Solo man will keep the Beet

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NTERNATIONALLY acclaimed Israeli pianist Saleem Ashkar will be the featured soloist at the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra’s concerts in Hobart and Launceston this weekend.

Ashkar will play the Beethoven Piano Concerto No.4 in G Opus 58. “Beethoven was a great pianist and an extraordinary one in the way he pushed the instrument beyond its boundaries,” Ashkar said.

“His piano sonatas are his intimate musical diary, and his piano concerti are an extremely subjective musical voice within his work, especially in comparison with his symphonies, which have more universal themes.

“He performed the concerti himself, and the conversation between the piano and the orchestra is that of a personal dialogue. “That is particularly obvious with the extraordinary opening by the piano in the No.4.” He said the concerto had a sense of poetry and elegance. “The first movement is intense and intimate,” Ashkar said. “There is an arch between moments of grandeur and moments of great intimacy and subjectivity. “In the second there are contrasts between what the orchestra and the piano are presenting. The material of each is completely different from the other and they only meet at the end. “The orchestra plays dotted rhythms that are loud, intense and in unison. “The piano enters as if from nowhere from some heavenly chorale. The contrast is extraordinary.

“It creates friction and tension that then breaks into the exuberant dance-like third movement.”

The program for the two concerts, which will be conducted by Douglas Boyd, will also include Ruy Blas by Mendelssohn, Port Essington by Peter Sculthorpe, and Schumann’s Symphony No.4 in D Minor.

The Ashkar + Beethoven concerts will be held at Hobart’s Federation Concert Hall from 7.30pm tomorrow; and at Launceston’s Albert Hall from 7.30pm on Saturday. Tickets start at $32, and are available from www.tso.com.au

— PENNY THOW