Nelson Freire at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

[nomis]

NELSON FREIRE

Programme:

Bach-Busoni: "Nun komm' Heiden Heiland" BWV.659
"Komm, Gott Schopfer" BWV.667

Beethoven: Sonata in C Op.53 "Waldstein"

INTERVAL 20mins

Chopin: Sonata No.3 Bmin Op.58

Villa-Lobos: A lenda do Caboclo
As tres Marias - suite for piano

Albeniz: Iberia, Bk1 - Evocacion
Navarra (Completed by Deodat de Severac)

Encores:

Gluck-Sgambati: Orfeo & Euridice - Melodie

and two other pieces that I don't know.

Yeah, so I went to see Nelson Freire yesterday night. When I told my Mum in Cantonese that I was going to watch a person play the piano, it sounded so idiotic in that language. Plus, she doesn't know a thing about Classical music, so the words that came out of my mouth sounded, as we say in Cantonese, mo liu.

Being Wimbledon season, it rained, no it poured as I was making my way to the hall. I got there just before the starting time, so I couldn't check to see if he was signing or if there were any CDs on sale (which there were - Chopin Sonata 3; Beethoven Sonatas; Brahms Concerti I think; and a box set, and yes he was signing). So I went to my seat and found to my relief that I could see the keyboard from the angle I was at (though the bass part of the keyboard was cut off a little). After everyone was settled, the lights dimmed a little (it is very bright there) and he emerged from the wings. A stocky man with a head of white hair wearing the traditional tails and white bow tie took one bow and started almost immediately! I guess he was quite nervous.

He commenced with the Bach-Busoni "Nun komm' der Heiden Heiland", though "Komm, Gott Schopfer" was first on my amended programme. His playing seemed unsettled - the phrasing wasn't good i.e. the melody lacked nuance and it didn't have that fantastic atmosphere that Horowitz created when he played it in that Last Romantic video. When the piece was finished, the audience started clapping but Freire launched straight into the next piece - it seemed that the audience was also a little unsettled. The next piece was rhythmically taut, grand and a bit virtuosic too - a good piece to applaud after.

*Clap Clap Clap* He walks to the wings, then walks back out again. A quick bow, then again, launches into the next piece.

Beethoven's Sonata in Waltz Time, Op.53. I wasn't horribly familiar with this piece until I listened to it in the afternoon before the recital, but I only had Arrau's version, which of course everyone knows that his first movement is 3 times slower than everyone else. So I wasn't ready for the faster tempo that Freire took it at. It was very flowing and very virtuosic, and had more colouristic effects than Arrau and some other Beethoven specialists. The music was heard in gestures rather than specific notes, but I could've sworn some details were missing, like the all-important Beethoven sforzandos that were so important in Arrau's recording. One colouristic effect I haven't heard in a while was when he played fast passages in the right hand, and the overtones produced make a sort of, um, 'thingy' sound. I can try to imitate the sound with my mouth, but I don't know how to write it down, sorry. As for the second movement, I think my mind switched off, and it didn't sound particularly great. I'm sure it was good...As for the last movement, the hand-crossing in the first bars and the repeats of it seemed to affect the eveness of the semi-quavers, something I wouldn't expect from a pianist with his ability. His slight girth may have affected it, perhaps? When the melody was in the right hand, the left hand passage work was so flowing, so rippling, and it almost sounded like Debussy when it repeated ff.

Of course, you don't want to know things like that. Did he or didn't he? Well, he didn't. I couldn't see the left hand passage, but for the right hand passage, he slid down with his left hand nail and used the fingers of the right hand. Of course, I'm referring to the octave glissandi, which Arrau plays with perfection, even with his slower tempo (these glissandi are easier when played faster).

*BREAK TIME*

For some reason, I can't remember much of the Chopin Third Sonata. Maybe because it was I was already quite tired, or because I had burnt myself out listening to the first half. This sonata I feel doesn't work quite so well as a whole. The scherzo sucks and the finale seems like a new first movement of something else. I couldn't remember much of the first movement, but after listening to the recording I made, it's very good, and much of it came back to me. Wonderful shaping, great colour, good phrasing, though I felt that it could be a bit more dramatic. I remember feeling quite tense when the second theme came, though it doesn't sound so tense anymore...The scherzo was extremely light - I thought I was listening to Gnomenreigen! The third movement was beautiful, though I felt that it prolonged, but I'm not sure whether it was Freire, Chopin or myself who prolonged it. The fourth movement had the trademark "inner-voices" that romantic pianists are so fond of, and the passagework was tossed off very easily, though I did feel that at any moment it could've gone horribly wrong.

I didn't know what the next two pieces until I read the programme after the concert. Freire was flying the flag with a group of two Villa-Lobos pieces, "A lenda do Caboclo" and "As tres Marias". This along with the group of Albeniz pieces (Evocacion and Navarra) I felt he played the best. They were so free, with gorgeous sounds and the superb shaping. Evocacion was the best but Navarra was a great recital ender, and seemed extremely difficult. Even he smudged some leaps.

With such enthusiastic clapping it seemed certain for him to play encores, but seeing as I had never heard him live before, I wondered whether he would. I only knew the first encore, which was the omnipresent Orfeo and Euridice transcription that he seemed to play everywhere in his DVD. Of course, he couldn't play it wrong. He played two other encores that sounded like Villa-Lobos, and one of them had a fantastic glissando.

I went to the wings to get my rather old and cheap Chopin CD signed, but when I asked him to sign it, he said, "We have to go out there, no?" The queue was rather long, but not as long as Hamelin's so I went to pee then I went to the counter to see if there were any CDs for sale. The only one left was Beethoven, who as some of you know, I do not particularly like, but many of the better sonatas were on there (Op.110, Op.27-2, Op.53) so I bit the bullet and purchased it full-price (£13.99 - I'm sure it would've costed me £6-7 on Amazon, but I would've missed this opportunity). I was supposed to buy the Schumann record much earlier but it slipped my mind. Apparently, he makes Schumann sound fantastic (some of Schumann's music is rather problematic to play). Anywho, I got the CDs signed, but again forgot to ask questions (I will get good at this one day!).

I made a pirate recording, and I'm currently uploading the unedited version, so to speak. Throughout it, you'll hear clicks, and this is me stopping and recording again (my programmes for some reason do not allow me to edit audio files that are longer than 30mins) so many apologies for that and they do occur in some horrible places. Also, the mic is rubbish on my MP3 player and there wasn't any way I could use an external mic. I also sat rather far away, hence the distant sound.

[link removed by admin]

Pics...

[mephisto]

Thanks for the pirat recording!

[gruffalo]

hey, i also went to this. some great stuff you have mentioned here. funny you say that you felt in the Chopin that it could have all gone to pieces at any moment, i also felt the same. i have heard a lot of Nelson Freire recorded stuff, some live but mostly studio recs, and i wasnt too impressed by this concert. i think i started enjoying the concert from the 3rd movement of the Chopin till the end of the encores. he seemed really comfortable at this point. i didnt really feel an honest interpretation of the Beethoven. i dont mind fast speeds with this sonata, but he lost a lot of clarity and i felt it was generally smudged. i guess that relates to your statement of him "playing in gestures rather than specific notes" which i think describes it very well, but im not sure that gestures really work with this piece. i just felt that the Waldstein was a bit slapdash in the first movement. 2nd and 3rd mvmts were'nt bad at all. im wondering if he wasnt really tuned in to the acoustics, well.. that's what i felt anyway. i can't comment much on the Bach-Busoni because i haven't heard much before, but i felt the first one was a little scratchy, but still good and i did enjoy the 2nd one a lot.

the villa-lobos and Albeniz was just fantastic and definitely a good ending to the programme. so that's the name of the first encore? im glad you told me because i thought the way he played it was so incredible and special, i was just hanging off the edge of my seat. the other two encores were nice and flashy, but i was hoping for someting more deep and possibly from the romantic period and something that the public generally knew of.

thanks for your detailed description of the concert. i haven't really gone into detail myself because you have already said most of what i had in mind and better. your description helped me re-live the concert for a moment there 


oh yeah, and thanks for the recording. how did you record it with so many people around. were there others with you? i went to see Elizabeth Leonskaja at the QE hall aswell and recorded that and i was very nervous about doing it, but i dont know much about audio editing. PM me if you want it.

Gruff


Gruff

[mephisto]

2nd to last encore:

Villa-Lobos -  O Ginete do Pierrozinho

[nomis]

hey, i also went to this. some great stuff you have mentioned here. funny you say that you felt in the Chopin that it could have all gone to pieces at any moment, i also felt the same.

It's the kind of risk-taking that older pianists did and that you don't hear so much nowadays, where they relinquished technical security for excitement or more fire.

i didnt really feel an honest interpretation of the Beethoven. i dont mind fast speeds with this sonata, but he lost a lot of clarity and i felt it was generally smudged. i guess that relates to your statement of him "playing in gestures rather than specific notes" which i think describes it very well, but im not sure that gestures really work with this piece. i just felt that the Waldstein was a bit slapdash in the first movement. 2nd and 3rd mvmts were'nt bad at all.

Looking back, I feel that you are probably right, though I have yet to listen to the recording. I felt that the tempo he chose was to fast though - BAM! and the second theme was gone.

the villa-lobos and Albeniz was just fantastic and definitely a good ending to the programme. so that's the name of the first encore? im glad you told me because i thought the way he played it was so incredible and special, i was just hanging off the edge of my seat. the other two encores were nice and flashy, but i was hoping for someting more deep and possibly from the romantic period and something that the public generally knew of.

I don't mind obscure encores, but at least mention the name of it! It is clear that he knows how to speak English, but he should know that everyone isn't as acquainted with the whole piano repertory, particularly that of Villa-Lobos and maybe a few other Spanish and Latin composers. I heard the Gluck-Sgambati played by Rachmaninov on CD a couple of years before I saw his documentary that shows him playing it everywhere. The documentary didn't have subs, but it appears to be a tribute to Guiomar Novaes, a great Brazillian pianist of the early 20th century, and might have been his teacher at one point.

thanks for your detailed description of the concert. i haven't really gone into detail myself because you have already said most of what i had in mind and better. your description helped me re-live the concert for a moment there 

You're welcome, although I'm no astute listener myself. For me to be able to review a performance as critically as I can is to know the pieces that the performer is playing, hence why I could make better observations on the first Bach-Busoni than some of the other pieces, though the listening beforehand on the day certainly helped.

oh yeah, and thanks for the recording. how did you record it with so many people around. were there others with you? i went to see Elizabeth Leonskaja at the QE hall aswell and recorded that and i was very nervous about doing it, but i dont know much about audio editing. PM me if you want it.

Gruff

I was surrounded by people! It was so blatant that I was recording, but nobody seemed to say anything. I was nervous at first though, but after the first couple of pieces, and felt more settled. It helped that my MP3 player is so small, but as I mentioned, the Mic on it (it is embedded in the player, hence all the clicking sounds) only records Mono and you cannot adjust the recording volume. Thankfully though, you can turn off automatic gain control which makes quiet and loud passages at the same volume. If someone donated me money to buy a professional MD recorder and and decent mic, I would be able to record more concerts! :p

[thalberg]

This Nelson Freire person is good friends with Martha Argerich.  They played together and she said he had amazing facility and was the best sightreader ever.  Other than Gulda.

[furtwaengler]

You're welcome, although I'm no astute listener myself. For me to be able to review a performance as critically as I can is to know the pieces that the performer is playing, hence why I could make better observations on the first Bach-Busoni than some of the other pieces, though the listening beforehand on the day certainly helped.

Nomis, I read every word of your review, and really enjoyed it. People can go pretty far out trying to prove themselves astute, knowledgeable, critical thinkers, but in the end I much prefer an honest account. It's great to read your personal experience and reactions understandably put. And the pictures and even a recording! That's a lot of work.

Thanks very much!

[mephisto]

This Nelson Freire person is good friends with Martha Argerich.  They played together and she said he had amazing facility and was the best sightreader ever.  Other than Gulda.

He is better than Argerich imo.

[ramseytheii]

so I went to pee

Thanks for the well-written review, but did you have to throw that in there?

Cheerfully,
Walter Ramsey

[nomis]

Thanks for the well-written review, but did you have to throw that in there?

Cheerfully,
Walter Ramsey

Absolutely essential.