Happy holiday season to all of you, regardless of what you celebrate these days, and a pleasant end of the year! Here is a little thing that I wanted to share with you: a live recording of the most recent performance of my music. Petra Vidmar and Erazem Grafenauer of Duo Xylocorda appear in the duo suite At the Forest Verge for guitar and marimba, forming part of a concert in Ljubljana Town Hall, Slovenia, in October 2019. Hope you listen with as much delight as I did. So long—see you in 2020!
Events
A Musical Valediction
Yesterday I attended the farewell party of the former Chamber Choir of the Berlin University of the Arts in which I participated and performed during the last fourteen years. It was an affectionate and communicative gathering of the most recent choir members. My contribution was to present Max Reger‘s Nachtlied, Op. 138 No. 3, in my own piano transcription (please find the sheet music of my version here, as well as the choir’s recording of the original piece). This composition, one of my all-time favourites in the choral repertoire, represents some unforgettable memories related to music-making which I am grateful to share with my dear colleagues.
The Musical Mysteries of Ukraine
The spirit of Emil Gilels hovers over the Small Hall of the Odessa Academy of Music, so much I know for sure. And, by the way, this institution seems to be the one and only conservatory in Europe which is named after a woman—coloratura soprano Antonina Nezhdanova, the dedicatee of Rachmaninov‘s Vocalise. Yet other questions remain unanswered during my trip to Ukraine: Why were Horowitz and Richter so reluctant to perform Medtner, who toured the country in 1927? Where exactly was Horowitz born? And how on earth could the Soviet authorities issue him a passport with his father’s name misstated as ›Semenovich‹ instead of ›Samuilovich‹? Maybe somebody will shed light on these obscurities one day through further research. Off to beautiful Lviv now where I will spend one more day before returning to everyday business: Winter term at Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf requires my well-prepared presence.
Ten Years of Rapture
This is where the story began: In autumn 2009 I started practising the first movement of Nikolai Medtner‘s Sonata-Ballade, Op. 27, and was immediately captivated by the refined textures, formal balance, and intellectual depth of the music. It was this composition that sustainably connected my mind to Medtner’s art, resulting in a kind of fascination that kept me busy for years and is unlikely to ever cease.
A decade later, having absorbed the music in numerous papers, presentations, and a dissertation, destiny finds me tackling this intriguing work as a pianist again. I am excited to present a lecture recital on the Sonata-Ballade on two different occasions: The first one is to be held in German language this Friday, September 27 (matching the opus number!), starting around 7 pm at a private venue in Berlin Prenzlauer Berg—in case you want to attend, please get in touch for directions to Ekaterine Khvedelidze‘s place. The second appearance will be in English, forming part of the MedtnerFest XXI festival and symposium, taking place next Friday, October 4, 11 am, at the Small Hall of the Odessa National Music Academy, Ukraine. As always, your graceful company is considered a most convenient reward for my humble efforts.
A Seminal Festival by the Lake
Attended the Detect Classic Festival in Neubrandenburg, a three-day event developed and curated by Konstantin Udert and Joseph Varschen. Beautifully situated at the edge of the Tollense lake, the festival sported a versatile line-up with classical and electronic music, live performed in industrial halls formerly used for military purposes. Despite the stylistic diversity (which I appreciated very much, even though contemporary classical music was absent), my impression was that the classical and EDM audiences did not really join together. The main orchestral concerts, appearances of the Junge Norddeutsche Philharmonie, Ensemble Reflektor, and the fabulous Stegreif.Orchester, attracted far more and different people than most other performances, probably due to the advertisements by Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern who provided the framework for the festival. This raises the question if traditional classical music marketing is the best way to promote an event that aims to transcend the borders of genres and audiences. A successful transition between concert hall and club culture seems unlikely to be achieved by music management, but depends on the efforts and open-mindedness of the artists themselves. In this regard, I particularly enjoyed the performances of Alexej Gerassimez, Deep Strings, and AFAR. Regardless of my slight doubts, the festival has been a rewarding experience as a whole, widening my perspective of what can—and should—be done in today’s music programming.