Skip to main content

Chopin Piano Concertos, salon style

Something of an intriguing concert to which I was alerted by a friend. I have heard opinions about over-familiarity with the full orchestral versions of Chopin's E minor (op. 11) and F minor (Op. 21) Piano Concertos, however it was very interesting to here them in the 'piano with string quartet' arrangement. The programme notes indicate that Chopin himself performed the E minor Concerto in this arrangement. Certainly a performance in this manner gives the listener an opportunity to hear a far more intimate performance than usual. 

Zuzana Šimurdová and Mazurka String Quartet
With that in mind - plus the enticement of an 1888 Weber 6' 3'' piano - I and slightly less than 100 others went to Southminster United Church on 2nd June. Sadly the concert didn't seem to have been widely advertised (I saw a very small advertisement in the OSCAR as well as my friend's email) as I had expected more people for an Embassy-sponsored event. 

The two concertos were performed by the Mazurka String Quartet with Zuzana Šimurdová (Concerto No. 1 in E minor) and Mikolaj Warszynski (Concerto No. 2 in F minor). Overall, both concertos were performed well, although I think the E minor was the better of the two. Šimurdová seemed to be able to work with better with the Weber piano; Warszynski seemed less comfortable on stage. From Šimurdová's first notes, the tone of the piano was noticeably different than that of a modern concert grand - slightly less projection, much more mellow and with a character that glowed, rather than sparkled. I found that my ear grew used to the sound throughout the first performance, but the difference was again noticeable after the interval before becoming familiar again. 

Mikolaj Warszynski and Mazurka String Quartet

A very enjoyable evening and for any Chopin concerto detractors, I would recommend listening to these 'salon' arrangements as the character is quite different. I own the recording of the two concertos by Tamami Honma and Vilnius String Quartet (label link here); from Zuzana Šimurdová's website it seems she has recorded the E minor Concerto with the Mazurka String Quartet (online availability here and here). Sadly and again rather surprisingly, there was no merchandise stand at the concert as the enthusiastic audience may well have bought a few copies!

Looking forward to the summer and another festival season, I read with excitement Music and Beyond's 2012 brochure. Five concerts featuring Vikram Seth! A four-part series entitled 'The Rivered Earth' and a concert featuring music from his 1999 novel An Equal Music. Roll on July!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Au quatrieme fois..

A jaunt en masse down to the Coal Exchange last night (23rd) to see The Subways excel again. For once we weren't massively early (in some ways to avoid the queues of teenagers) so arrived part way through the first support band. They are called Wry, from Brazil even! They were decent and will probably merit listening to further. Best option the ubiquitous myspace . Eagerly anticipated the main support, The Sunshine Underground, of whom I'd heard good words... They more than lived up to their expectations, with my only real niggle about their sound... whether it was the singer's style or sound mix I'm not sure but their show was at parts ear-splitting - explains my slight deafness today! Otherwise excellent, not an easy band to categorise, but my impressions were somewhere between Alabama 3 and the Killers' Hot Fuss album; dancing music too. Well worth going to see - just take earplugs! (or in my case, actually go out and buy some). I believe one can listen to the...

4 and 5

Busy weekend. Number 4 was the 2nd Innercity Pirates night at Clwb Ifor Bach, spread the word to another friend so a highly successful evening! Again, Red City were the (only) support, who were still underwhelming and may even have got worse! Luckily a short set. The main Pirates set was much more polished than the last one, they have been practicing!! Only mishap this time when an overenthusiastic fan accidentally stood on a connector! Quite a different set, this time almost totally from the 3 recent EPs with the only oldies Whisper The Fear, and 'that song' from last time - which is called The Little Pills We Love. For the set list, simply check out the track listings for the 3 EPs on their website ! Number 5 entailed a visit to Coal Exchange to see Mogwai . Luckily the buses were back to normal - well normal for a Sunday ie nothing late at night! Slightly more interesting support band, The Magnificents (sound: a mix between Mogwai, Syntax and The Killers ), although I did ...

From Black Rose to Buena Vista

Two very different but equally impressive live experiences this last weekend. First up, our long overdue homage to the late, great Phil Lynott as Limehouse Lizzy returned to the Point on Friday 2nd March. Certainly on form (and not just lead singer Wayne Ellis, mmmm!) After a late doors, the band came on for a 2 hour set. They started off with Jailbreak (with added pyro), the rest of the main set comprising known songs like Dancing In The Moonlight, Warrior, Emerald, Johnny the Fox, Are You Ready, Killer On The Loose, Cold Sweat, Do Anything You Want To, Out In The Fields, Cowboy Song, Rosalie, The Boys Are Back In Town plus at least 1 early track. The encore included 1 verse/1 chorus from Sarah, Black Rose, Whisky In The Jar and another track. Excellent atmosphere, the place was sold out. The boys are back at the Point in December. Next on to crowd pleasers of a very different sort. M and I managed to get tickets for the sold-out Buena Vista Social Club show at Wales Millennium Centr...