ARTEM AKOPYAN
SATURDAY 28th MAY 2011 at 8:00 pm
Sonata in F minor (Appassionata) Op 57 Beethoven
Allegro assai - Andante con moto - Allegro ma non troppo: Presto
Although a "middle period" sonata, the Op 57 looks forward to the late period in its freedom of expression, if not structure. The title must be taken in its old-fashioned meaning: more anger or desperation than passion, perhaps in reaction to Beethoven's infatuation with his sister-in-law, or perhaps his anger at his encroaching deafness. Certainly the peaceful opening theme is soon displaced by ominous repeated notes and then angry crashing chords, and the movement swerves constantly from peace to frenzy. The only true resolution is to be found in the slow movement theme and variations, which launch without pause into the finale, a whirlwind which hurtles with only brief respite towards its exhausted conclusion: one of Beethoven's few sonatas to end in tragedy.
Three "Danzas Fantásticas" (Op 22) Joaquin Turina
Exultación - Ensueño - Orgia
Perhaps the truest to his birthplace of all the major Spanish composers, and least influenced by the "European" style, Turina wrote these three dances in 1919 inspired by a novel by José Mas. Each movement is prefaced by a sentence from the book: (1) "It seemed as if the figures in that incomparable picture were moving inside the calyx of a flower." (2) "The guitar's strings sounded the lament of a soul helpless under the weight of bitterness." (3) "The perfume of the flowers merged with the odour of manzanilla, and from the bottom of raised glasses, full of wine incomparable as incense, joy flowed." The first dance is a jota from Aragón, the second is a Basque zortziko, and the third is an Andalusian farruca.
Grand Pas de Deuz (The "Nutcracker") Tchaikovsky
Andante Maestoso (arr. Pletnev)
Tchaikovsky's haunting close to the "Nutcracker" ballet is transformed in this virtuosic arrangement by Mikhail Pletnev, but the underlying note of despair is never lost. The arrangement makes much use of the inner voice "third hand" technique, using the thumbs, developed by Anton Rubinstein, in the opening section. After a short lyrical central section, the reprise is almost overwhelming in forlorn ecstasy before a peaceful close.
INTERVAL
Suite "Pour le Piano" Claude Debussy
Prélude - Sarabande - Toccata
This suite, composed in 1901, is a transitional work. Couched in the French-classical structures Debussy used before the turn of the century, it introduces several impressionistic elements - listen for the whole-tone harp like flourish at the end of the energetic first movement, a virtuosic declamation ending with a further run bouncing off the bottom note of the piano. A graceful and introspective sarabande follows, and then a driving toccata.
Sonata 1. X 1905 in E flat minor Leoš Janáček
Foreboding (Předtucha): Con moto - Death (Smrt): Adagio
Janáček wrote his only sonata as a tribute in reaction to his witnessing of the slaughter of a young carpenter during a demonstration calling for a Czech university in Brno, on the date indicated in the title. As in much of his piano music, the composer makes few concessions to "pianism" in his highly original style. The first movement opens calmly with a wistful motive that is soon reiterated more intensely, with a cascade of octaves in the bass that ends fortissimo in a double trill. The next bar introduces the gentler second subject pianissimo, which is overlapped by echoes of the first. The development alternates the two into an anguished climax that leads to a pianissimo close. The second movement opens with a slow melancholic contemplation based on a simple four-note motive. The development gathers momentum, with spasmodic contributions from the left hand, into a frenzy of repeated chords leading to the reprise. The piece closes quietly and we are left with one of the most emotionally charged piano works of the century.
Scherzo in B minor Op 31 No 2 Frédéric Chopin
Chopin's scherzos were more dramatic than jocular in content, and ternary in structure. Chopin instructed the enigmatic opening theme to "rise from the mortuary", but the theme is developed with passion. The lyrical central section starts peacefully, but the drama is worked up to a high point, at which the opening theme returns and the work ends in triumph. This is rightly one of Chopin's most popular works.
Artem Akopyan was born in St. Petersburg and, after winning many prizes in childhood, studied at the prestigious Mikhail Glinka Choral Institute, initially as a singer, violinist and choral conductor as well as as a pianist, later entering the St. Petersburg State Conservatory. In 2007 he moved to the RSAMD as a pianist with second study singing. His teachers have included Idil Biret, Steven Osbourne and Jonathan Plowright. Further prizes followed in the UK and Europe including the 2nd prize in the Rome International Piano Competition, leading to an extensive performing career as a solo pianist.