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Last Saturday on 18th October, I attended a WASO concert with Piers Lane at the Perth Concert Hall. The dazzling pianist played Liszt's piano concerto No.1 at the end of the program. The concert program was as below:
Brahms- Hungarian Dance No.1
Liszt- Les Preludes
John Adams- the Chairman Dances
Dvorak- Carnival Overture
Liszt- Hungarian Rhapsody No.2
Liszt- Piano concerto No.1
As usual, the pre-concert talk by Phil Robertson was interesting and informative. He gave a good explanation about Liszt and his music and demonstrated some of the key features of his music on the piano, which I found very amusing and helpful. Below are some of the points Phil explained:
- Liszt is a superstar of all times: he was a virtuosic pianist and composer who expressed himself like no one had done before.
-"Suspense" in music: it is all about making people wait
-Nationalism: Liszt was patriotic and reflected his love of his country (Hungary)
-After the French revolution and industrial revolution there people saw an advent of solo recitals
-Liszt's invention of 'symphonic poem': it is basically symphony telling a story and Liszt wrote 12 such works
-Liszt's search for another colour, another emotion: Liszt used the same note with different bases/chords to change its colour ('thematic transformation': musical contrast provided by metamorphoses of a limited number of themes -quoted from WASO's program handbook)
-Liszt's using plagal cadence (musical punctuation/which chords to play at the end of a song)
To me, listening to Les Preludes that night was an absolute delight. The symphonic poem was full of emotions and suspense, dramatic and beautiful. The musical theme developed and expanded as the song went on and when it reached a climax, I had goose bumps. WASO certainly conveyed the full beauty of this great piece.
It was my first time listening to 'The chairman dances' and it felt different, different from some of the popular classical orchestral pieces. Adams is a contemporary (born in 1947), and maybe that's why his music feels unconventional- the off-beat rhythms, lots of percussive instruments and a less dominating melody.
Something that was notable was Andrew Grams's conducting style. It was expressive, accurate, straightforward and so agreeable! Also Piers Lane was the star playing Liszt's piano concerto at the end of the program. As most of other Liszt's songs, this concerto is well-known for technical difficulties and it was a pleasure and astonishment to watch Lane playing virtuosic passages flamboyantly. Also, Lane's performance of a Chopin piece as an encore was mesmersing.
It was a terrific night, getting to know Liszt and his music better :D
Last Saturday on 18th October, I attended a WASO concert with Piers Lane at the Perth Concert Hall. The dazzling pianist played Liszt's piano concerto No.1 at the end of the program. The concert program was as below:
Brahms- Hungarian Dance No.1
Liszt- Les Preludes
John Adams- the Chairman Dances
Dvorak- Carnival Overture
Liszt- Hungarian Rhapsody No.2
Liszt- Piano concerto No.1
As usual, the pre-concert talk by Phil Robertson was interesting and informative. He gave a good explanation about Liszt and his music and demonstrated some of the key features of his music on the piano, which I found very amusing and helpful. Below are some of the points Phil explained:
- Liszt is a superstar of all times: he was a virtuosic pianist and composer who expressed himself like no one had done before.
-"Suspense" in music: it is all about making people wait
-Nationalism: Liszt was patriotic and reflected his love of his country (Hungary)
-After the French revolution and industrial revolution there people saw an advent of solo recitals
-Liszt's invention of 'symphonic poem': it is basically symphony telling a story and Liszt wrote 12 such works
-Liszt's search for another colour, another emotion: Liszt used the same note with different bases/chords to change its colour ('thematic transformation': musical contrast provided by metamorphoses of a limited number of themes -quoted from WASO's program handbook)
-Liszt's using plagal cadence (musical punctuation/which chords to play at the end of a song)
To me, listening to Les Preludes that night was an absolute delight. The symphonic poem was full of emotions and suspense, dramatic and beautiful. The musical theme developed and expanded as the song went on and when it reached a climax, I had goose bumps. WASO certainly conveyed the full beauty of this great piece.
It was my first time listening to 'The chairman dances' and it felt different, different from some of the popular classical orchestral pieces. Adams is a contemporary (born in 1947), and maybe that's why his music feels unconventional- the off-beat rhythms, lots of percussive instruments and a less dominating melody.
Something that was notable was Andrew Grams's conducting style. It was expressive, accurate, straightforward and so agreeable! Also Piers Lane was the star playing Liszt's piano concerto at the end of the program. As most of other Liszt's songs, this concerto is well-known for technical difficulties and it was a pleasure and astonishment to watch Lane playing virtuosic passages flamboyantly. Also, Lane's performance of a Chopin piece as an encore was mesmersing.
It was a terrific night, getting to know Liszt and his music better :D
