SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION FINALS 2016: No. 2, Wednesday 20th July 2016, by Tony Magee

SIPC finals two, Wednesday 20th July 2016

Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.

Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by Benjamin Northey.

Oxana Shevchenko (29), Kazakhstan, Mozart 26 in D Major K.537

Oxana is a pianist of great skill with a flawless technique and immense musical insight. I generally don't like this concerto very much because it was written for a Coronation and therefore has all the associated grand fanfares and pomp and circumstance at the expense, in my opinion, of a genuine musical journey. However in the hands of Oxana, it was delivered in such a polished and refined way, with a minimum of emphasis on musical fireworks, instead delivering beautiful musical lines and glorious melodic runs. She chose the Italian Fazioli piano (as did all the performers on the previous night) and achieved bell-like clarity in her tone production.

Moye Chen (32), China, Mozart 27 in Bb Major K.595

A minimalist player - barely any body movement - just the fingers moving over the keys. The antithesis of Lang Lang. Incredibly relaxed, assured and confident. Obviously more experienced on the concert platform than the others. Chose the Sheguru Kawai piano. Slightly metallic sounding tone occasionally, I think due to the piano more than the player. A very mature reading and completely delightful.

Jianing Kong (30), China, Mozart 21 in C Major K.467

Back to the Fazioli. Arguably the most popular of all the Mozart piano concertos and containing some of his most mature and brilliant writing both for the piano and the orchestra. The classical form at its height. Played with a very developed tone, sometimes I thought a little too heavily, however this concerto, along with No. 24, anticipates some of the qualities of the Romantic style more than any others and a player could conceivably justify a more dominating and robust approach as was the case with Jianing. The slow movement was sublime and only marred by a constantly ringing phone from some office somewhere nearby (it wasn't an audience mobile), which continued for the rest of the performance. Inserted a brief improvisational flourish at the beginning of the third movement which was a nice touch and in keeping with the fashion of the day (Mozart's day). The only player to attempt anything of this nature. I hope the judges don't mark him down for it.

Notes: All players were at ease and as one with the orchestra and conductor. Steinway and Yamaha pianos not used on either night. The stand-out performance for me was of Andrey Gugnin from Russia from the night before.

SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION 2016 FINALS: No. 1, Tuesday 19th July, by Tony Magee

SIPC Final one, Tuesday 19th July

Sydney Opera House Concert Hall

Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Benjamin Northey.

Kenneth Broberg

Kenneth Broberg, USA (23), Mozart 25 in C Major K.503

A somewhat Romantic performance of a Classical era work. Most enjoyable and enthusiastically played but somewhat stylistically unconventional. Tempos occasionally ahead of the orchestra. Very large sound from the Fazioli piano, over-developed in places for the style of the concerto. First movement cadenza extremely stylishly played and with great conviction. The pianist had great fun playing this concerto, but at the expense of balance and authenticity.

Arseny Tarasovich-Nikolaev

Arseny Tarasovich-Nikolaev, Russia (23), Mozart 23 in A major K.488

Incredibly fluid and relaxed technique. Flat hands and minimum of movement to deliver an overall beautiful restrained sound, at times almost lacking in balance with the orchestra. At other times, he demonstrated glimpses of a broad majestic sound, almost tending towards Romantic piano volumes. A flawless performance and at times almost too perfect, bordering on robotic. His grandmother was the great Russian pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva.

Andrey Gugnin, Russia (29), Mozart 9 in Eb major K.271

Andrey Gugnin

Stand out performance of the night. Clarity and beauty of tone, fluid lines and phrases perfectly executed in a dialogue format within the piano part itself, but also with the orchestra. Demonstrated such a masterful understanding of the structure of the work and how to bring out everything it has to offer, which is considerable. Absolutely at one with the orchestra and the conductor, at times semi-conducting himself from the piano. A magnificent display of perfect dynamics, ebb and flow, sensitivity, polish and poise.

General notes: All performers chose to play the Italian made Fazioli piano. No performers improvised their own Cadenzas, all choosing instead to play the ones written out my Mozart.

Maurizio Pollini review – glimpses of greatness amid the gloom

by Andrew Clements

Royal Festival Hall, London

Schumann’s Fantasy lacked the usual magisterial control, but Chopin fared better and Schoenberg’s Six Little Pieces were the perfect tribute to Boulez.

Maurizio Pollini at the Royal Festival Hal, London. Photograph: Venla Shalin/Redferns

When Maurizio Pollini first established himself internationally as one of the great pianists of the age, Schumann’s C major Fantasy was a signature work, and the recording he made of the piece in 1973 remains one of his greatest achievements on disc. He has returned to the work intermittently over the last 40 years, and played it several times since in London, though without ever quite recapturing the earlier clarity, rigour and intensity.

The Fantasy was the most substantial item in this programme of Schumann and Chopin, but again Pollini’s performance seemed only an approximation of what it once was. The formal strength is still there, and also the wonderfully unsentimental treatment of the lyrical interludes, but any sense of magisterial control in the first movement and steady accumulation of intensity in the finale were missing. The closing pages of the central march were rather approximate, just as the opening cascades of Schumann’s Op 8 Allegro were not as crisp as they might have been, but then that awkward work’s rather flashy brand of bravura has never seemed a perfect fit with Pollini’s approach.

The Chopin group generally fared better, though everything remained rather subfusc. The Polonaise-Fantaisie Op 61 was stripped of its ceremonial overtones, and became restrained and inward-looking, while the C sharp minor Scherzo seemed to go through the motions in a safety-first sort of way. 

Best of all were the two sharply contrasted Nocturnes of the Op 55 set, the first all F-minor introspection, the second flowing E-flat major expansiveness, while the work that Pollini had added at the beginning of the programme in memory of Pierre Boulez - Schoenberg’s Six Little Pieces Op 19, had been the perfect tribute, each miniature chiselled with immense care.

First published at The Guardian, March 4, 2016

Article: Aussie antiques lover sets up shop in Belper

Friday March 4, 2016

by Dan Hayes

An Australian antiques lover has set up shop in Belper and is hoping his new business venture hits the ground running. 

Charles Collins, 56, of Derby, came to this county with his first wife in 1989 and found work in radio journalism.

However, after a long stint working at Radio Derby as a sports producer came to an end in 2014, he decided to go it alone in a field he had long been passionate about. 

He said: “I found it difficult to find work after the BBC and spent about a year volunteering at food banks and things like that. 

“I was in my mid-50s and had heart and back problems but I just thought, ‘I would employ me’, so I employed myself."

Charles managed to secure the lease on a unit at The Gatehouse at De Bradelei House on Chapel Street and decided to keep the tea room that came with it. 

“I’ve had to do some courses in hygiene and Diane who runs it has been fantastic, but I’ve begun to get some compliments about the quality of my cappuccinos and lattes, which is nice.” 

The shop is a veritable treasure trove of beautiful and interesting objects, from a Pye phonograph to fearsome military memorabilia and everything in between.

There are stunning African masks which have been picked out by Charles’ current wife, who originally hails from South Africa, and exquisite hand-painted porcelain by art-deco artist Clarice Cliff that was once, astonishingly, sold in Woolworths. 

Twelve dealers in total will show their wares at the shop eventually, with the priciest items arranged in glass vitrines which seemingly add to their desirability. 

There are even a few reminders of Charles’ native Australia dotted around in the form of the maps which adorn the walls and a wonderful Australia-shaped coffee table. 

Val and Charles, wedding day 1988

Charles’ love of antiques came from his first wife, the Prisoner Cell Block H actress, Val Lehman.

“I used to find it really boring but she got me into it and eventually I developed and interest in porcelain and maps,” he explained. “We then set up an antiques centre but as she wasn’t a businesswoman it didn’t succeed. I do remember thinking, however, ‘I could do that’.”

Charles next step will be to open the upstairs of the shop in readiness for Monday’s official opening when TV antiques expert, Charles Hanson, and pop legend Dave Berry will be coming along to cut the ribbon. 

Breaking news and ‘Neighbours’:

After returning to Australia with his first wife in 1996, Charles again found work in journalism. 

One of the most amazing tales he has to tell was his experience of breaking the news of a coup in Fiji.

“I pretended to be a senior Fijian official in order to get through to the head of their army,” he said. 

“When I got through to him I admitted I wasn’t who I said I was, but the only thing he was interested in was in getting a message to the rugby team that they should continue their tour of Australia!” 

Charles, now a committed Christian, says he couldn’t do the same now. 

On top of that Charles also had a couple of small parts in Prisoner himself, courtesy of his then wife who played Bea Smith - Top Dog to the long-running soap’s aficionados - and even had one line in Neighbours. 

“I suppose you could say I have had an interesting life story,” says Charles.

First published in Belper News, March 4, 2016