Valentina Seferinova at the Rotunda, Portsmouth Grammar School 2013-11-23

This concert review begins on a non-musical note, for which please bear with me. It seemed a good way to start and a relevant point to make on a matter of current concern.

A national panic fills the pages of our newspapers at present about immigration to the UK from the newest members of the EU. Drowning out the voices of a justified and sober concern, lurid and irresponsible media stories are offered up for our consumption; politicians of the ill-tempered variety pop up on the news and rant; more responsible (but equally ambitious) politicians find themselves drawn in. With all the anxiety, justified or not, negative and uncomfortable fears obscure an under-reported positive outcome that we may equally expect from the closer relationship of our peoples, namely the priceless influx of superbly trained and highly accomplished classical musicians from Eastern Europe and the corpus of under-performed music to which we have been exposed by them. No-one who has experienced the standard of Eastern European musicianship, music education and performance skill that has graced UK and other Western local concert platforms in recent years can be in any doubt that as to the tremendous cultural benefit derived from East-West migration.

Already, the entrepreneurial spirit of the first waves of these artists has penetrated deeply into regional life here in the UK and this is well exemplified by Valentina Seferinova, the Portsmouth-based music lecturer, concert pianist and piano teacher. Music-lovers there and further afield already recognise her as something of a local treasure. Seferinova is seemingly on a mission to bring the music of her native Bulgarian and other Eastern European  composers to the attention and appreciation of local audiences. On the evidence of last night’s concert at the Rotunda, she is succeeding.

The Rotunda audience also demonstrated Seferinova’s appeal across age-groups. Glancing around the room during the performance I saw rapt attention and genuine emotional involvement writ upon the faces of both young and old listeners. A scholar as well as performer, her chosen pieces are always illuminated with helpful introductory background. As to her performance art, it combines the ability to impress across the full dynamic range, with a mature skill in communicating with an audience and creating atmosphere; an ethereal delicacy of touch employed to great effect in refining and enhancing the emotional impact of a piece; near-flawless technical skill and fearlessness in tackling and communicating the often wild, complex and sometimes dissonant passions of the composers she champions. It takes courage to sell difficult and unfamiliar music to casual audiences and that is a particular virtue she seems to possess.

Ms Seferinova strode to the Steinway in a brilliant, sequinned outfit befitting for the performance dazzle to come. Last night’s selection followed to some extent a seasonal autumnal theme and opened with a trio of short pieces, Trois Morceaux, Op. 2 by the underrated Joachim Raff, whose music possesses a marked power to engage and move the listener emotionally with its strong, lyrical melodies.

Second on the agenda was my highlight of the evening, Józef Wieniawski’s Fantaisie et Fugue, Op. 25. The fugue has a real driving force, brought out powerfully by our pianist. It possesses the integrity and fullness of a Bach fugue and was a real delight to hear as its complex patterns were woven so convincingly, an act hard to pull off with any fugue.

The wild and sometimes angry passions of Pancho Vladigerov, arguably the foremost ever Bulgarian composer, captivated us going into the interval. Vladigerov’s music is also greatly under-rated and under-performed; Seferinova awoke within our spirits something of its visceral nature. The piece performed was Elégie d’automne, op. 15

Following the interval, now resplendent in flowing green, Ms Seferinova offered Zygmund Noskowski’s very attractive En Automne, Op 29 No.1 and Valse Dolente, Op. 35, No. 3. She has recorded Noskowski recently in Poland: CDs are available here: http://www.amazon.com/Zygmunt-Noskowski-Piano-Works-1/dp/B001V88CO G.

The evening concluded with Sergei Rachmaninov’s 5-part Morceaux de Fantasie op. 3. Almost everyone will know something of the second of these Morceaux, the Prelude in C sharp minor, with its crashing chords, turbulent emotional power and tenderness. Seferinova easily traversed the iconic opening from fortissimo low C to the three pianissimo  chords ending on D that seem to say and ask so much. Now in love with the Russian master, we were taken by the performer through beautiful avenues of musical exploration, one of the loveliest being the Polichinelle, its capricious passages punctuated by an exquisite, wave-like melody of rarest aesthetic and emotional depth. Seferinova is meticulous in her faithfulness to the scores she presents, allowing the listener to move close to the composer’s intention.

Sustained, enthusiastic applause and an encore later, we walked to the Isle of Wight ferry fortified against the cold weather and late-night revellers; our musical high more than a match for their alcohol-induced version.