On Sunday we were at the Wigmore Hall for a recital by Emmanuel Despax. In a generous and wide-ranging programme, Despax gave us and exciting and technically demanding programme. He started with a pair of Bach transcriptions, Busoni's Chorale prelude: Ich ruf'zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ and Myra Hess's Jesu Joy of Mans Desiring. These were followed by a stirring performance of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Despax is one of those pianists who has an ability to play loudly whilst retaining subtlety, his performance had this quality in spades. It lacked the raw power and earthiness that can be brought to the piece; Despax's Pictures were highly sophisticated, but powerful nonetheless.
The second half started with a beautifully modulated account of Chopin's Barcarolle in F sharp minor. This was followed by the same composers 12 Etudes Opus 10. I must confess that I have never heard all 12 Etudes played continuously as a concert piece and in Despax's hands this worked well. His technical facility was admirable, though one or two of the early studies remained firmly rooted in the technical study. But gradually, the poetic nature of Chopin's inspiration took hold till we concluded with a bravura performance of the Revolutionary Study.
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts this month
-
Having recorded a disc of motets by Francois Couperin (see my review ), Edward Higginbottom and the choir of New College Oxford have turne...
-
Britten: Albert Herring - Dan D'Souza, Caspar Singh - ENO 2025 (Photo: Genevieve Girling) Britten: Albert Herring ; Caspar Singh, Emma...
-
Gluck: Iphigenia in Tauris - Danny Shelvey (Orestes) & the Furies - Blackheath Halls Opera (Photo: Julian Guidera) Gluck: Iphigenia in ...
-
What about blowing the box to pieces: composer Eímear Noone on writing for video games, films and TVEímear Noone (Photo: Andy Paradise) Dublin and LA-based composer Eímear Noone is known for her scores for video games, films and TV. She re...
-
The Siege of Florence (1558) by Giorgio Vasari, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence San Matteo in Arcetri is the reddish building in the bottom left ...
-
Britten: The Rape of Lucretia - Jenny Stafford, William Morgan - English Touring Opera (Photo: © Richard Hubert Smith) Britten: The Rape of...
-
Jakob Lehmann (Photo: Sercan Sevindik) As the Orchestra Révolutionnaire et Romantique makes its first foray into Rossini, we talk to conduc...
-
Hummel: Quintet, Bertini: Grand Sextuor; Sestetto Classico; MDG Reviewed by Andreas Rey (22 September 2025) Two large-scale chamber works fr...
-
Mozart: Zaide - Lea Desandre, Johannes Martin Kränzle, Pygmalion - Salzburg Festival (Photo: SF/Marco Borrelli) Mozart: Zaide oder der Weg...
-
Julian Bliss (Photo: Rebecca Schelldorff) Clarinettist Julian Bliss ' latest album, which came out earlier this month on the Signum Clas...
No comments:
Post a Comment