Two great international musicians at opposite poles of their careers perform in Birmingham this weekend – just a few hundred yards from each other across Centenary and Chamberlain Square.
The Argentinian pianist Ingrid Fliter will perform a mouth-watering all-Chopin recital at Birmingham Town Hall on Saturday, built while the Polish composer was halfway through his short life, and a place which was a frequent host to Chopin’s contemporary, Mendelssohn.
“I do play Mendelssohn although not largely in my repertoire,” says 40-year-old Ingrid.
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“But always with full joy and love. His genius is miraculous and his music a celebration of life. It is very interesting for me to know he performed on this stage often. It is moving and inspiring to imagine that his spark will still illuminate us today.”
Ingrid seems to have a natural affinity to Chopin, as anyone who heard her brilliantly communicative account of the composer’s Second Piano Concerto with the CBSO under Nikolaj Znaider last October will testify.
“Chopin is a composer that speaks directly to my heart,” she declares.
“His music doesn’t describe landscapes or tell epic stories of lost heroes. His music is deeply personal. He reveals his deepest secrets to us as a friend would do. He establishes a personal relationship with the interpreter and the listener and each of us becomes the recipient of his confession.
“His world is exuberant and contagious. One feels surrounded by perfumes, veils and caresses and you simply surrender to his irresistible manners. However, all this is always expressed in a balanced, almost contained way, heritage of his admiration for Mozart and Bach.”
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Argentina has given so many great musicians to the world, none greater than Daniel Barenboim, first a child prodigy pianist, now an elder statesman of pianism as well as one of the most respected conductors around. Can the Ingrid explain this phenomenon?
“Argentina always had a big tradition of cultivating music and art in general. The immigrants from Europe brought this baggage with them. Buenos Aires used to be one of the most important and active points of reference of the South American culture.
“The greatest artists used to come to perform regularly at Teatro Colon and renowned piano teachers, such as V. Scaramuzza formed generations of wonderful musicians.. It was a boiling cultural reality at that time.”
Also performing on Saturday is veteran conductor Vladimir Fedoseyev, who brings the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio to Symphony Hall for the opening concert of the Anglo-Russian Year of Cultural Exchange 2014.
The programme is an intriguing one, reflecting the agenda: Borodin’s irresistible Polovtsian Dances, Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto (Vadim Repin the soloist), and concluding with Elgar’s Enigma Variations.
The conductor’s repertoire is huge, but does he have any favourite composers?
“Beethoven, Rachmaninov, but honestly I always feel in love with music I am playing at the moment,” he says.
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And he has some interesting theories about the differing characteristics of orchestras in different countries.
“The orchestra’s characteristics depend on music schools which the musicians of the orchestra follow. It is common knowledge that the best woodwind players are in France, brass in Germany and strings in Russia.”
Obviously Russian music – Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, and so many others – is a major staple of concert-programming in this country. I ask him if much British music is performed in Russia.
“Unfortunately, not so often,” the maestro replies. “We perform Elgar, Britten and Walton. On November 2013 our orchestra performed Britten. This concert was dedicated to the anniversary of the composer. Just before our Birmingham concert we will play Elgar and Vaughan Williams in Moscow. And at the beginning of next season we will play the Russian Premiere of the Tenth Symphony by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, for baritone, choir and orchestra. By the way, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra together with the LSO and Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia were together the commissioning party for this piece!” Vladimir Fedoseyev has fond memories of previous visits to Birmingham. “Yes, I do remember this hall and city very well and I love them! Wonderful acoustics, perfectly giving back. And the same is true about the audience.”
* Ingrid Fliter plays Chopin at on February 22 (7.30pm). Vladimir Fedoseyev conducts the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio at Symphony Hall on February 22 (7.30pm). Details of both on 0121 780 3333.