Adam McMillan
ANAM
South Melbourne Town Hall
Friday 28 April 2017
MOZART Sonata for Piano in A minor K310
CHOPIN Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor op. 31
RAVEL Gaspard de la
nuit
Every once in a while I hear a musician who encompasses a
suite of prodigious talents – technical and musical.
I knew about Adam’s prodigious virtuosic talent; it was no
surprise today. But the repeat of Gaspard
- I first heard him play it in late 2015 - left me gasping again. This is Ravel: dapper,
perfectionist, every note carefully crafted and located. With Gaspard that’s a lot of locating. Adam’s
job was to make sure every note emerged from its exact location – technically.
He did that again in this recital apparently without any stress
even though the note/second rate is close to the human limit. Very soon though
my ear stood back a bit from the canvas of notes. I got something very different.
I began to get the pictures again: water ripples, a corpse swaying on a gibbet
against that dark, dastardly, inexorable tolling bell, an evil nymph. And they’d
been built in my head by Ravel’s and Adam’s notes.
It was extraordinary playing - beautiful, captivating.
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| Adam Adam, 2017 : https://www.anam.com.au/whats-on/2017/recitaladam |
Adam describes himself as an accompanist - teacher. Accompanists are a rare breed of musician, born not made, who, once they are technically adept, can play with another musician by getting inside their head; knowing what they are going to do before – sometimes well before – they do it.
Mozart - a rare minor key sonata.
Here then, came the big test: could he get inside Mozart’s
head to find his piano sonata in A minor?
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| Adam, 2016 : http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/features/paul-dean%E2%80%99s-brand-new-ensemble-q-hits-brisbane |
The age of the two boys is about the same (22/23) but there
is two hundred year time and culture gap, a huge type-of-instrument disparity
and, I suspect a big personality divide. Mozart’s mother had just died but that
awful event is set against the background of his dirty-minded, irreverent nature.
Adam did something clever, something that he could only do when he knew the
notes, the rests, the pedalling, the dynamics markings - all safe in his head.
He ignored the score in front of him and took himself off into a private salon
high up on the left hand corner of the ceiling. There, he and Wolfgang put their
heads together.
Out came pathos, anguish, wickedness (in the nicest sense)
and impudent, cheeky music.
Here’s the second movement, Andante cantabile
con espressione:
Adam emerged on Friday (18 September) night with the ANAM
orchestra conducted by Matthias Foremny playing the acerbic, witty, metronomic
piano line in Kurt Weill’s Der Silbersee
Suite. Another style, another way of thinking that Adam seemed to slip into
with complete ease.
I'd go a long way to hear Adam play.
I'd go a long way to hear Adam play.
https://thetalent3mbs.com/2017/04/07/adam-mcmillan/
