Dorian Leljak Solo Recital

Pianist Dorian Leljak

Featuring:

Dorian Leljak, piano

Programme:

Frédéric Chopin

     Prelude in C sharp minor, Op. 45

     Mazurka No. 3 in C sharp minor, Op. 63 

     Mazurka No. 4 in B minor, Op. 33

     Nocturne No. 1 in B major, Op. 62 

     Nocturne No. 2 in E major, Op. 62

     Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 36 (Second Version)

Serbian pianist Dorian Leljak recently had a solo piano concert at the Philam Life Auditorium presented by the Piano Teachers Guild of the Philippines and the UST Conservatory of Music. A few days before this concert, he also conducted a masterclass at the UST campus. This concert happened after a very busy week for me in which I didn’t even feel the weekend pass by. And despite being already tired, I just had to see this since it’s a solo piano concert featuring one of my favorite composers. And that composer is no other than Frédéric Chopin whose pieces comprised the first half of the programme.

The concert opened with the Prelude in C sharp minor, Op. 45 which was the last and also the longest prelude that Chopin wrote. The pieces that followed were Mazurka No. 3 in C sharp minor, Op. 63 and Mazurka No. 4 in B minor, Op. 33 which were played back to back. I’m not really familiar with these two pieces since the Mazurkas were never my favorites among Chopin’s compositions. After this, the two Nocturnes that make up Op. 62, No. 1 in B major and No. 2 in E major, were played. These pieces which were among the last that Chopin wrote are more subtle, intimate and introspective compared to his earlier and more accessible nocturnes require a lot more attention from the listener in my opinion. The first half ended with the popular Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60 which has the feeling of paddling through a gently flowing river.

After the interval, the concert resumed with Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 36 (Second Version). This intense piece was such a change of pace from the more subdued and sedate character of the pieces from the first half. There was more tension, agitation, drama in this demanding sonata and one has to have the technical chops to pull this one off since this piece is almost like a symphony for the piano because of its epic nature. And Dorian did exactly that, impressing the audience made up mostly of students from UST. After this piece Dorian performed two charming encores: Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sheep May Freely Graze transcribed by Egon Petri and Nun komm der Heiden Heiland transcribed by Ferruccio Busoni which made me rethink about my aversion to playing Bach.

I was so glad to see Dorian conduct the masterclass before this concert since I was able to see and hear during the performance everything that he pointed out during the class. As he played the opening Prelude, my mind went back on how he talked about the consistency in the top and bass lines for optimum clarity. Also, in the Nocturnes, I noticed how he employed the technique in continuing the note taking into consideration the decay of sound. Lastly, he ditched being nice in some parts of the Rachmaninoff sonata when it needed to be agitated and tense. If I hadn’t gone to the masterclass, I wouldn’t have noticed these minute details which greatly contributed my enjoyment of the entire performance.

The Masterclass

As I’ve mentioned at the beginning, Dorian conducted a masterclass at the UST campus days before the concert. His impressive résumé (he is just the President of the World Piano Teachers Association for crying out loud) made those who were taking part in the masterclass very nervous at first. But quite surprisingly, Dorian came out as very warm, friendly and the masterclass actually was a lot of fun. I really appreciated it when he gave some background information alongside specific instructions regarding technique. One example of that was when he shared the history and the development of the keyboard instrument to explain the concept of the decay in sound. And this was very helpful when he taught how to maintain the flow of the melody right after a long, sustained note that is subject to this decay in sound. He shared more techniques like in bringing out the colors of the piano through being consistent in the lines at the top, bass and those in between. One of the most helpful as well was playing certain lines like the bass line for example with no sound at all while playing the top line normally in order to perfect this consistency. And what made me really dig his teaching style was when he suggested to one pianist who played a Toccata piece that she listens to other Toccatas by other composers and take note of the similarities and differences. I do enjoy this method of knowing a lot regarding the piece and its composer, realizing that there’s also a story behind the notes so that when I get to play it, I eventually (and hopefully) play more than just the notes.

RAd with Dorian Leljak

I’ve learned so much from Dorian during the masterclass that I was inspired to practice really hard and to apply everything that he said to my current pieces. Also, his solo piano concert made me yearn for a return performance from him very soon and that he must play a piano concerto next time. And it makes me really giddy when I recall when he told me that I seem to be a well rounded musician.