Bach, Mompou and Liszt.
I went to a lunchtime concert today before the evening concert. The brief programme note indicated that Cristo Harijan is a “22 year old pianist who has just concluded his final year as an undergraduate studying with Murray Mclachlan at the Royal Northern College of Music, Cristo graduated with a first, receiving the outstanding mark of 94/100 for his final undergraduate recital’. The precise pieces played were
Bach / Busoni: Chaconne from the Partita 2 in D minor BWV 1004
Mompou, F:
Nocturne – Lentement modéré
Musica Callada:
3 – Placide
6 – Lento
13 – Tranquilo
16 – Calme
20 – Calme
27 – Lento molto
Liszt, F:
Transcendental Etudes S139:
4 – ‘Mazeppa’
11 – ‘Harmonies du soir’
12 – ‘Chasse neige’
The piece I liked most, because I know it best, was the Busoni arrangement of the Bach Chaconne. Mompou is a composer I had never heard of until very recently, when I saw that Stephen Hough was programming him. He was Spanish – early to mid twentieth century – and his music sounds a bit like Debussy, or Satie. It’s melancholy, atmospheric and easy on the ear, though maybe 7 pieces is a bit too much of a good thing for music that in a sense sounds much the same in each piece. I’m afraid I never have much time for Liszt, and the three pieces conformed to type – noisy, pedestrian thematically and immediately forgotten after hearing, with notes tumbling out this way and that. Mr Harijan sounded pretty impressive in his playing – though whether he was using too much pedal in the Bach or whether, like most churches, the acoustic properties of the space were just very resonant, I am not sure.
John's musical journey 