Oxford Philomusica’s annual piano festival got off to a flying start on Monday with an enthralling recital by the Russian pianist Alexis Golovine. At first glance, there seemed to be little to link the four featured composers – Schumann, Albéniz, Mompou and Ginastera – but in fact they are bound by the fact that all were working away from their homeland when they produced these powerful and evocative pieces.
Schumann’s Arabesque in C and Fantasie in C were both written in Vienna, by which time he was secretly engaged to Clara Wieck, and he poured the pain of separation into these two contrasting pieces. Golovine made an immediate impact as he captured the gentle, lyrical nature of the Arabesque, before launching into a vigorous and heartfelt account of the passionately romantic Fantasie, which features the five-note love theme of Schumann and Clara throughout.
Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz – whose death centenary falls this year – was in London when he composed his five Cantos de España. In the final three of the set, Golovine captured the composer’s Spanish flavour with such vividness that you could almost see the whirling of the senoritas’ dresses and hear the clicking of heels. He followed this with an exciting rendition of Federico Mompou’s Variations sur un theme de Chopin, clearly relishing the contrasting moods and tempi of the 12 short movements, before bringing the evening to a rousing finale with Alberto Ginastera’s strongly rhythmic Second Sonata, which clearly evokes the music of his native Argentina.
The piano festival continues tonight at the Sheldonian with Stephen Beus and the Oxford Philomusica, conducted by Marios Papadopoulos, in a programme of Bloch, Mendelssohn, Martinu and Haydn. Tomorrow night, you can hear Peter Donohue at Christ Church Cathedral in a programme of Schubert, Brahms, Bach and Beethoven, followed by the traditional Participants’ Recital at the JDP on Saturday. There are also various public masterclasses and lectures through to Sunday. For full details, visit www.oxfordphil.com Nicola Lisle
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