philip Glass’s opera Akhnaten might have stepped down from an ancient Egyptian tomb painting as they glide across the stage in extreme slow-motion, arms outstretched or palms turned upwards. Restaged by Phelim McDermitt of Improbable peeformance company, the inspiration for this new production is Egyptian bas reliefs reflecting life in Akhnaten’s court, the stylised rays of the sun represented on stage by neon light sticks and the unfurling of golden ribbons, together with some gorgeous lighting effects by Bruno Poet. There are jugglers too, in this production, also inspired by ancient Egyptian art, and their activities enhance both narrative and music.
Akhnaten, his wife Nefertiti and their children, with rays of the sun disc, c1340 BC (Wikimedia Commons)
I saw the very first ENO production of Akhnaten, back in 1985. Then, the setting was spare, ultra-minimalist, with just a pyramid and a sun disc (as I recall). This new production is sumptuous, with opulent, richly-decorated costumes designed by Kevin Pollard, and fine singing from both soloists and ENO chorus.
We know that the ancient Egyptians were a ritualistic people, and this aspect is given full rein in this new production. The opera opens with a long orchestral sequence, during which hieroglyphs are projected onto a painted screen. As the stage is illuminated, the screen takes on the gauzy, grainy appearance of ancient papyrus, and through it we see seated figures with the heads of Egyptian gods – Osiris, Horus, Anubis. In the bottom segment of the set, which takes its inspiration from Egyptian wall-paintings, another ritual is taking place, as the dead Pharaoh Amenhotep III is prepared for burial. Meanwhile, his son appears, naked and vulnerable. Another ritual then ensues as Akhnaten, sung by American counter-tenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, is carefully, passively attired by his minions (played by the juggling troupe), and transformed into the new king.
No one rushes, no one runs. Even the jugglers’ balls move with grace, always perfectly synchronised. Combined with Glass’s pulsating, hypnotic score, with its luminous harmonic shifts, the overall effect is of a bas-relief or wall-painting miraculously brought to life and viewed in exquisite slow-motion. More art installation than opera, the narrative moves with an intense concentration which is both absorbing and thrilling, and this slowness, rather than creating longeurs, amplifies the epic scale. Add to this Anthony Roth Costanzo’s extraordinary other-wordly voice – made even more extraordinary when combined with Emma Carrington’s beautiful, statuesque Nefertiti and Rebecca Bottone’s Queen Tye, who haunts the stage like the old Queen Mary of Tek – plus the ENO chorus’s powerful and elegaic contributions.
Scribe (Zachary James) and Queen Tye (Rebecca Bottone) (photo: Richard Hubert Smith)
The non-naturalistic direction never appears contrived and the slow-motion narrative builds in intensity like a solemn meditation. Even the destruction of Akhnaten’s city and his own death are told with the same glacial control, the jugglers tossing their balls into the air and simply letting them drop to the floor to illustrate the fall of Akhnaten’s empire and his belief system.
In a way, the narrative – the story of Akhnaten the Pharaoh who exchanged a polytheistic (many gods) belief system for a monotheistic system (worship of the sun disc) – is irrelevant, and the programme contains a detailed synopsis, libretto and copious accompanying notes. Simply allow yourself to be bathed in Glass’s rapturous music and feast your eyes on this captivating and evocative production.
‘Akhnaten’ continues in repertory at English National Opera until 18th March 2016
(Header image: Clive Bayley, Anthony Roth Costanzo, James Cleverton and Colin Judson, photo Richard Hubert Smith)
Last year I wrote about strategies to cope with feelings of inadequacy as a musician and the oft-posed question, Am I Good Enough? In this article I will examine how social media can help and hinder those same feelings of inadequacy.
Social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+ and many, many more platforms…..) is very hard to ignore these days and unless one takes very deliberate steps not to engage with it at all, one has to accept it as a fact of modern life. It has its uses: on a most basic level, it’s a means for people to stay in touch. It can connect like-minded people and offers opportunities to forge new partnerships, collaborations and communities, both professionally and socially. For a musician, used well it can be an incredibly powerful tool (see my article on Classical musicians and social media). On social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, one can connect easily and simply with many other musicians, music teachers and others in the music profession, and the accessibility and immediacy of these platforms allow ideas to be bounced around and shared very quickly, creating interesting and stimulating discussions. Social media can also offer useful support for one’s practising – read more here
One of the criticisms which is often leveled at social media platforms such as Facebook in particular is that some people use them as a way of parading their seemingly perfect or highly successful lives before others. Alongside one’s personal profile, there are groups which one can join for shared interests – and there is a plethora of piano-related groups. Such groups can be a great way of connecting with like-minded people and offer many benefits such as support for technical issues within specific repertoire, advice on setting up a piano teaching practice, musicians’ health or venue hire, to name but a few. But sometimes observing what others are doing, or constantly comparing oneself to others is not the best way to assess one’s abilities, progress and development. There may be a tendency too for certain individuals to criticise others, or be overly didactic in their posts or comments, and in the curious artificial world of the Internet, comments that might be shrugged off or refuted face to face, can seem negative or hurtful online.
Then there are the people who endlessly advertise students’ exam successes or seek endorsement from group members for their own achievements. Such parading of egos or desire for mutual appreciation or praise can make others feel inadequate. Sometimes it feels as if people are all over the networks are shouting “look at me!” and “look at my brilliant career, isn’t it wonderful?”
Social media puts us in touch with many other very competent people and it is all too easy to become intimidated or feel pressurised or depressed by what others are doing. A positive way of dealing with this is to accept that there are many talented people within our profession and to be happy to be amongst such a pool of musically accomplished individuals.
Many however cite the benefits of social media in relieving the feelings of isolation that often accompany the musician’s life:
I have found social media to be extremely beneficial as someone who has returned to the piano recently after illness. I have connected with many extremely stimulating and experienced musicians and reconnected with old friends as a result. Practising the piano can be a somewhat solitary affair so it has been a great blessing to find like-minded people to chat with during a practise session. There is always someone to turn to who can advise on fingering or other questions of technique…. (FW)
I feel encouraged when I read about or correspond with other amateur pianists who are serious about the piano while having non-piano day jobs. (PC)
If you find the “noise” of social media too distracting or detrimental, turn it off. Make a conscious decision to limit your engagement with it or allot a time slot during the day when you check in and then go back to work. Sometimes someone will post a link or start a discussion thread which is helpful or stimulating: take from it what you think will be useful to you, otherwise step back from all the chatter. Be confident in your own abilities and accept that there is no “right way”, that there may be many different approaches to the same issue. Ultimately, we have to get our vanities, anxieties and preconceptions out of the way and just get on with our work.
(This article was first published on the Piano Dao blog)
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