Alessandro Taverna: City of Water at City Hall Waterford

Pianist Extraordinaire Alessandro Taverna

Liszt 

Mendelssohn    Song without words Venetianisch Gondelied in G minor
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