Concert Review
William Bracken (Piano) – 10th February 2025
AN OUTSTANDING RECITAL
Penrith Music Club began its current season in September with a recital of music for two pianos by Peter Donohoe and Martin Roscoe, two of the greatest British pianists of our time. The most recent recital was given by William Bracken, almost fifty years their junior, whose superb performance lost nothing in comparison. Informatively introduced by William, the recital took us on a journey from the mid-18th century, with the delightful phrasing and deft finger work of a Haydn sonata, to the mid-20th century music of Messiaen.
After the Haydn sonata, William’s programme moved to the years just before the First Worl War with three very attractive pieces , all using the structures of Haydn’s time – a charming Menuet sur le nom Haydn by Ravel, a stylish Gavotte by Prokofiev and a light-hearted and quirky Humoresque, exploring the full range of the piano keyboard, by the Russian composer Shchedrin.
More substantial fare followed with the Black Mass sonata by another Russian composer, Alexander Scriabin, also written during this period. Scriabin was regarded as one of the avant-garde composers of his time but his music fell out of favour after his death in 1915. After a haunting start, with some extraordinary trill textures, the sonata built up to a powerful and percussive climax, challenging for both pianist and listener.
The first half of the recital ended with Messiaen’s Le Baiser de l’Enfant Jesus (The Kiss of the Infant Jesus), one of twenty contemplations he wrote on the Infant Jesus. Full of tenderness and compassion, and fuelled by Messiaen’s extraordinary and original sound world, the audience held its breath as the music grew to a spell-binding, ecstatic climax.
The second half of the concert brought music from the Romantic period of the 1830s. Schumann’s Kreisleriana is not only one of his most substantial works for piano (the composer considering it “my finest work”) but also reflects his great love for literature, being inspired by the character of Johannes Kreisler, who appears in the writings of E.T.A.Hoffmann. The eight movements cover all aspects of Kreisler’s character – elation, depression, impulsiveness and dreaminess. Schumann obviously saw a kindred spirit in Kreisler. After the arresting, breathless start to the work, the second movement must be one of the finest Schumann ever wrote, a lovely main theme contrasted with two livelier intermezzi. Kreisleriana’s warm Romantic writing and its moments of playfulness, freneticism and tenderness were brilliantly conveyed in William Bracken’s outstanding performance.
Liszt’s Vallée d’Obermann, inspired by his travels in Switzerland on his Années de Pèlerinage, was also inspired by literature. The gentle beauty of the opening landscape is transformed to a tempestuous climax and leads to a warm, reassuring conclusion, its formidable technical challenges convincingly dealt with by a very gifted young pianist.
Colin Marsden
