– Zeina Saleh Kayali
Variety of colors, depth, boundless energy, sense of character, sensitivity—these are a few words that could summarize the recital given by Pianist Nada (born Nada Loutfi) in a very unusual and remarkably interesting venue. For although I have been a Parisian music lover for nearly forty years, I did not know about the Kawai Showroom, tucked away in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. This completely unexpected place—which showcases a wide variety of pianos—also hosts pianists in recital and offers an excellent musical season.
But let us return to Pianist Nada, who surpassed herself on the Shigeru Kawai, in a program filled with discovery—highly eclectic, where the great pianistic repertoire stood alongside Lebanese musical heritage (which certainly holds its own!). In fact, the artist presented, in their European premiere (having already performed them in the United States, where she resides), three pieces—real gems!—by Violaine Prince, a Lebanese composer living in France: Nocturne No. 4, Réminiscences, and Division et partage. These three works, chosen by Pianist Nada from the composer’s superb and highly varied piano catalog, share a common quality: they encapsulate who Violaine Prince is. The structure is perfectly Western, for the composer masters the tools of this musical language remarkably well, but within that framework, anything can happen—Bach-like inspiration, taqassim, a languorous waltz… in short, an extraordinary blend of genres opening vast poetic horizons, and whose interpretation demands great virtuosity, especially due to rhythmic complexities.
The remainder of the recital was devoted to German music, spanning from the Baroque to the Romantic, with two Preludes and Fugues by Johann Sebastian Bach, one of them transcribed by Franz Liszt from organ to piano. These works also require great technical command from the performer, given their formidable difficulty—especially the two fugues, one containing twelve entries and the other no fewer than forty-two!
The recital, which had begun with the Scherzo, Op. 4 by Johannes Brahms—one of the rare youthful works he did not destroy—came to a beautiful close with the Wanderer Fantasy in C major by Franz Schubert, a deeply moving work rendered by Pianist Nada with a balanced touch capable of shaping both fullness and delicacy, and deploying an entire palette of colors.
Pianist Nada continues her European tour with performances in London and Amsterdam.
For more details:
Pianist Nada on tour in Europe – Agenda Culturel
