Yesterday I was privileged to attend a masterclass at the Lit & Phil in Newcastle by Prof. Vanessa Latarche of Royal Conservatory of Music. The masterclass had been organised by the Gateshead Piano Workshop and featured some of their regular attendees.
The class was informative yet informal. Vanessa worked well with all the performers and made them feel very much at ease. The repertoire presented was a range of known and more obscure pieces from the Romantic end of the spectrum. First up with a 'new to me' piece was Neil, who played beautifully Madeleine Dring's 'Prelude' from Prelude and Toccata. The Prelude is a fabulous piece, very atmospheric - English nuances with French impressionism - with an insistent left hand part that haunts the piece throughout. The rest of the class was as follows:
Chopin - Prelude No 25 c#
Brahms - Intermezzo in A Op. 118
Mendelssohn – Andante and variations in Bb Op. 83 - theme and variations 1-4.
Schubert - Wanderer, 2nd section
Liszt - Un Sospiro
Schubert - Impromptu in Ab Op. 90, D899
Brahms - Intermezzo in A Op. 118
Mendelssohn – Andante and variations in Bb Op. 83 - theme and variations 1-4.
Schubert - Wanderer, 2nd section
Liszt - Un Sospiro
Schubert - Impromptu in Ab Op. 90, D899
Of the performances, I particularly enjoyed the Brahms (by Graeme), Mendelssohn (by Jo) and Schubert (by Alan, who recently swept the board at the Saltburn Music Festival). Super playing and a big emotional journey, all in a few hours.
Vanessa's main themes throughout were about breathing within a piece, phrasing and the importance of expression in performance (more so than perfection!). Food for thought!
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