Piano & Violin Recital
Danilo Mascetti & Solomon Markman
Wednesday 20 October 2021 1:00 pm
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Danilo Mascetti & Solomon Markman It was with great pleasure that we welcomed Italian pianist, Danilo Mascetti at Brentwood Cathedral, who was joined by Israeli violinist, Solomon Markman. Those present at Danilo’s recital in 2019 will remember him performing Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky and Ravel, so it was wonderful to welcome him back again! Brentwood Cathedral’s concert organiser, Nina How, gave everyone a warm welcome before Danilo opened the recital with Chopin’s Ballade No. 1 Op. 23, considered to be one of his most popular and technically demanding works. Chopin composed four ballades and his first is from mainly sonata and variation forms. Written in 1831, Robert Schumann described it as “the work closest to his genius” and “my favourite of all his works”. From the opening phrase, Danilo engaged with the audience, drawing us to the first beautiful theme, enhanced further by the Cathedral’s bright acoustics and spiritual environment. Throughout the two main themes and mood variations of the ballade, Danilo reached out to his listeners with sensitive, dynamic and expressive playing, leading to the Coda, marked ‘Presto fuoco’, with an exciting downward double octave cascade to conclude this exhilarating piece! Danilo then delighted us with another work by Chopin, entitled the Fantasie in F minor Op. 49, composed in 1841. Free from the usual rules of Romantic expression it opens with Tempo di Marcia, continuing with bright pianistic flourishes before returning to a familiar marching theme. Danilo clearly shared Chopin’s intentions, particularly in the Lento Sostenuto theme, and throughout the piece to the last dozen or so bars in the Assai Allegro, completely holding our musical attention! Solomon Markman joined Danilo Mascetti in the second half of the recital for the Brahms Violin Sonata No. 1 Op. 78. Also known as “Regensonate” (“Rain Sonata”), it has themes and rhythms from two of Brahms’s songs. From the opening bars of the first ‘Vivace ma non troppo’ movement, we felt the musical connection between Solomon and Danilo and their listeners. This opening movement is almost symphonic in its content, meandering, exciting and technically demanding for performers. The beautiful piano introduction in the second movement set the scene for the ‘cantabile’ and melancholy mood, and both players responded with empathy, leading to the soft, luscious final bars. In the final movement we heard more impressive ‘double-stopping’ and superb tone from Solomon, with eloquently delivered flowing melodies shared between violin and piano and in the climax, resulting in huge applause around the Cathedral! An encore was also greatly appreciated, when Danilo and Solomon gave a brilliant interpretation of Kreisler’s Liebesfreud! On behalf of Andrew Wright, Brentwood Cathedral’s Director of Music, and Nina How, concert organiser, we would like to thank Danilo Mascetti and Solomon Markman for their inspiring recital and we hope they will return to Brentwood Cathedral again soon! Julia Bentham |
Programme
Danilo Mascetti – Piano
| Frédéric Chopin (1810-49) | Ballade no. 1 op. 23 |
| Frédéric Chopin (1810-49) | Fantasie op. 49 |
Danilo Mascetti – Piano … Soloman Markman – Violin
| Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) | Sonata no. 1 op. 78
— Vivace ma non troppo — Adagio — Allegro molto moderato |
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Israeli violinist Solomon Markman made his concerto debut with the Jerusalem Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra at the age of eleven. He had since performed across Israel with numerous orchestras such as the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, Tel-Aviv soloists’ ensemble and the Israeli Netanya Kibbutz Orchestra. He studied with Leonid Barshtak and further with Ludmila Feldman at the Conservatory of the Jerusalem Academy of Music & Dance. Solomon is a laureate of several national competitions, including the Paul-Ben Haim competition for original Israeli music and the Eran Zoldan competition. He took part in educational programs as a soloist and chamber musician. Including the Global Leadership Education program in Japan, the Musica Mundi Course and Festival in Belgium, Keshet Eilon festival in Israel. He received masterclasses from world renown artists such as Ivry Gitlis, Maxim Vengerov, Ilya Kaler, Alina Ibragimova, Daniel Heifetz. He has been supported by the America-Israel cultural foundation since 2011. In 2019 Solomon was awarded an ABRSM Teaching Diploma. In January 2020 he joined the Live Music Now scheme. In 2021 Solomon was awarded a First for his Undergraduate studies at the Royal College of Music London. He had been a Charles Ravel scholar and studied with Leonid Kerbel and Lucy Russell. Currently Solomon is continuing his studies at the RCM for the Master of Music in Performance. He is a Victor and Lilian Hochhauser scholar. |
Refreshments will be served in the SONG SCHOOL afterwards
Admission is free, but there will be a retiring collection to help to fund these recitals. If you are able to use Gift Aid this will increase the value of your donation by 25% at no extra cost to you
Admission is free, but we welcome your contribution towards our expenses. If you are a UK tax payer please consider using Gift Aid to increase the value of your donation by a quarter.
Photos – Graham Hillman
Brentwood Cathedral Music Dept©2023