 |
| Pianist Extraordinaire Alessandro Taverna |
 |
| Liszt |
Ravel Une Barque sur l'ocean'
Liszt Anées de Pelerinage deuxieme anée Italie
Debussy L'Isle Joyeuse
Liszt La Lugubre Gondola (version 11)
Debussy Clair de lune (Suite Bergamasque 3)
Stravinsky Trois Movement de Petrouchka
Encore Gulda Play Piano Play
Venetian pianist Alessandro Taverna presented a programme of late Romantic and 20th century music at City Hall, Waterford last night. While rain falls and water levels rise, 'city of water' might not immediately evoke images of the splendours of Venice but the programme title took as it's theme aspects of his native city- the gondolas, the islands, and the composers that lived and died in the Italian city .
The pale and slender young man cut quite a Byronic figure on the podium and would be a shoe in to play Liszt in a biopic. The virtuosity was quite extraordinary in an extremely difficult programme. There was gleaming clarity with every dazzling cascade, glissando and tremolo audible in the sympathetic acoustic of the Large Room in City Hall. We heard an extraordinary spectrum of colour from the most delicate nuances in the Impressionist repertoire to the wilder percussive effects in the Stravinsky. The Gondola Lugubre was the title of a piece by Liszt inspired apparently by Wagner's funeral journey by boat to the station to begin the journey back to Bayreuth.
For an encore we heard a jazzy piece by Gulda You can hear Taverna play the piece in the video below.
With weather road conditions being dreadfiul, I hope Alessandro doesn't get waterlogged as he travels to Sligo tonight and then to Castlepollard and Dundalk. Do catch him if you can. More details here http://www.alessandrotaverna.com/index.php
The concert was part of Waterford Music season. The next concert is on March 6th . The National Chamber Choir
