Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Beliavsky plays Schubert, Debussy, Chopin, and Rachmaninoff
Also an exquisite modern piece by his mentor called The Ballad in Yellow
Daniel Beliavsky
Once upon a time in the salons of Paris, one Frederic Chopin would play the piano and narrate to the audience. I had a chance to experience a modern version of this phenomenon on Tuesday, January 7 at the home of Veronica and Miguel Leff. Veronica Leff sits on the boards of The San Diego Opera and The LA Jolla Playhouse. She is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to supporting the arts in San Diego.
The pianist was Daniel Beliavsky PhD. Based in New York, Mr. Beliavsky is associate professor and chair of the fine art and music department at Yeshiva University. He is also an independent filmmaker. His documentary film Sonata (1957) can be viewed on YouTube.
The evening started with a meet and greet and the concert followed. Mr. Beliavsky began the concert with one of my all-time favorite pieces of music, Franz Schubert’s Impromptu Opus 90 No. 3. He followed that with Schubert's Moments Musicaux Opus 94 No. 6.
Beliavsky explained that Schubert has one foot in the romantic era with the impromptu and one foot in the classical era with the moments musicaux. He also talked about Schubert's compositional style. Schubert was writing something of a song without words. There is a melody that the pianist must “sing” residing predominantly in the right hand.
Mr. Beliavsky gave a few more examples of pieces that have this singing quality for the pianist to bring out with a nocturne by Frederic Chopin and Claude Debussy’s “Girl with the Flaxen Hair. Before playing the Debussy, Beliavsky read the English translation of the poem that inspired Debussy. After the piece, he emphasized that we might or might not be able to hear something about the flaxen-haired girl. Mr. Beliavsky drove home the point that music can be about anything or nothing. It can be about everything and nothing at the same time and it is this abstract quality that music that gives it its magic.
The revelation of the evening was a piece entitled Ballad in Yellow by American composer David del Tredici. Del Tredici was a mentor to Mr. Beliavsky and he graced with a few personal stories about the composer. I was a bit on edge because everything about the concert had been perfect so far and I don’t trust most modern composers. My concern was short-lived. Ballad in Yellow is an exquisite piece of music.
Video:
Del Tradici: The Ballad in Yellow
Mr. Beliavsky concluded the evening with none other than Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C-sharp minor. He explained that Rachmaninoff was 19 years old when this piece was composed and quipped that there is a certain “hormonal” aspect to the music.
Mr. Beliavsky’s playing throughout the concert was rigorous and authoritative. Within the surprising acoustic of the Leff home, the experience was one that I will hold with me for quite some time.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Beliavsky plays Schubert, Debussy, Chopin, and Rachmaninoff
Also an exquisite modern piece by his mentor called The Ballad in Yellow
Beliavsky plays Schubert, Debussy, Chopin, and Rachmaninoff
Also an exquisite modern piece by his mentor called The Ballad in Yellow
Daniel Beliavsky
Once upon a time in the salons of Paris, one Frederic Chopin would play the piano and narrate to the audience. I had a chance to experience a modern version of this phenomenon on Tuesday, January 7 at the home of Veronica and Miguel Leff. Veronica Leff sits on the boards of The San Diego Opera and The LA Jolla Playhouse. She is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to supporting the arts in San Diego.
The pianist was Daniel Beliavsky PhD. Based in New York, Mr. Beliavsky is associate professor and chair of the fine art and music department at Yeshiva University. He is also an independent filmmaker. His documentary film Sonata (1957) can be viewed on YouTube.
The evening started with a meet and greet and the concert followed. Mr. Beliavsky began the concert with one of my all-time favorite pieces of music, Franz Schubert’s Impromptu Opus 90 No. 3. He followed that with Schubert's Moments Musicaux Opus 94 No. 6.
Beliavsky explained that Schubert has one foot in the romantic era with the impromptu and one foot in the classical era with the moments musicaux. He also talked about Schubert's compositional style. Schubert was writing something of a song without words. There is a melody that the pianist must “sing” residing predominantly in the right hand.
Mr. Beliavsky gave a few more examples of pieces that have this singing quality for the pianist to bring out with a nocturne by Frederic Chopin and Claude Debussy’s “Girl with the Flaxen Hair. Before playing the Debussy, Beliavsky read the English translation of the poem that inspired Debussy. After the piece, he emphasized that we might or might not be able to hear something about the flaxen-haired girl. Mr. Beliavsky drove home the point that music can be about anything or nothing. It can be about everything and nothing at the same time and it is this abstract quality that music that gives it its magic.
The revelation of the evening was a piece entitled Ballad in Yellow by American composer David del Tredici. Del Tredici was a mentor to Mr. Beliavsky and he graced with a few personal stories about the composer. I was a bit on edge because everything about the concert had been perfect so far and I don’t trust most modern composers. My concern was short-lived. Ballad in Yellow is an exquisite piece of music.
Video:
Del Tradici: The Ballad in Yellow
Mr. Beliavsky concluded the evening with none other than Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C-sharp minor. He explained that Rachmaninoff was 19 years old when this piece was composed and quipped that there is a certain “hormonal” aspect to the music.
Mr. Beliavsky’s playing throughout the concert was rigorous and authoritative. Within the surprising acoustic of the Leff home, the experience was one that I will hold with me for quite some time.
Comments