『 Alain Lefevre's Concert』
| One of Quebec's best-known and internationally renowned pianists is Alain
Lefevre. On 23 April 2005, at The Centre Culturel de Beloeil, in Beloeil,
a town on the picturesque Richelieu River, a drive of about thirty minutes
from Montreal, he performed a concert that featured the works of Quebec
composer Andre Mathieu. The recital was sold-out! A legend in Quebec, Mathieu should be better known outside that Canadian province. He was a child prodigy. Called "Canadian Mozart," he began to compose at the age of four. At the age of seven, he was playing in Montreal's best-known hotels and in Paris. He made his debut in Carnegie Hall in New York City at the advanced age of ten! Albert Einstein heard him there and exclaimed, "I have never seen such a genius child in my life!" The Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov described him as "a genius, more so than I am." His fame as a performer peaked when he was about twenty years of age. He was almost completely forgotten as a performing artist at the time of his death. He died, poverty-stricken, at the age of thirty-nine. The exact cause of his death is unknown. But his music lives on, though until Lefevre, nobody at all performed his music. . When Alain Lefevre was fifteen years old, he heard a recording of Mathieu's "Prelude Romantique" and was stunned by its beauty. Since then he has devoted much of his time to researching, studying, performing and promoting Mathieu's music. He added the composer's works to his repertoire, regularly introduces them at his concerts, and now has recorded them on DCs. In fact, Alain Lefevre has always performed Mathieu's compositions. He wrote more than two hundred short piano pieces, but only about one-quarter of them have been performed. Research continues. Mathieu wrote the composition "Tristesse" as written at the age of seven, but he began to play it at the age of four and half! He dedicated this piece to a doctor who seems to be his personal physician. How could he feel so deep a sadness at such a young age! Lefevre introduced each piece with some comments about the work and its place in the life of the composer. When he talked about Mathieu, his eyes shone. Members of the audience could see and feel how much he loves and is devoted to Mathieu and his music. He spoke with ease and wit and transported us smoothly into "the world of Mathieu." At times it seemed we were watching a documentary film about Mathieu. The audience was animated and it participated. I could hear responses-- "Wow!" "Yes!" "Oh!" What?"--from the four corners of the Hall. When Lefevre said that we should respect Mathieu, everybody applauded. This was the first time in my experience that the player and the audience became one entity. They came together in happiness to honour our great ancestor. They were especially moved by the fact that Mathieu was a Quebecois composer. But what made it so memorable an occasion was Lefevre's passion for Mathieu. Mathieu's music is rich in tonality and is very chromatic. It is emotional like the music of William Gillock. But to contrast the music of Gillock with that of Mathieu, I feel that Gillock's is "white" and "simple" whereas Mathieu's seems "black" and "complex." Many of his bars require an extremely high level of piano technique. So we were astonished and touched by Alain's performance--a breathtaking technique coupled with deep sensibility and expression. When I heard the CD "Carnet de Notes" of original pieces by Lefevre, I felt that he might be a romantic, sensitive, and delicate pianist whose performances were very mellow. But after I listened to this concert, I was stunned by the variety of piano sounds and strong expressions and the crisp forte sounds that concluded them. He played a phrase, which he wanted to emphasize, bending his body close to the keyboard. Sometimes for the forte sound he played while raising his hip from the piano bench. He would swing his head like a baseball bat to express the momentum of a vigorous phrase. It was very interesting to hear what he expressed in Mathieu's music. At the same time, to express sad, tender, sweet, and delicate phrases, he played so beautiful a pianissimo sound that it brought tears to people's eyes. The subtle balance of pedaling and touch made such beautiful and interesting sounds! It looked as if he was playing by ear. (What I mean is that he listens to his sounds very well.) It brought to mind the phrase of Gillock's that in the final analysis music is absolutely at the mercy of the ear. After the concert, members of the audience formed in lines to purchase autographed copies of Lefevre's newly released CD. "Alain Lefevre: Hommage a Andre Mathieu" was released earlier this year and has already sold 35,000 copies. I was delighted to meet Lefevre and I found him an easy-going and pleasant person. It brought to mind Gillock telling me the following: "Art comes of being honestly and humbly your true inner self--simple and pure." I hope that some day lovers of serious music in Japan may also attend a concert devoted to the music of Andre Mathieu from Quebec as interpreted by Alain Lefevre. |
|
I hope to introduce the collaboration of Lefevre and
Mathieu to Japanese listeners in the very near future! Alain Lefevre's Web Site ＝＞www.alainlefevre.com |
April .26. 2005
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