TheBBC Symphony Orchestra's Bohemian Rhapsodies is another series deserving attention, above all for its cycle of Martinu's five piano concertos. These are underrated works, so much so that Piers Lane's brilliant performance of the First Concerto is said to have been the first in Britain. Its contrapuntal clarity and drive, wit and vigour are reinforced under Petr Altrichter's baton.
Glasgow Herald
Piers Lane in Glasgow - Glasgow City Halls
BBC Scottish Symphomy Orchestra, conducted by Petr Altrichter
Martinů: Piano Concerto No.1 (19th November 2009)
Star rating: ****
"Pianist Piers Lane comprehensively stole the show at the BBC SSO’s second Bohemian Rhapsodies concert on Thursday night with his dazzling, bustling, hustling and terrifically entertaining account of Martinu’s First Piano Concerto.
Written in Paris in the 1920s, the motoric concerto chunters along irresistibly, exactly in the style of Bach’s Third Brandenburg Concerto, but with a wicked smile on its face and an alluring raise of its eyebrow. Even when Martinu goes awandering, as he does, the music is never less than endearing.
Then Lane, having stolen the show once, set about doing it twice with a hilarious, roof-raising encore in the form of Dudley Moore’s outrageous and stylistically immaculate pastiche of Beethoven on the subject of the allegedly singular anatomical attribute of der Fuhrer. The house collapsed with laughter."
Piers Lane in London - Royal Festival Hall
London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Vedernikov
RACHMANINOFF: Piano concerto No.2 (30th October 2009)
"In between, and with some hilarity from Dudley Moore for his encore (last heard at the Wigmore Hall in April), it was good to hear Piers Lane in some mainstream repertoire (record collectors will be familiar with the rewarding byways he has given us), approaching afresh one of those ‘oh-no-not-again’ pieces, Lane imposing immediately through the rich sonorities he produced, an account of the solo part alternately heroic and sensitive, sometimes spiky, a creative but unmannered traversal well supported by the LPO and Vedernikov who conjured some ear-catching sepulchral textures from the cellos in the slow movement (fine solos here from Laura Lucas, flute, and Robert Hill, clarinet, just as there had been from John Ryan on horn in the first), the finale offering the most contrasted, even volatile, playing from Lane, the triumphant coda a bombast-free genuine point of arrival."
Colin Anderson
Piers Lane in Perth - Concert Hall and Government House Ball Room. MOZART: Piano concerto No.22 in E flat (24th/25th/26th July 2009)
"... Later, we heard Piers Lane in top form as he brought infallible fingers and unflagging energy to what came across as unusually macho Mozart.
I’ve not before heard the Piano Concerto K482 (or any other by Mozart for that matter) given such virile treatment. It is one of Mozart’s most brutally demanding piano scores – and Lane, firing on all musical pistons, was more than up to the challenge. This was as far from the Dresden-china-delicate, tinkle-finger school of Mozart piano playing as one could imagine. This was heroic, robust stuff that in less than assured hands might well have sounded grotesquely inappropriate. It’s a measure of Lane’s superlative musicality and musicianship that he brought it off in so triumphant a way. And the peekaboo insouciance that informed the finale was a delicious contrast to what had gone before. Bravo!
On Sunday, Piers Lane came to Government House Ballroom. Whether in so hackneyed a piece as Mendelssohn’s Bee’s Wedding or enchanting the ear with a series of waltzes by Schubert – how rarely these little gems figure in recitals these days – Lane was at the top of his game with flawless fingerwork and an intuitive grasp of style.
Brahms’ gigantic Sonata in F minor is not for timid pianists. It requires fearless fingers, great feats of memorisation and endurance to stay the course – and on all three counts Lane was beyond reproach. In the opening allegro maestoso, he negotiated ferociously difficult chordal leaps with majestic aplomb – and in the sonata’s more introspective moments, he mined the music for all its intimate subtleties. Lane did wonders, too, in navigating a sure way through the goblinesque moments of the scherzo.
"Apart from the ubiquitous Bee’s Wedding, the second of the group of Mendelssohn Songs Without Words was lovingly fashioned, with a warm-toned legato line to staccato accompaniment. It was one of the gems of the afternoon.
Of a bracket of Chopin Nocturnes, I particularly admired opus 15 no 1 in F; the melancholy beauty of its outer sections was impeccably essayed – and in the central episode Lane did wonders with its churning figurations. In the Nocturne in D flat from opus 27, which is some of Chopin’s most deeply probing music, Lane responded with an answering depth of feeling and the sort of cantabile tone that would surely have tempted even the grumpiest bird from a twig.
Not the least of the pleasures of this recital was Lane’s linking commentary at which he is so inordinately skilled. He is one of the very few musicians who does this sort of thing very well unlike so many others whose progress to the microphone is observed with a sinking feeling.
Lane romped through Schulz-Evler’s excruciatingly difficult take on Strauss’ Blue Danube and then brought the house down with Dudley Moore’s riotously funny Beethoven spoof played on the Ballroom’s magnificent new Fazioli grand piano."
" ... By any standards, this Fazioli instrument is a magnificent piano and just the sort that’s needed for the increasingly frequent concerts given at this venue. It was altogether appropriate that the honour of ‘christening’ the piano was given to Lane, one of our most cherished musicians".
... after the concert in Perth, Piers gave an Encore; here it is for you to enjoy (webmaster)
Piers Lane in Adelaide - Festival Theatre GRIEG: Piano concerto in A minor, Op.16 (17th -18th July 2009)
"Edvard Grieg followed the Kodaly with his early “Piano Concerto in A Minor Opus 16”. Like Kodaly, Grieg echoes traditional folk music throughout his piano concerto. For this performance, guest pianist Piers Lane (pictured) played the dominant keyboard line. Lane is internationally acclaimed and was last seen in Adelaide at the Town Hall for Musica Viva.
Once again wearing his trademark “loud” socks, and with his hair untamed, Lane looked the part of the eccentric creative, but his pianism is so exquisite that he really doesn’t need these artistic accoutrements. Lane’s playing perfectly suited the romantic notions of Grieg, and the Chopin he played as an encore. His delicate touch coaxed the keyboard to reach its full potential which he then celebrated with an easy confidence." >>> more
Piers Lane opened his weekend recital with a charming crop of Schubert Dances, casual little masterpieces that the composer himself would have dashed off at home for the diversion of his friends.
For the next two hours, thanks to an intimate venue and the warmth of the Australian pianist's personality, the evening had the enviable aura of a welcoming house concert.
Lane did wonders with these Schubertian trifles, cleverly lined up from six different sets of dances. There was the sentimental, the flippant and even the tongue-in-cheek portentous - and all were caught. At one point, 3/4 threatened to morph deliciously into 4/4, thanks to Lane's tempo toying.
Spoken introductions were witty and revealing. Who would have expected to hear Brahms introduced as a handsome, tall, blue-eyed young man knocking on Schumann's door ? How many realised there were links between a Chopin Nocturne and one of the composer's Concertos?
Brahms' F minor Sonata was given a bravura performance and, in its outer movements, Lane conveyed the composer's frustrations with the mere 88 keys of the instrument; the Andante espressivo was a whispered Intermezzo, an idyll of echoing phrases and subtle rubato.
A set of five Chopin Nocturnes included Op 9 No 2, so popular, Lane confided, that it was used on mobile phones. The poise and simplicity of his interpretation made it sound afresh, drawing beautiful sonoroties from the Museum's Fazioli which also obliged with a sonorous storm in the middle of Op 15 No 1.
We had been promised a surprise and it turned out to be one of Dudley Moore's "What if?" We were asked to imagine how the Colonel Bogey March might have fared in the Beethoven sonata machine. It was a high-minded hoot, and to say it was a crowd-pleaser would be understatement. Definitely a night at the museum to remember.
Piers Lane Chopin Piers Lane offered a magnificent Chopin recital to a capacity audience at the Wigmore Hall. The performances were notable for eschewing empty display in favour of richness and exploring. The first, moderato, theme in Chopin's G minor Ballade was accompanied, as it should be, by detached second, third, fifth and sixth beats as the composer dictates. Many pianists ignore the staccato marking and leave the pedal down throughout but Lane gave appropriate acknowledgement to the composer's directions.
The qualities that make Lane's approach to Chopin so successful are the same regardless of whether he's playing a Nocturne, the Barcarolle or the Sonatas. In the pair of Nocturnes, Lane demonstrated marvellous quality of tone, tremendous precision and muscle control regarding the whispering inner voices of the pianissimo passages. Contrasted phrases were brought out in a balanced and beautifully shaped way.
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‘From Britain as war closed in’
"With all of the orchestras that perform classical music around the globe, it is astonishing how much repertory remains unplayed. Spotlighting these pieces, several times a year, are the concerts of Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall. Bliss’ Piano Concerto in B flat evoked more the side of the 1930’s that produced Art Deco skyscrapers, shining cars and Progress with a capital P. Mr Botstein found a perfect soloist for his needs in Piers Lane, a pianist who has both the technical ability and the patience to learn unusual repertory.” Anne Midgette
The London-based Australian pianist Piers Lane gave a brilliant performance of the Bliss. Lane was dressed in white tie and tails (a more formal outfit than either Haimovitz or Botstein wore) but once seated at the piano, his socks, striped in several glowing colours, could be seen. His flamboyant playing was much more in the spirit of his socks! The audience was completely bowled over by Lane’s performance and enthusiastically cheered and applauded him at its conclusion. Lane’s playing of the extended solo introduction was dazzling and set the tone for his entire performance. He projected the dynamism of the opening theme, which dominates the first movement’s development section,and the lyricism of that movement’s second subject as well as the ensuing Adagietto. Lane’s playing of the fiendish first movement cadenza was particularly noteworthy.” David Rice
"I have heard the fine pianist Piers Lane several times and have always been impressed by his ability to enunciate a high concentration of individual notes in a short space with seemingly little effort. Bliss's Piano Concerto was premièred in Flushing at the World's Fair of 1939; written for the one-named Briton Solomon, the piece is a virtuoso's dream. Mr. Lane handled it with aplomb... this was very fine music-making.” Fred Kirshnit
…Mr. Lane, fresh from his spectacular performance of Sir Arthur Bliss's concerto with the American Symphony Orchestra on Friday evening, handled [Alkan’s]"Quasi Faust" with remarkable facility. He is especially adept at the tremulous Romantic figure reminiscent of pianism from the early days of the silent film, and of the undercurrents in Liszt's transcriptions for piano of his son-in-law Richard Wagner's more white-hot moments. Mr. Lane can play quite loudly and still maintain a high level of tastefulness.
Contrasting nicely with this bombast were two Nocturnes (Op. 27, Nos. 1 and 2) of Chopin. These were intoned with the most delicate of touches and the most unhurried of tempos. Mr. Lane only uses rubato sparingly, but his choices of moments for its employment turned out to be achingly beautiful.
Finally Mr Lane presented the great ‘Carnaval’ of Robert Schumann. Mr Lane’s rendition was…sensitive, highly styled, intellectual, broadly paced, dramatic, musical. I was particularly struck by this pianist's ability to emphasize the poignancy of the composer pouring his heart and soul into the score as he created character portraits of many of his friends who, as it turns out, were primarily imaginary… His slower, contemplative sections were heartfelt but always limpid, his faster movements always exciting and technically impressive, but not too fast.
Mr. Lane emphasized in a ghostly sort of way the quotations from some of Schumann's previous pieces for piano, in particular "Papillons," as if they were part of the cerebrations of these individual characters. Since these personalities were indeed incubated and hatched in Schumann's own mind, the spectral connection was highly affecting. The concluding "Marche des Davidsbündler contre les Philistins" was suitably triumphant. This was very poetic music-making.” Fred Kirshnit
The piano’s introduction – improvised by the composer at the first performance in 1808 – blazed with fire and purpose; in the following variations, Lane glittered with filigree charm.” Geoff Brown -February 2002
