Achieving pianistic perfection

In May Irena Radić gave a brilliant piano recital at St John’s Peterborough. She chose to play two substantial sonatas which were contrasted yet complementary, Beethoven’s Pastoral and Prokofiev’s Sixth. Both works are about the same length, both have four movements, but in their expressive qualities they’re poles apart. Yet Irena was quietly in control throughout, balancing the lyricism of the Beethoven with the astringency of the Prokofiev, and achieving something close to pianistic perfection in both.

Of course, Irena’s piano recitals aren’t confined to Peterborough, even though she’s one of the city’s bestknown homegrown classical musicians, and a definite Local Hero. The following week she played the same programme for her final exam at the Royal College of Music in London, where she’s been a student for the last four years. She passed with flying colours and at the graduation ceremony last Friday was awarded a Bachelor of Music honours degree.

A few days earlier I’d met Irena in London. The qualities of quiet confidence and balance which are so obvious in her piano playing come across very strongly when chatting with her. Clearly, Irena is someone who thinks deeply about whatever she does, and considers things from a holistic perspective.

For instance, I asked her how she began learning the piano. Irena told told me about her lessons with Jenny Macmillan in Cambridge which began when she was only three. “Jenny uses the Suzuki method,” Irena explained, “involving not just the teacher and pupil but parents too. So that making music becomes an everyday family activity.” Irena who uses Suzuki in her own teaching continued, “once this happens learning an instrument impacts positively on everything.”

At this point Irena paid tribute to her parents. “They brought me up to love music and the arts. They gave me every opportunity and all the time and emotional support I needed,” she said. She was also enthusiastic about The King’s School in Peterborough. “Everybody in the music department was so keen,” Irena told me. “There was choir, orchestra in which I played the violin, everyone was friendly, and it was a nice place to be.” I asked her how she coped with the competing demands of homework and music. “I did about half-and-half, but practising always came first,” she said smiling.

It was in her teens that Irena first began to consider taking up the piano as a career. Previously she’d thought about becoming a dentist or, because of her love of animals, a vet. But at this stage Irena was offered a place in the Junior Department of the Royal College where piano lessons continued with Lynette Stulting. “I used to take the train from Peterborough at 7am on Saturdays,” she told me, “and then worked from nine till five. As well as piano lessons there were opportunities to play with other instrumentalists, doing accompanying and chamber music . Without them piano playing can be so lonely,” Irena added.

On that subject Irena told me about the musicmaking she now does in addition to solo piano work. Most importantly there’s her partnership with Jonatan Bougt, the Swedish guitarist who also played at St John’s recently.

“The combination of guitar and piano is an unusual one,” Irena told me, “and I didn’t think it would work at first.” But because there are so few original pieces for this combination Irena and Jonatan have set about making arrangements for it, including music by Ravel and Shostakovich.

As we sat over some drinks at an open-air café in Hyde Park, Irena told me about other opportunities she’s had. Most spectacularly she’s become a specialist in orchestral piano. Not everyone realises that, piano concertos apart, there are almost no piano parts in orchestral music written before 1900. However from the early 20th century onwards some composers began incorporating the piano into their orchestral scores. In experiences she’s never likely to forget, Irena has played in this role under legendary conductors like Bernard Haitink and Vladimir Ashkenazy. Among other works, she’s played the piano and celesta parts in Shostakovich’s First, Fifth, and Sixth symphonies.

In September, Irena will continue her long association with the Royal College of Music by embarking on a two year Master of Performance degree. “After four years studying piano with Niel Immelman,” she said, “I’ll be making a fresh start with Dina Parakhina.” The works she’ll study include Rachmaninov’s popular Second piano concerto and Prokofiev’s scintillating Third.

Something tells me however that Irena Radić will always find time to return to Peterborough, engaging audiences with her perfectly balanced performances and her charming personality.