Two concerts in short succession to help see off the winter blues, both very satisfying. First up was Jean-Philippe Collard's solo performance on 7th February as a replacement for an injured Louis Lortie. A sizeable amount of Liszt remained on the programme in the form of the B minor Sonata, however the first half of the performance was dedicated to Debussy (Six Preludes from Book 1) and Chopin. I was acquainted with 2 of the 6 Debussy pieces, La Sérénade interrompue and La Cathédrale engloutie, but less so with the other 4. Collard, to my eyes, played with a very measured seated position - the emotive textures of the Debussy Preludes weren't reflected in his gestures - although I still found the 6 Preludes very interesting. The first Chopin piece, Scherzo No. 3 in C sharp minor, Op 39, came as something of a wake-up call after La Cathédrale engloutie! The three Chopin pieces clearly engaged the audience, who eagerly applauded after the Scherzo. There was no such gap between the Nocturne in C minor, Op 48 No. 1 and the Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52. These pieces were perhaps the highlight of the recital; whilst the Liszt Sonata was somehow slightly less engaging.
Moving forward a week to Jon Kimura Parker's second night with the NAC Orchestra performing Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, recommended by a friend. I enjoyed the 'modern' quotient comprising Stravinsky's Concerto in E-flat major for Chamber Orchestra “Dumbarton Oaks”, which appeared as a series of dance-centred themes with a distinct humour coming through. After this short, sprightly introduction, Parker bounded on stage and dazzled the audience with his performance of the Grieg concerto; I liked all of it but particularly enjoyed the 'adagio'. Clearly engaged, Parker at times was almost off the stool! As an added bonus, he performed Grieg's 'Notturno' from the Op. 54 Lyric Pieces.
Coming onto Dvořák's Symphony No. 6 in D major, Op. 60, whilst the performance remained of excellent quality, particularly in the 2nd and 3rd movements, I found myself slightly disengaged from the rest of the piece. Maybe that was just me, as M quite enjoyed it! For those of the audience who stayed for the Post-Concert Talkback featuring both Parker and conductor Jakub Hrůša, plenty of jokes abounded. For a taster of this, both Parker and Hrůša have a lot of videos on their respective websites.
Following on from these, yet more piano in March when Alice Sara Ott joins the NAC for her Canadian debut. Well done to the NAC, as I am much more excited about seeing Ott than I was for Yundi, whom she replaces.
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