The Malta Independent on Sunday
Musical duo goes with the flow
Many of us have come to associate Charlene Farrugia with her first concert at the age of 13 when she played Beethovan with the National Orchestra of Malta. Well, since those early days Charlene has steadily achieved much including a doctorate and more. And now she is the happy mother of baby Antonio, surely her greatest achievement. She married the Croatian accordionist Franko Božac and the three of them are living in the Istria region of Croatia where they both hold professional positions at the academy of music there. ***
This couple gave an enjoyable concert at San Anton Palace a couple of weeks ago, probably the last concert there until next year. Charlene told me: “This is our first performance together since becoming parents, so it meant a lot to us.”
Both of them are international ambassadors for Peace for EMMA (Euro Mediterranean Music Academy) which is under the patronage of UNESCO and its honorary president is none other than the conductor Riccardo Muti. ***
That evening they set the concert going by playing Liszt’s Les Préludes, Symphonic Poem No 3.
Frans Liszt is possibly the best romantic composer ever. It was he who invented the symphonic poem after all and to me Les Préludes is one of his best and most melodic.
Apart from being a brilliant composer Liszt was a star pianist, a virtuoso adored by women. His ability to play the sheer number of notes that he did, at such speed and with such precision, amazed all who heard him. Wagner did not approve of virtuosi like Liszt (and Paganini) and once famously remarked that he disliked ‘their triviality and exhibitionist talents.’
Liszt is known to have slept little, went to church daily, and smoked and drank constantly. One of his pupils described the composer/pianist routine as follows: “He rose at four every morning, even when he had been invited out the previous evening, had drunk a good deal of wine and not gone to bed until very late. Soon after rising, and without breakfasting, he went to church. At five he took coffee with me, and with it a couple of dry rolls. Then work began: letters were written or read through, music tried out, and much else. At eight came the post, always bringing a huge pile of items. These were then looked through, personal letters read and answered, or music tried out...
At one o’clock, lunch was brought from the court kitchen when Liszt had not been invited out, which happened very frequently. I often ate with him. The meal was good and substantial but simple. With it a glass of wine would be drunk, or water and brandy in the French manner, which he liked very much. Then he would smoke – indeed he smoked all the time when not eating or sleeping. Last of all there was the coffee machine. The coffee was burnt freshly every day, something on which Liszt placed great emphasis.”
Sources tell us that later in the afternoon, Liszt took a long nap of two hours or more – to make up, in part, for his sleepless nights, which he spent pacing his room or sitting at his piano or writing. Although he ate sparingly at lunch, he continued to drink steadily throughout the afternoon and evening; by his last years he was imbibing one or two bottles of cognac and two or three bottles of wine a day, as well as the occasional glass of absinthe. His contemporaries remember him as having a cheerful disposition, but Liszt obviously had his share of demons. A younger colleague once asked Liszt why he didn’t keep a diary. “To live one’s life is hard enough,”he replied. “Why write down all the misery? It would resemble nothing more than the inventory of a torture chamber.”
This was the first time I had heard Les Préludes played on the piano and accordion. Although not as powerful as when played by an orchestra it made for some pleasant listening.
The next piece the duo played was Trenodia by Roberto di Marino which was agreeable. After the concert I asked Charlene about this Italian composer. He was born in Trento in 1956 and teaches at the Conservatory of Verona. The name Bashkim Shehu, the composer of Sintaksa, the next piece on the programme, also rang no bells. Again Charlene gave me some information. He was born in 1952 and is Albaninan but has studied composition and writes film and ballet music and lives in Croatia.
The last two pieces the duo played were by Astor Piazzolla, the Argentinian composer of so many beautiful tangos. I must say, having always associated him with tangos I was quite surprised to see that he had composed another incarnation of the Ave Maria. It was very moving, full of emotion and the combination of piano and accordion worked well. It is guaranteed to make a modern audience of non-believers feel spiritual. All we needed was a procession of monks and choirboys walking in with candles while singing it. But the young duo managed to send their eternal message off into invisible corners of the Agatha Barbara hall without the monks and choirboys. I guarantee everyone in there, believer or not, was moved by this piece.
The last piece on the programme was another Piazzolla: Tango Suite: Tango No 3 and I was now on familiar ground. Charlene and Franko played this lively piece with gusto and we enjoyed watching and listening to this music which lifts the spirit by its gaiety tinged with a little nostalgia.
The duo have a great rapport and energy which was felt by the audience.
The blessings of a child, or even two or three I suspect, are not going to stop Charlene and Franko from continuing to soar in their career. They have several engagements coming up including performances in Italy, most notably at the Teatro Bibiena in Mantova; also Teatro Afundaćion in Galicia, Spain. “I am also preparing myself for the release of two CDs in the near future,” she tells me with the greatest simplicity. Good for her. And of course, I know from experience that without the support of her husband none of this will be achieved. So good for him too. In the words of Antoine St Exupery “Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.” mbenoit@independent.com.mt