Mozart and Britten performed with brilliance, precision and wit
Federico Colli is a pianist with a worldwide reputation, winning 1st Prize at the Salzburg Mozart Competition in 2011, the Gold Medal at the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2012 and performing with orchestras including the Mariinsky and St Petersburg Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and BBC Philharmonic.
It should perhaps then be little wonder at the packed crowd that filled the centuries old church next to Trafalgar Square for his debut alongside the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. The orchestra and academy have a towering reputation themselves, and return to their home after a busy world tour over the preceding months.
It was a beautiful summer’s evening, light streaming through the window behind the players as a string quintet and wind quartet open the evening with Benjamin Britten’s Sinfonietta, Op.1. It’s a tender, yearning piece, superbly executed, but the audience were rather itching for the main event, and I thought (as I often do in classical music concerts, but perhaps I’m just a philistine) that this piece could have been cut, the programme shorter.
He enters to perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto (No. 21 in C major, K. 467) to rapturous applause. Although still rather young, and slender, he’s a commanding presence – more seasoned now after nearly a decade of experience playing alongside some of the most renowned orchestras across the world.
I must insist that if you ever get the chance to hear Colli play live, you take it. It sounded to my untrained ear almost like water flowing over the keys – his playing exceptionally fluid, bright and clear. His Mozart is extraordinarily sensitive, yet masterfully precise, crisp, with every note utterly distinct.
He brings character, humour and wit to the cat and mouse dance between orchestra and piano, and his cadenzas (although I should note actually written by a friend of his) transform the music, imaginative and rather unconventional.
There was a control to his playing, with the presence a subtle difference but one that is noticeable nevertheless; he was in charge of Mozart, rather than swept along. There was a sense of command and ownership in his performance of music that so many have played before. I almost found myself wanting to hear him utterly unaccompanied.
There is little more to say – an excellent evening of beautiful music, made new again by the talent, attention and personality of one Federico Colli.
And yet, as I looked around the audience, I found myself wondering again about the inaccessibility of classical music. Everyone present knew the score by heart (if not the Britten, then certainly the Mozart). It’s an art form beloved by its devotees, but new converts are fewer and farther between – certainly in this country. It can be almost incomprehensible(and, let’s say it, boring) to listen to for so many with little knowledge or experience of this kind of music.
Perhaps it’s worth thinking about how we make this make sense as music, to all those submerged in their brat summers.
Programme:
Britten Sinfonietta, Op. 1
Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, k. 467
Britten Young Apollo Op. 16
Mozart Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K550