On Sunday we had a real treat. The young pianist Jessica Chan came up from London to give us a recital of Scarlatti, Mozart, Liszt, Debussy and Scriabin.
The Studio was packed - of course - and the audience listened in rapt silence to playing of maturity and mastery. Liszt's 'Rigoletto' paraphrase glittered and sparkled with cascades of diamond-dust. Debussy's first book of Images gave me the greatest pleasure. All the subtle shadings and chiaroscuro effects of this wonderful music were there, as if heard for the first time. The modernity of the sound was startling. So much that we composers take for granted in our musical vocabulary seems to have originated in Debussy's music. I believe his greatness is still not fully recognised.
Everything else worked like clockwork. The weather was early May at its best, gentle breezes fanning the warming earth. As I sat at the back, listening to the music, I heard a blackbird and a robin singing not far away.
Moments of magic that touch the soul.
No comments:
Post a Comment