Jayson Gillham, piano. Image via Melbourne Recital Centre.
Born in Dalby on the Darling Downs in Queensland, 30-year-old Jayson Gillham is now on the cusp of establishing an international career as a concert pianist. From the age of 14 his parents drove him 400kms each week for lessons in Brisbane. Various scholarships afforded further study at the Royal Academy of Music in London where he now resides. This tour of recitals and concerto appearances follows the launch of his first CD on ABC Classics earlier this year. Here is a fine artist in the making: modest to a fault and with a technique that would be the envy of any pianist. He is comfortable on stage and forms a strong rapport with his audience through informative and insightful introductions to the repertoire.
On Wednesday night he presented a traditional recital programmed in chronological order starting with two popular keyboard works from the Baroque (J S Bach’s Toccata in C minor, BWV 911 and Handel’s Chaconne in G major, HWV 435) which led to Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No 21 in C major, Op 53 ‘Waldstein’ followed by Robert Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes, Op 13 performed complete with the additional posthumously published variations.
Originally written for harpsichord or organ, Bach’s Toccata in C minor with its free extravagance of the opening flourish was an excellent introduction to the recital. I wished that the fugue was more sensitively voiced and phrased in groups of notes rather than the old-fashioned articulation employed where every note is voiced individually, perhaps falsely imitating the harpsichord. Dynamic control with subito pianissimos followed by grand crescendos was similarly dated. For such an intelligent and sensitive artist it was at this point that I began to wonder if we here hearing ‘Gillham’ or still what his teachers had taught him. There was, however, fine layering of voices evident in the slow contrapuntal section. Handel’s Chaconne (21 variations) first published as part of the composer’s Suites de Pièces in 1733 was similarly conveyed. Though there was nothing to complain about I found myself searching for what he thought about the work; I sensed there was little understanding of the grandeur of the French Baroque style in the performance though it was nicely crisp and neat.
The recital markedly improved with the Beethoven Sonata. In his erudite introduction to the work, Gillham mentioned that it was the first work written for the composer’s new Érard piano and takes advantage of its various technical advances. The performance that followed certainly contained the urgency and excitement of this revolutionary composer composing for his brand new instrument. The opening Allegro con brio was nicely shaped and articulated and performed at a good pace, was never forced or muddy. The searching Introduzione: Adagio molto delighted for its abstraction and innocence leading to the joyful Rondo. Allegretto moderato – Prestissimo. Pedalling Beethoven’s Sonatas on a modern Steinway is a contentious issue; do the markings in the original manuscript need to be tempered for performance on a modern piano? True to form, however, Gillham observed the score to the letter; the result was sensitive and bell-like, though unconvincing, particularly across the mid-point harmonic shift. The movement’s dramatic temperaments, though, from blazing elation to introspection were well harnessed, his octave glissandos perfectly executed and impressively played with right hand.
Gillham introduced the Robert Schumann Symphonic Etudes, Op 13 (1839) by stating that he intended to perform the complete work with five variations posthumously added by Brahms interspersed in his own order. The soloist sounded happiest playing this fiendishly virtuosic Romantic repertoire, demonstrating his beautifully weighted touch and brilliant technique. Each movement was delivered with imagination and intelligence, a polished, memorably fine and deeply satisfying performance.
It was disappointing that in place of a printed program only a handout sheet was available which did not list movements, omitted program annotations and disappointingly misidentified the Handel with an incorrect catalogue number. Moreover, moving the concert from the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall as advertised to the smaller Salon owing to low audience numbers led to a less than ideal listening experience.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Jayson Gillham, piano
Presented by The Ursula Hoff Institute Inc, Valma Angliss, AM and the Melbourne Recital Centre
Scheduled for the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre but transferred to the Salon
2 November 2016
