New Year music: Anna Tsybuleva in Skipton (and a postscript for Alina Ibragimova)

January brought 'piano night' to Skipton for the piano recital event of this year's Skipton Music season. Following on from her win at the 2015 Leeds International Piano Competition, Anna Tsybuleva has received several concert invites including here in Skipton. After her performance in Hebden Bridge last spring, I was looking forward to this concert. Whereas the Hebden Bridge programme was more 'traditional' - Schubert, Beethoven, Liszt - the programme for the 24th January recital in Skipton was more varied (more of her own favourites, perhaps?): CPE Bach Fantasy in F sharp minor H.300; Schumann Symphonic Etudes Op. 13; Medtner Sonata in G minor Op. 22; a selection from da Játékok by György Kurtág; and four Preludes plus L'Isle Joyeuse of Debussy.

Anna's demeanour throughout was of unfussy, confident elegance. The Fantasy started out in contemplative mode (quite apt for a work night concert!?) with the expression following almost acting as a starter for Schumann. In the Symphonic Etudes, very well received by the audience, I enjoyed the theme and variations emotional journey - with plenty of dynamic

Perhaps the hardest piece to comprehend was the Medtner Sonata. Not a piece I am familiar with and here maybe the control slipped - whilst there were sections of the one-movement piece that were superb soundscapes, I struggled to grasp the whole. The Kurtág pieces were fantastic - especially Les Adieux and Doina - powerfully simple and unnerving; and the Debussy selection was a sure crowd pleaser to finish.

Throughout the concert, Anna's control was both extremely admirable, yet perhaps a tad limiting. The evening was more than enjoyable and plenty to think on - but having seen her perform twice, it seems that Anna is quite guarded in her interactions with her audience - plenty of smiles but no conversations outside of the piano. Maybe a little more looseness would assist in transmitting her musical message.

Having written this I realised I had completely missed writing about Alina Ibragimova's December recital! Sorry Alina! It was a really exuberant performance, Bach and Ysaÿe. The Bach first half really good The Ysaÿe Sonatas were sometimes quite dense - namely, Kreisler Sonata - but the Aurora movement from Sonata No. 5 (Op. 27 No 5) was awesome.

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Pigeon Funk

Notes on a very random purchase. Earlier today I acquired Venetian Snares 'Rossz Csillag Alatt Sz ü letett ' purely on the basis of the language and artwork. Its certainly something different - and most definitely not pop. After a bit of searching: Venetial Snares is, according to Wikipedia, the performing name of Aaron Funk, who seems to specialise in experimental tracks in odd time signatures. Article here . The sleeve notes for this album (whose title is Hungarian for 'Born under a bad star') poses the question: what if, for just a day, we could both be pigeons? Interessant. Apparently this concept (a day in the life of a Hungarian pigeon) is non-typical of Venetian Snares sound, but one could ask, does Mr Funk do 'typical'? On first listening, the sound of this CD mixes classical/traditional Hungarian sounds and breakbeats. but aside from that? Definitely a 'listen for yourself' artist; try the website , fan site or myspace .

Lang Lang: a little bit of stardust in Southam Hall

Lang Lang with Anita Pari Like many National Arts Centre regulars, the idea of a Lang Lang concert sounded fantastic... except that for me the Gala tickets are rather too expensive. As a result the turnout for today's masterclass with young artists Anita Pari (Ottawa), Alexander Malikov (Calgary), and Tina Chong (Banff) in Southam Hall was pretty good. No surprises that there were photographers and a TV camera all over the stage... so much so that during Lang's analysis of Malikov's rendition of Transcendental Étude No 8 'Wild Hunt' (Liszt), someone shouted at the cameraman to move. To my mind they seemed a little intrusive on the performances, but none of the artists seemed to take any notice. Lang Lang with Tina Chong Up first and for me the best performance was Anita Pari with the captivating Ballade No 1 by Chopin. In comparison, Malikov's performance did not have anywhere near as much projection. Final performer Tina Chong seemed

New talent at Southminster

As a follow-on from last weekend's excellent Chopin concert, there is an afternoon of New Artists from the NAC's Summer Music Institute at Southminster United Church on 17th June. Entitled 'Dover Beach and other works for summertime', the concert features new artists Katarzyna Sadej , Emily Nenninger , Drew Santini, Hannah Min, Paul Casey , Karen Kang and Bryan Wagorn. I had the chance to hear Bryan Wagorn at one of University of Ottawa's Concerts at the NAC 4th Stage concerts back in February and thoroughly enjoyed his performance. The proposed programme is very enticing: MENDELSSOHN String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13 MONIUSZKO Sen (The Dream) Prząśniczka (Spinner Girl) SZYMANOWSKI Lecioły Zórazie (The Swans Were Flying) Ściani Dumbek (The Dark Forest) CHOPIN Piosnka Litewska (Lithuanian Folksong) Moja Pieszczotka

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