Running a bit late with my review from Friday's concerts, with apologies. I've been preoccupied with the life issues of Brünnhilde, my nearly-ten-year-old Jeep. She's all good now, and I'm back on duty.
Ultimate contrasts in style, but not in quality, between the afternoon and evening concerts on Friday.
Janina Fialkowska's afternoon piano recital, a mixture of French music with a set of Chopin, was a classical piano experience par excellence, with superb playing in a fascinating and diverse programme.y
The recital had two halves, the first devoted to an assortment of music by French composers, and the second to the music of Fialkowska's compatriot, Chopin -- a composer whose music has given her a deservedly high reputation as a leading interpreter.
The recital opened with a rare gem: an Impromptu in E Major by Germaine Tailleferre, a composer completely unknown to me. Although Tailleferre's composing career was in the twentieth century, the idiom in which she wrote this piece would pose no challenges to anyone who could cope with Debussy or Ravel.
And it was to Debussy that Fialkowska turned next, with shimmering, lovingly shaped performances of Poissons d'or from Book II of Images, and Les sons et les parfums from Book 1 of Preludes.
An Intermezzo in A Flat Major by Francis Poulenc came next, and then Fialkowska closed the set with a rippling, sparkling performance of the three-movement Sonatine by Ravel. At her request, this entire set of French music was played with no breaks for applause.
The Chopin portion of the recital opened with the Scherzo No. 3 in C Sharp Major, Op. 39. It's an oft-quoted truism that Chopin was "the poet of the piano," but pieces like this scherzo remind us that poetry isn't always merely pretty, and can easily become massive in scale. Fialkowska gave a fire-eating performance of this epic work, yet still found fantasy in the cascading scales that mark each phrase of the chorale-like second theme.
She followed on with a brooding, sensitive Nocturne, Op. 55 No. 2, and then a group of 3 Mazurkas: Op. 67 No. 2, Op. 33 No. 2, and Op. 33 No. 4. These were a real treat to the ear. Too many pianists neglect the Mazurkas, whether because they are too simple and not showy enough, or because they "all sound alike." It's unwise to dismiss the Mazurkas on such specious grounds, for they have much to say. Fialkowska plainly understood that a significant portion of Chopin's soul can be found in these far-from-artless pieces.
The recital ended with the Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52. Again, as with the Scherzo, we faced a work on an epic scale, but with more of a narrative or journeying feel to it. Fialkowska shaped all the sections of the work with thoughtful consideration of how they fit together into a whole, and balanced the fiery and emotional peaks with the more meditative moments to near perfection.
Plenty of pianists can play Chopin well, but not too many play his music with such distinction and finesse. This recital was a real highlight of the Festival.
The evening concert featured the Payadora Tango Ensemble. In the big picture of the Festival, this concert could fairly be regarded as the kickoff to the "Folk Weekend." The music may have lain far outside the North American/Celtic folk traditions which most people think of when they hear the name "folk music," yet there's no denying the tango its legitimate place as an expression of folk music and dance in South America.
In this programme, we came face to face with a whole range of composers whose names were not familiar to most of us (apart from the now-ubiquitous Astor Piazzolla), but the music they produced was undeniably sophisticated, serious music, albeit rooted in a traditional style.
The ensemble was sophisticated too: one fabulous pianist (Robert Horvath), one excellent player on the bandoneon (a kind of accordion), mandolin, and violin (Drew Jurecka), a string bass player who also plucked an impressive guitar (Joe Phillips), a vocalist/violinist who led the group (Rebekah Wolkstein), an accomplished tango singer (Elbio Fernandez), and a couple of stylish and sultry dancers (Roxana and Fabian Belmonte).
This show (it was much more than just a concert) gave us a thorough introduction to the world of the tango, including examples of three main styles, samples of high-energy and highly seductive solo and couple dancing, vocal numbers ranging from the brooding to the frankly virtuosic, and excellent playing throughout.
Like everything presented at the Festival of the Sound, this was seriously musical work, both entertaining and thought provoking.
A personal footnote: there were several times during the evening when a turn of musical phrase or a movement by the dancers triggered memories of my parents. They shared a great love of Latin American music and dance. Their taste ran more to Cuban and Mexican than Argentinian, but I like to think that they would have really enjoyed this unique presentation.
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