Ivelina Krasteva at St James’s Sussex Gardens
Intelligence and mastery at the service of music
Some very assured musicianly playing from Ivelina Krasteva in St James’ Sussex Gardens.
Beethoven’s op 22 Sonata was paired with the equally youthful 2nd Sonata of Prokofiev. Many striking similarities with their quixotic changes of character and dynamic rhythmic drive allied to a subtle sense of balance and colour.
Beethoven in particular showed her great sense of architectural shape as she not only imbued each movement with subtle detail and character but managed to combine all four movements into a unified whole of great significance.
Such refined detail in the first movement ‘Allegro con brio’ where the seemingly innocent opening motif is transformed in so many genial ways ,a similar opening to his even earlier Sonata op 2 n 3.
But now Beethoven has realised the great significance of the bass as he leaves his Haydnesque early world and strikes out into unexplored territory.
A journey that will pervade his complete musical evolution (or revolution) through the thirty two sonatas that span his total existence on earth .
The final sonatas pointing already to a celestial world away from the sturm und drang of his earthly existence.
Ivelina realised this and it was the bass that she gave such weight to in the first movement. The melodic line in the development was allowed to murmur in the bass so magically where above were mere vibrations of sound.
Read more here at Christopher Axworthy’s blog
