Wednesday 8 July, 1998 Victoria Concert Hall	5th International Piano Festival
	FRANZ LISZT (1811-1886) Sarabande & Chaconne on themes from Handel's Almira, S181 Two Légendes, S175: St Francis of Assisi preaching to the birds; St Francis of Paule walking on the waves. (1863) Variations on a motif by Bach "Weinen Klagen", S180 Grosses Konzertsolo, S176 (?1849) Fantasy on themes from "Figaro" and "Don Giovanni", S697 Leslie HOWARD piano

OVERALL NOISE RATING: 3 (After 20 years of the "Courtesy Campaign", I have to admit, people still have to be reminded that it is a Concert Mortal Sin to leave before the final encore - please put sufficient parking coupons for your cars the next time...)

The Noise Rating Index is a partially-objective measurement of pager and handphone blasts, 9pm and 10pm watch beeps, coughing-during-the-pianissimo-bits, intra-audience conversation and other mind-bogglingly inept noises emitted in the concert hall during actual performance of music. It is measured on a scale of 0 to 5, in increasing annoyance.

Some people might not know this but the pianist Leslie Howard (left) has had a full list (pardon the pun) of things to do in the last 15 years. He has literally lived the life of Liszt, writing, researching, playing, recording (OK, maybe Liszt couldn't do this) and championing his music. I was told that for every CD he has recorded he has personally done the research for the material in the album sleeves. (There are about 94 discs worth on Hyperion - click here for Hyperion's Liszt Index). The good news is that after the project (expected to end in the year 2000) he is going to combine all the material into a book (publishers please reserve a copy for me).

Well, it looks like the organizers of the Piano Fest left the final storm of lightning and thunder to the last day. From the tightly packed crowd (Singaporean audiences love virtuosity and showmanship), it seemed like even more people attended this than the Artur Pizarro concert (which to me was the climax of the Fest). Leslie Howard stunned us literally with his diabolical feats at the piano - if one had to use words to describe the concert the words "Pure Technique" still remain an understatement. His display of chromatic thirds, sixths, octaves, tremolos, repeated notes, contrary motions and cadenzas, etc. sent us all looking locked-jawed as we peered from our seats in awe.

Having studied and breathed Liszt, I was looking for other aspects in Leslie Howard's playing - mind you, for a pianist of this standard, he is a "supervirtuoso." He belongs to a selected few like Marc-André Hamelin, Earl Wild, György Cziffira and recently Arcadi Volodos.

It is not just aspects of Howard's exuberance that strikes me but a freedom of passion. One cannot deny that his technique is phenomenal - his catapulting cross-hands across the 88 keys and intervallic leaps across the keyboard must be seen to be believed. For the first half I was sitting in Row M seat 14 where I could hardly see his fingers, nor the movements of his arms. What I heard were stream-like runs without heavy arm movements. In addition, he gave you an impression that it was a recital for two pianos!

I have to ask, where did he "get" his technique? We are always talking about the Russian technique with its clarity, but mind you, Marc-André Hamelin studied in Canada, Artur Pizarro hails from Kansas and Leslie Howard is Australian (so is Percy Grainger by the way), but has spent most of his life in London. I therefore have to come to the conclusion that every school is therefore capable of producing these stars.

Liszt (right), the inventor of the recital, has often condemned "circus-like theatrics" which may seem to imply as if he is out to uplift the audience. However I think Leslie Howard brought us to a higher plane of what can be achieved on the piano. I have to thank a music-teacher friend of mine who pointed out his use of the sostenuto pedal to me and its capabilities. Leslie Howard used this judiciously, thus allowing us to hear the melodic line while in actual fact his hands were free to play other parts. This ghostly stance kept you in bewilderment as to where the sound was echoing from. This was especially used in the second half of the program in the Grosses Konzertsolo.

In the first half I especially enjoyed the Variations on a Motif by Bach: Weinen Klagen". Leslie Howard displayed a keen sense in executing the "chromatic development in the shape of a recitative" as is needed to display the intentions of how Bach portrayed it to be. Do not be deceived by its simplicity, for all the virtuoso elements were there once again. Liszt had a good understanding of Bach, and Howard gave you that impression as well. This was also developed in the Sarabande and Chaconne on themes from Handel's Almira.

As for Howard's performance of the Two Légendes, the chorus from St Francis of Paule which imitates birds - as seen in the tiny glissandos in the upper registers - was clear and had an immediate effect intended. However I did find that Howard played these with a lack of emotion. I suppose pieces of these nature often become rather difficult to accentuate any emotion when everyone concentrates on the virtuostic aspects of the piece.

His rendition of the Fantasy on themes from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni was quite inspiring as he showed to us how Liszt tried to incorporate all the instruments within the confines of the ten fingers. Once again, Liszt's imagination and realms of sound may be original but they never give you any sense that the music is his. Instead it pays true homage to Mozart. Although at times one cannot deny that typical Mozart was metamorphized into typical Liszt in a single stroke.

Howard demonstrated a good understanding and displayed this in his avalanche of passing hands over the thumb to ensure appropriate phrasing. With the use of the sustaining pedal we were once again able to hear a kaleidoscope of piano sonorities. I would find it hard to say that Howard could have failed in this piece as it was totally up his alley - however sometimes I had an inclination of doubt when it seemed that he was trying a bit too hard to go beyond the dazzle of the piece.

For his encore Leslie Howard picked a piece very similar to the programme Liszt's Rigoletto: paraphrase de concert. I have to admit that by this time it was going to be hard to impress me as it seemed that I had already seen a lot in one night. But when it came to his second encore, the Un Sospiro taken from his Concert Studies, I felt that he had semi-redeemed himself in the area of emotion.

I would have loved to hear him play more of Liszt's religiously-inclined music, like his Canticles or pieces like Salve Regina where we look deeper into the soul of Liszt (left, photographed in his old age). It is sad to say that unfortunately we may be confined to listening to them on CDs.

Johann D'Souza sometimes enjoys gazing into nothingness and dreaming. He feels that he should put his thoughts down by writing a mini novel.

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