It was one of the most beautiful performances of Schubert Impromptus I have ever heard. The four impromptus, each with distinctive elements and characters, were performed with such precision and care. Pianist Dinara Klinton had an inner voice which came from deep within. The moment the first powerful G octaves of the Impromptu No. 1 were played, her stories and hidden emotions unfolded and overflowed. From then, for the next half hour, I was captured by its beauty and sensitivity. The No. 2 Impromptu brought a complete mood change, and I really loved how sweetly and dreamily the opening melody was played. These triplets were absolutely even, and the subtle keyboard touch producing amazing clarity - very pleasing! The third Impromptu, in G flat major, was outstandingly lyrical. The long melodic lines were voiced flawlessly with the broken triad accompaniment. In the final Impromptu the repeated theme of cascading arpeggios was played each time slightly differently and thoughtfully developed. Throughout, she kept good tempos and showed great command of control.
Two pieces by Mendelssohn followed. Rondo Capriccioso started off with a slow, sentimental movement that invoked an atmosphere fairly like singing. Then quickly, the piece developed into a quick section; there were plenty of dialogues conversing and the mood was fresh, joyful and really lovely. Only lasting six minutes, it was brilliantly presented and showed Dinara’s excellent interpreting ability.
Then Wedding March went down a storm. This piece was transcribed by Liszt and then arranged by Horowitz and is notoriously technically demanding. Dinara not only impressed the audience with her dazzling technical ability, but never forgot the voicing and phrasing that tends to be hidden and overpowered by these powerful passages.
Two encores – Tchaikovsky’s Nocturne and Chopin’s Mazurka – were magical.
I first met Dinara at St James Church in Piccadilly in February this year when she performed Chopin Etudes Op 25. These revolutionary pieces are challenging and evocative, and cannot be described as merely ‘studies’. All are technical, some more lyrical and poetic, but one needs to satisfy every aspect of technical and artistic forms to perform them well. I felt Dinara had met both criteria; she had control, stamina, power, and was so artistic. Hence, I engaged her to perform at Breinton. And I was right. She brought and executed the programme everyone loved, and was excellently received by our audience.
Both the Chopin and Schubert works played this evening were perfect with our piano and could not be better in our intimate environment. Several people complimented on the piano, which has just been fully serviced by piano technician Clive Ackroyd.
Programme:
- Chopin Etudes Op. 25
- Schubert Impromptus, D 899, Op. 90
- Mendelssohn Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 14
- Mendelssohn Wedding March (arranged by Liszt and Horowitz