Proms at Truro: Scarlatti, Liszt and Chopin (25.07.22)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

13:00 Monday 25 July 2022
Hall for Cornwall

Domenico Scarlatti: Piano Sonata in G major, K13
Domenico Scarlatti: Piano Sonata in C sharp minor, K247
Domenico Scarlatti: Piano Sonata in C minor, K22
Franz Liszt: Transcendental Études – No. 3: Paysage
Franz Liszt: Transcendental Études – No. 4: Mazeppa
Franz Liszt: Transcendental Études – No. 5: Feux follets
Frédéric Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35

Alim Beisembayev (piano)

‘The most valuable commodity is a real musical personality,’ wrote Andrew Clements of The Guardian, reporting on the 2021 Leeds International Piano Competition. ‘To judge from the final, Beisembayev certainly has that.’ Since his victory at Leeds, this young piano virtuoso from Kazakhstan has seen his career take off, with critics applauding his ‘high-powered’ playing. In this, his Proms debut, he tackles three cornerstones of the keyboard repertoire: the vivacity and wit of Scarlatti’s sonatas, the high-Romantic drama of Chopin’s expansive Second Sonata and – like a sudden volley of fireworks at the heart of the recital – three of Liszt’s spectacular Transcendental Études.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

A lunchtime Prom from Cornwall. I hope these Proms around the country will be well supported, thereby encouraging the BBC to develop the concept.

[bluestateprommer]

I'd actually heard this "Proms at...." when it first aired, while on "workcation", through the limits of the laptop speaker. It sounded generally good at the time, but I wanted to give it another listen through full home speakers down the line. The second listen revealed a perhaps slightly clangy or tinny sound to the piano in places, as well as what seemed like a very few minor clams/near-clams. But still, a very fine recital from Alim Beisembayev, very old-school programming, but none the worse for that. The one debit of re-hearing this on BBC Sounds was that the start of the archived audio truncated the opening Scarlatti selections, which was not the case at the time of the live relay (at least that I remember).