Piano recitals by Vasco Dantas and Michel D’Alberto (June 17th and 19th, 2021)
The concert of pianist Vaško Dantaš in the big hall of Kolarac’s endowment and within the Art Link festival was a rare opportunity for the audience to get acquainted with a slightly different pianist repertoire. Last year, this artist released a CD containing cycles and salon pieces by Robert Schumann, Carl Reinecke, as well as Portuguese composers Viane da Motte, Alexandria Hey Colas, Oscar da Silva and Eduardo Bourne. At the Belgrade concert, Dantash performed the same compositions that were on that edition, so the pianist even respected the order in which they were played. What all the authors have in common is that they are romantics who wrote miniatures of a lyrical and playful character.
Dantaš is a performer of exceptional technical possibilities who, in addition to that, manages to function his abilities in order to create short, but impressive musical expressions. The performance of Robert Schumann’s Children’s Scene cycle and several transcriptions of Karl Reinecke’s Schumann Songs were an indication that Dantash has an exceptional sensibility for performing romantic miniatures. With calm gestures and discreet body movements, he made such contact with the keyboard through which the unity of sound and movement could really be noticed. Lyrical melodic movements were adorned with a subtly shaped and meaningful tone. Deep immersion in the very essence of the sound, meant emphasizing aliquots of high tones, refined measured echoes, perfectly set balance between melody and accompaniment and fast and precisely played passage movements. The use of dynamic relations in these two cycles was adapted to small forms, and in fact, when it comes to the sentimentalized lyrics of early romanticism, Dantaš showed an enviable skill of interpretation at the concert.
The compositions of the Portuguese romantics Viane da Motte, Alexandria Hey Colas, Oscar da Silva and Eduardo Burnay were interesting, because it is salon music enriched with melodies originating from Portuguese dances and fades. It is obvious that all these composers were influenced by German romantics, so the combination of German and Portuguese composers in the repertoire was a logical and original choice.
The performance of pianist Michel Dalberto at this year’s Art Link Festival was an opportunity to meet a pianist of the highest quality. Already well known to the local audience, at the recital in the great hall of Kolarac’s endowment, he presented himself with compositions by Franz Liszt, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Robert Schuman.
Every time we listen to Dalberto’s interpretations of romantic compositions of a lyrical or sentimental character, some of the universally classical qualities that may not be expected in pieces such as Oberman’s Leaf Valley or the Transcendental Landscape Etude become obvious. It could not be said that in their performance the approach of the pianist was objective, nor that he was distant in relation to the musical content, because his statement does not lack narrative. Alberto makes an impressive edge, his dynamic amplitude is huge, but still, there is a certain amount of moderation, or even better, harmonization of strong contrasts that especially accompany the piece Oberman Valley. Precisely because of that property, we could say that he is a representative of the French piano school.
The same could be said for the performance of the cycle Fantastic Pieces by Robert Schumann. A series of eight piano pieces, it is performed with very clearly presented characters and an impressively clean sound image. In the context of interpreting Schumann’s music, this fact is unusually important, because pianists often know how to deceive dense fabrics built from the simultaneous movements of different sections that need to be put in good balance. The way in which Dalberto arranged these movements, speaks of the fact that it can be rightly said that he is, in fact, a specialist in performing Schumann’s music.
However, we could make the same statement regarding the performance of the music of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. This pianist made a separate cycle from six of Debussy’s preludes from both volumes, Fog, Wind in the Mountain, Dead Leaves, Anacapri Hill, Steps in the Snow and What the West Wind Saw. It is characteristic that in the preludes in which the movement of fast passages occurs, Dalberto almost released their overflowing properties of the physical, as if they were initiated independently of the performer’s body. Particularly impressive were the moments in which the melodies were drawn through the movement of a kind of arabesques, while the mixing of colors was strictly controlled by the right pedal. At no point did the pianist allow the various coloristic sections to merge into one, common sound, but were all the time recognized as independent entities. On the other hand, slow-paced melancholic preludes were meditations in which the utterance was built through the thoughtful construction of melodic-harmonic movements that received their full meaning in the final, long and resounding chords. The same could be said for the piece Sad Bird from the cycle Mirrors by Maurice Ravel, while the famous toy Alborada del graciozo was the missing character that was bypassed in the performance of Debussy’s preludes.
Michel Dalberto’s concert was diverse in the sense that this artist tried his hand at all kinds of characters and styles for which he is known as a top performer. The lyrics, meditations and dances of early romanticism and impressionism and the strong leaf edge are all performed in a lively and striking way and, most importantly, with high aesthetic standards.
Original Text:
Pijanistički resitali Vaška Dantaša i Mišela Dalbertoa (17. i 19. jun 2021.)
Koncert pijaniste Vaška Dantaša u velikoj sali Kolarčeve zadužbine i u okviru Art Link festivala, bio je retka prilika da se publika upozna sa malo drugačijim pijanističkim repertoarom. Ovaj umetnik je prošle godine objavio kompakt disk na kome su se našli ciklusi i salonski komadi Roberta Šumana, Karla Rajnekea, kao i portugalskih kompozitora Viane da Mote, Alešandrija Hej Kolasa, Oskara da Silve i Eduarda Burneja. Na beogradskom koncertu, Dantaš je izveo iste one kompozicije koje su se našle na tom izdanju, pa je pijanista čak poštovao i redosled po kome su odsvirane. Zajedničko za sve autore je to što su u pitanju romantičari koji su pisali minijature lirskog i igračkog karatera.
Dantaš je izvođač izuzetnih tehničkih mogućnosti koji i pored toga, svoje sposobnosti uspeva da funkcionalizuje u cilju stvaranja kratkih, ali upečatljivih muzičkih iskaza. Izvođenje ciklusa Dečije scene Roberta Šumana i nekoliko transkripcija Šumanovih pesama Karla Rajnekea, bili su pokazatelj da Dantaš poseduje izuzetan senzibilitet za izvođenje romantičarskih minijatura. Smirenim gestovima i diskretnim pokretima tela, on je ostvario takav kontakt sa klavijaturom kroz koji je zaista moglo da se primeti jedinstvo zvuka i pokreta. Lirske melodijske pokrete krasio je suptilno oblikovan i sadržajan ton. Dubinsko poniranje u samu zvučnu suštinu, podrazumevalo je isticanje alikvota visokih tonova, rafinirano odmerene odzvuke, odlično postavljen balans između melodije i pratnje i brza i precizno odsvirana pasažna kretanja. Korišćenje dinamičkih odnosa u ova dva ciklusa bilo je prilagođeno malim formama i zapravo, kada je u pitanju sentimentalizovana lirika ranog romantizma, Dantaš je na koncertu pokazao zavidno umeće interpretacije.
Kompozicije portugalskih romantičara Viane da Mote, Alešandria Hej Kolasa, Oskara da Silve i Eduarda Burneja bile su zanimljive, jer je u pitanju salonska muzika obogaćena melodijama koje potiču iz portugalskih plesova i fada. Očigledno je da su svi ovi kompozitori bili pod uticajem nemačkih romantičara, pa je i spoj nemačkih i portugalskih kompozitora na repertoaru, predstavljao logičan i originalan izbor.
Nastup pijaniste Mišela Dalbertoa na ovogodišnjem Art Link festivalu bila je prilika za susret sa pijanistom vrhunskih kvaliteta. Već dobro poznat ovdašnjoj publici, na resitalu u velikoj sali Kolarčeve zadužbine predstavio se kompozicijama Franca Lista, Kloda Debisija, Morisa Ravela i Roberta Šumana.
Svaki put kada slušamo Dalbertoove interpretacije romantičarskih kompozicija lirskog ili sentimentalnog karaktera, bivaju očigledni i neki od univerzalno klasičnih kvaliteta koji možda i nisu očekivani u komadima kakvi su Listova Dolina Obermana ili Transcendentalna etida Pejzaž. Ne bi baš moglo da se kaže da je u njihovom izvođenju pristup pijaniste bio objektivan, niti da je distanciran u odnosu na muzički sadržaj, jer njegovom iskazu ne nedostaje narativnosti. Alberto pravi upečatljiva rubata, dinamička amplituda mu je ogromna, ali ipak, postoji izvesna doza odmerenosti, ili još bolje rečeno, usaglašavanja silnih kontrasta koji naročito prate komad Dolina Obermana. Upravo zbog tog svojstva, mogli bismo da kažemo da je on reprezentativan predstavnik francuske pijanističke škole.
Slično bi moglo da se kaže i za izvođenje ciklusa Fantastični komadi Roberta Šumana. Niz od osam klavirskih komada, izveden je uz vrlo jasno predstavljene karaktere i uz impresivno čisto postavljenu zvučnu sliku. U kontekstu tumačenja Šumanove muzike ova činjenica je neobično važna, jer pijaniste često znaju da zavaraju gusta tkanja izgrađena od istovremenih pokreta različitih deonica koje je potrebno postaviti u dobar balans. Način na koji je Dalberto uredio ove pokrete, govori o tome da se sa pravom može reći da je on zapravo, specijalista za izvođenje Šumanove muzike.
Međutim, istu takvu konstataciju mogli bismo da iznesemo i u vezi sa izvođenjem muzike Kloda Debisija i Morisa Ravela. Ovaj pijanista je od šest Debisijevih prelida iz obe sveske, Magle, Vetar u planini, Mrtvo lišće, Brežuljci Anakaprija, Koraci u snegu i Šta je video zapadni vetar, napravio zaseban ciklus. Karakteristično je da je u prelidima u kojima dolazi do pokreta brzih pasaža Dalberto njihova prelivanja gotovo oslobodio svojstva fizičkog, kao da su pokrenuti nezavisno od tela izvođača. Naročito impresivno, delovali su momenti u kojima su melodije bivale provučene kroz kretanje svojevrsnih arabeski, dok je mešanje boja strogo bilo kontrolisano desnim pedalom. Niti u jednom momentu, pijanista nije dozvolio da se različite kolorističke deonice stope u jedan, zajednički zvuk, već su se sve vreme raspoznavale kao nezavisni entiteti. S druge strane, melanholični prelidi sporog tempa, predstavljali su meditacije u kojima se iskaz gradio kroz promišljenu gradnju melodijsko-harmonskih pokreta koji su svoj puni značenjski smisao dobijali u završnim, dugačkim i odzvanjajućim akordima. Slično bi moglo da se kaže i za komad Tužne ptice iz ciklusa Ogledala Morisa Ravela, dok je čuvena igračka Alborada del graciozo, bila onaj nedostajući karakter koji je u izvođenju Debisijevih prelida bio zaobiđen.
Koncert Mišela Dalbertoa bio je raznovrstan u tom smislu što se ovaj umetnik oprobao u svim vrstama karaktera i stilova po kojima je poznat kao vrhunski izvođač. Lirika, meditacije i plesovi ranog romantizma i impresionizma i snažna listovska rubata, sve je to izvedeno na živ i upečatljiv način i što je najvažnije, uz visoko postavljene estetske standarde.