Stanford: Magnificat in G

I am not very familiar with Charles Stanford's music - though I should be since he taught for many years at the Royal College of Music (where I studied)... But I am very fond of this Magnificat in G. The beginning is so uplifting: the  calm, staccato arpeggios played by the organ, and the child's treble voice on top - the personification of purity and meekness-, all these speak directly to my heart. And the final chorale ("glory be to the Father...") is really majestic and magnificent! 
The best recording I have so far come across is the one here below, with King's College Choir, Cambridge: 

The case of Valentina Lisitsa

I don't think there is a single pianist with an internet access who does not know the Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa! The extraordinary thing about this girl is that she was made known not through winning prestigious competitions or through experienced agents but almost exclusively through youtube! It must be the only case of a truly "virtual" career! 

Of course, now she is playing everywhere (she has a recital in the Royal Albert Hall this coming June), although I don't think she has any plans to visit Greece! 

She is outrageously  talented, not doubt about that. It seems to me that she has to the fullest extent this very special Russian quality that only people from these countries (ex-Soviet Union) seem to possess: an incredible dynamism matched with a "masculine" (I cannot find a better word) musicality; Valentina's Rachmaninoff probably best summarises her musical qualities: listen, for instance, to this rendering of R's etude-tableau op. 39 no 6. 

I've played that piece myself many times, and I am well aware of its great difficulty. What strikes me in Valentina's recording is not so much her technical achievement (she plays it as fast as it can really get!) but the fact that she has a very clear idea of what she wants to do and why. As I read  in  a review for one of her concerts, "she uses her vistuosity to express, not to impress". 
Clarity of thought, intelligent decisions, daring interpretational choices - these are the perfect ingredients for a unique and masterful recording. 

Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto (part 1)

I have been practising Rach 3 for some time now... I am playing the piece on Feb the 20th, in a concert hall in Athens. Not with an orchestra (alas!) but with a second piano. It's actually a quite clever arrangement, I think: in the first part of the concert, I am playing the aforementioned work while in the second part, the pianist who accompanies me will play his piano concerto (Chopin 2) and I will be his "orchestra". We began rehearsals some months ago, and it seems to me that the "project" (quite unusual, by Greek standards at least!) is going fairly well.

I played Rach Three about 10 years ago (in Athens and in London), but things are not that easy any more, in terms of practising! (full time work, three children...). Anyhow, I am doing my best to play this wonderful concert as well as I can. 

It is, in my view, Rachmaninoff's best piano concerto, greater than the Second in terms of maturity and musicality. It is also technically the hardest. For me, the main challenge is to be able to play it through to the end without getting really exhausted. I still have about 15 days to go, so I am not that stressed yet!! 

There are so many things I 'd like to write about this concerto, so let's call this post "part 1", and I will continue...

Best Moment from the "Thirty Two Short Films on Glenn Gould"

I always found this film by Francois Girard so strange and at the same time so fascinating! These are 32 snap-shots in the life and music of Glenn Gould. Some of them I fail completely to understand; others I find moving; others I find utterly successful in terms of depicting the "reality" of this great pianist. 

By far the best "moment" in this film is , in my view, the extract here below. In just four minutes Girard manages to convey so many elements of Gould's life: his seclusive life-style, his wit, the obsession with his health, his eccentricity, and, above all, the way he chose to communicate with the other people: not simply through his music but through his records. The relationship between him and the cleaner is transformed to another dimension by the end of the piece (it's Beethoven by the way) and she is gradually (and so charmingly!) "won" by his music, but the point that Girard wants to make is that the means and vehicle of this transformation is a record, not any kind of direct communication. This was Gould! 

Thoughts after a concert... Bach's Concerto After Marcello

Just came home from a concert where I played Bach  (Concerto after Marcello in D Minor) and Brahms (Intermezzo op.117 no 1). Brahms was more or less ok, while with Bach I felt sort of uncomfortable, especially in the first movement. I've played this piece many times in the past but only a few times did I feel that the result was satisfactory. 

What I try to do (and it's not easy!) is not to imitate Glenn Gould's performance. (from his "Italian Bach"- one of his best records, in my view). He does incredible things in this recording, yet the challenge of the performer is to develop a sense of detachment from his sound, and try to find new things and new perspectives. And yet I must admit that I am so influenced by him and so persuasive do I find his reading of Concerto after Marcello that all too often I unconsciously [and hopelessly] try to do what he does. 
Yet there is another, more subtle danger for a pianist: to try and do the opposite of what another (usually great) pianist is doing. In an effort to distance from someone else's playing, one can play things differenetly just for the sake of doing that. So, for instance, Gould plays it staccato here - I'll play legato; Richter brings out an inner melodic line- I'll try to cover it a bit. And so on... 
What's the conclusion? It's quite simple (to say it at least!): Find your self, look for your individual uniqueness, be genuine.

Morten Lauridsen: O Magnum Mysterium

Let me say goodbye to 2011, with this moving and utterly beautiful motet written by the American composer Morten Lauridsen, splendidly performed, here, by the Choir Polyphony (Hyperion). 

I do not wish to say anything about it, for it seems that no verbal expression can possibly depict or describe what remains, in essence, unsayable...

Here are the words:

O Magnum Mysterium

et admirabile sacramentum

ut animalia viderent Dominum natum

Beata Virgo cujus viscera

jacentem in praesepio!

meruerunt portare

Dominum Christum

Alleluia!

An english translation (found on Wiki):

O great mystery, and wonderful sacrament, 

that animals should see the new-born Lord, 

lying in a manger! 

Blessed is the Virgin whose womb 

was worthy to bear 

Christ the Lord. 

Alleluia!

My sincere wishes to you all...

David Hill's splendid arrangement of "Silent Night"

Some more details on this splendid  arrangement of the well known Christmas song... 

As I said the other day, it was broadcasted on BBC Radio 3 on the morning of December the 24th, in the "Breakfast Show" presented by Clemency Burton-Hill, a sensitive (and multi-talented!) presenter.  

Here are the names of those who contributed to this recording which, incidentally, was specially made for this program.

BBC Singers, Paul Brough (Conductor).
Solo Tenor: Christopher Bowen 

Baritone: Jamie W. Hall. 

Here is the link, although I am afraid that you won't be able to play it after some time. (It's only available for a week, I think):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0186f1g