Royal Academy of Music Students around town Kurtag, Gubaidulina, Vlasov, Piazzolla etc Lithuanians at Charlton House (arranged by Dr Woolf) Schumann, Kurtág & Bruch Charlton House, 31st May This programme was reviewed more fully at the Royal Academy of Music where photos were forbidden. It was repeated at Charlton House before a large audience with, if anything, its perfection enhanced. Charlton regulars were daunted by the asperities of Kurtág, but showed warm appreciation for Schumann and for four of Bruch's lesser known pieces for their instrumental line up. Kurtág's Schumann homage was ended in a more approprate way than the composer's jokey idea of representing the closing of Schumann's coffin lid with a single quiet tap on a bass drum. That is not really practical for touring the piece... Instead, it was done judiciously by Antanas just closing the piano lid gently... That was generally felt to be an improvement on the original; perhaps Kurtag himself should be asked to endorse this variant? Peter Grahame Woolf Bartosz Glowacki (classical accordion) Scarlatti Sonata for Keyboard in B minor K 87 L 33 Regent Hall, London December 14, 2012 The Royal Academy presented this young virtuoso classical accordionist in an excellent recital which enthralled the Regent Hall lunchtime audience, and provided an opportunity to photograph and video the artist, which is not allowed at the RAM's own concerts [links above to videos]. Others, whom I followed to hear them again at appearances away from the Academy, have included Julia Hamos, who had made a particularly strong audiovisual impression there in Kurtag's Jatekok, whch she included also in her solo recital at the Hungarian Cultural Centre. Also the Pythagoras Quartet, who repeated their clever conjunction of Bach and Piazzolla before a huge appreciative audience at St Martin's-in-the-Fields.
Peter Grahame Woolf |