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I subscribed blind, so it was a big sigh of relief when I turned to the programme book to see it staring back at me. Yet another Liszt Piano Sonata for the archives, this one from an all-Liszt recital by Kenneth Hamilton, who from the programme notes has been playing recitals in Singapore so many times one has lost count. Not that one has attended any of his previous recitals by the way.
Opening with four of the Transcendental Etudes, while always a rare treat for an airing of these formidable works, rarer still is a note perfect reading, of which this wasn't. Truth be told, fistfuls of wrong notes were wrenched out of the instrument and one could not help but wince and shudder at the cacophony. Of course, I have less right notes than his wrong notes, so who am I to say anything? That said, Hamilton did warm up by Mazeppa, where the run of notes up and down the keyboard was a sight to behold.
The meat-and-potatoes of the evening came in the guise of the epic sonata, in its sprawling single-movement narrative with its panoramas and vistas of hitherto unknown visions. Hamilton was in his element with an expansive take on the beautiful music, at once introspective in moments of reflection and contemplation and then exhibitionistic in grandiloquent showboating and grandstanding. With wrists of steel, he kept a tight rein on the vehicle, keeping it on its course of tension and tenacity, sustaining the vision till its muted close.
After the intermission, the Mephisto Waltz No 1 was the diabolical strange bedfellow to the divine Soiree de Vienne No 6, the former contrasting jaunty martial rhythms with the graceful elegant melodies of the latter. The ubiquitous Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 closed the programme with a multi-faceted delivery that brought to the surface a polyphonic effect with judicious use of the sustaining pedal. The rippling reverberations sent a visceral thrill and veritable chill down the spine.
Throughout his recital, Hamilton provided a humourous commentary on the works to follow, his try-too-hard stand-up comedy routine drawing some laughs for his drawing parallels with Justin Bieber (don't even ask!) and inviting the audience to go to the new Steinway Gallery to "buy yourselves one if you like". He was bravely stepping out of his comfort zone and his start-stop hesitancy almost stammering and stuttering in a picture of unease was keeping up appearances as he definitely looked more at home on the bench at the piano.
The Petrarch Sonata 104 was given as an encore after he rather suspectly scrabbled in his pants pocket before withdrawing his watch to check the time. The piece heard not so long ago as an encore too, was unfortunately robbed of its beauty and magic with a heavy-handed and ham-fisted rendition that all but drained it of delicacy and dreaminess.
The Liszt bicentenary continues on Sunday. Check back here for details.
Posted via LjBeetle
Opening with four of the Transcendental Etudes, while always a rare treat for an airing of these formidable works, rarer still is a note perfect reading, of which this wasn't. Truth be told, fistfuls of wrong notes were wrenched out of the instrument and one could not help but wince and shudder at the cacophony. Of course, I have less right notes than his wrong notes, so who am I to say anything? That said, Hamilton did warm up by Mazeppa, where the run of notes up and down the keyboard was a sight to behold.
The meat-and-potatoes of the evening came in the guise of the epic sonata, in its sprawling single-movement narrative with its panoramas and vistas of hitherto unknown visions. Hamilton was in his element with an expansive take on the beautiful music, at once introspective in moments of reflection and contemplation and then exhibitionistic in grandiloquent showboating and grandstanding. With wrists of steel, he kept a tight rein on the vehicle, keeping it on its course of tension and tenacity, sustaining the vision till its muted close.
After the intermission, the Mephisto Waltz No 1 was the diabolical strange bedfellow to the divine Soiree de Vienne No 6, the former contrasting jaunty martial rhythms with the graceful elegant melodies of the latter. The ubiquitous Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 closed the programme with a multi-faceted delivery that brought to the surface a polyphonic effect with judicious use of the sustaining pedal. The rippling reverberations sent a visceral thrill and veritable chill down the spine.
Throughout his recital, Hamilton provided a humourous commentary on the works to follow, his try-too-hard stand-up comedy routine drawing some laughs for his drawing parallels with Justin Bieber (don't even ask!) and inviting the audience to go to the new Steinway Gallery to "buy yourselves one if you like". He was bravely stepping out of his comfort zone and his start-stop hesitancy almost stammering and stuttering in a picture of unease was keeping up appearances as he definitely looked more at home on the bench at the piano.
The Petrarch Sonata 104 was given as an encore after he rather suspectly scrabbled in his pants pocket before withdrawing his watch to check the time. The piece heard not so long ago as an encore too, was unfortunately robbed of its beauty and magic with a heavy-handed and ham-fisted rendition that all but drained it of delicacy and dreaminess.
The Liszt bicentenary continues on Sunday. Check back here for details.
Posted via LjBeetle