Reviews

Classical at the Ghent Festival 2022: Ghent Wings

By Willem Erauw

29 July 2022 · 4 min read

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The Ghent Festival, edition 2022, is over. After two years of corona, there was no stopping the revelers, who flocked into the city in masse, especially in the evenings. The Ghent Festival is a major folk festival and at the same time a ten-day cultural festival where virtually all genres of music and theater are featured. Unique in Europe, because many performances by often well-known artists on the large squares are completely free.

In the lull of the festive hustle and bustle, there are also many classical concerts. Choirs, small ensembles, piano recitals, chamber music, lieder evenings, etc. Here is a sample of dozens of classical concerts and recitals. Small impressions of seven concerts. Two concerts in the protestant Rabotkerk, two concerts at special locations, two piano recitals in the Miry concert hall and as an outsider a performance of Bulgarian a cappella singing in the Sint Jacobskerk.

Ghent wings

The Ghent wings are a tradition of piano recitals that came back to life after two years of corona at the Ghent Festival in the beautiful Miryzaal of the Ghent conservatory. International class on stage. I went to listen to the French Fanny Azzuro on July 19 and the Russian Dina Ivanova on July 22. Azzuro has already performed on the stages of Carnegie Hall and la Roque d'Antheron. Ivanova was the public favorite at the Liszt competition 2017 in Utrecht.

On July 19 it was over forty degrees in the city. The blood-hot desert wind lured the public to the cool concert hall. What a relief, you see everyone in the red velvet thinking. I know the woman who sits next to me, she smiles at me like the angel of the annunciation. Then pianist Fanny Azzuro comes on and gosh! It still adds up, the angel was right because she has a pregnant belly. I have never heard a heavily pregnant woman play a piano recital.

Azzuro plays preludes by Rachmaninov which she recorded on cd last year under the title Landscapes of the soul. Intoxicating romanticism that takes you to the depths of the Russian soul. From the very first prelude, the most famous one (op. 3 no. 2), something strikes me. In terms of tempo, it sometimes limps a bit. Dreamy and poetic, yes. Rachmaninov's homesickness for his homeland after he fled the 1917 revolution. No roots, no steadfastness.

Then she stands up right after the first series of preludes. With that pregnant belly everything becomes clear. Probably the almost baby is happily stomping away on her. Although Azzuro shows us a profound Russian landscape, a slight feeling of unease remains. With the applause after the last prelude she must have felt it, the encore is for my baby. Fanny Azzuro announces her encore, Kinderszenen by Schumann. The almost-baby has finally fallen asleep. Then she asks "si nous avons encore un peu de temps...". After the restrained preludes by Rachmaninov and the childlike Schumann, the party can finally begin: Rhapsody in Blue! With Gershwin we stay in America, but turn our backs on melancholy. Everyone happy, even the baby in the prelude of his life.

Dina Ivanova is a young Russian pianist who made a splash at the Liszt competition in Utrecht in 2017. On the program are Grieg, Debussy, Scarlatti and Schumann. Variety enough to discover her talent. When I see her after the concert, I tell her that I have no words. But I must, as a reviewer. It is the Slavic devotion with which this brilliant pianist captivates the hall and takes us along, which I will remember for a long time. One with the piano, she caresses, she embraces her piano, she pleads, she fights, she bites into the piano. What passion, what drive! When I close my eyes I hear young Martha Argerich. She shoots her musical arrows into the hearts of each of us.

Debussy's Jardin sous la pluie perhaps lacked some "jeu perlé", but in Schumann's Carnaval the soul of the tormented composer came through completely. Sometimes frenetic, sometimes long-suffering, forerunner of the manic-depressive spells that would bring Schumann to ruin. How rare is this, not only in my own listening life, but also for every listener tonight in this hall. Ivanova is a banal Russian name, but with Dina in front of it you get a godsend.