Elizabeth Surbey

SYDNEY FESTIVAL : KORKMAZ CAN SAGLAM IN CONCERT @ THE NEILSON : TURKISH CONCERT PIANIST EXTRAORDINAIRE

 

Temperament features an exceptional group of local and international artists and ensembles including Bach Akademie Australia, Korkmaz Can Saglam, Australia Chamber Orchestra, Andrew Bukenya and guests, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Benjamin Skepper and Ensemble Apex.

Korkmaz  Can Saglam was the People’s Choice winner from the 2023 Sydney International Piano Competition, where I first heard him play. The new Company formed around this event, Piano+. has celebrated and supported his first Solo concert in Sydney where Korkmaz explores the Bach celebration seemingly effortlessly. 

Korkmaz has included in his presentation Chopin’s final 12 preludes from Op.28 along with Dmitri Shostakovich Prelude and Fugues. Not so surprising when joining Bach’s Fantasia and Fugue BWV 542 (arr by Liszt) and Partita BWV 825, the program in  just over an hour offers a very diverse and engaging musical experience.

Highlights included a taster of Shostakovich’s Preludes and Fugues (Op.87) which introduced a modern, intellectual dimension, drawing inspiration from Bach’s work. And the program ended with a highly emotional journey through twelve of Chopin’s Preludes. 

Tonight’s performance highlighted Korkmaz’s mastery of the piano repertoire, providing a rich and well-rounded experience for the listener which explored the connections and contrasts between composers from the Baroque, Romantic and Modernist periods.

Temparement co-curators, Olivia Ansell and Benjamin Skepper, have assembled a week long festival of music at the Neilson, paying homage to the “revolutionary advances in music” through talented artists, local and international, along with ensembles, each dedicated to pushing musical boundaries 300 years on.

Temperament  at The Neilson, culminates in the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra ‘Bach and the Artists’ concert which will include the work ‘Well-Tempered Clavier’, which will play until the 28th January 2024.

Korkmaz Can Saglam will give further concerts onTuesday 30th January at the Wesley Music Centre and Wednesday 31st January 2024 at the Melbourne Recital Centre.

 

Published by Elizabeth Surbey

Elizabeth had a passion for theatre and performing from her youth and was a keen contributor to the joint school musicals- mostly the Gilbert and Sullivan romps. Once she headed to university this passion dominated with a 4 year stint at UNE in Armidale encompassing both performance and directing as major components of her Double Major in Drama and Major in English Literature. The year after graduation she found herself not only at the newly formed Actors' Centre but also teaching high school drama. She is still there, teaching, directing, writing for high school Drama and on the side across the years has performed in small season productions at Q theatre and directed several productions for the Short & Sweet program being a part of the inaugural group. Keenly she has represented other drama educators as committee member then President of Drama NSW also representing NSW on the National Committee at Drama Australia National Conferences. She completed her MA a century ago also with a focus on Drama & Theatre at UNSW. She is now a mum of two and recently directed her sixth Musical - perhaps now coming full circle in the scheme of things. She was contributing and consulting editor on a major Drama text for Cambridge Uni Press "Drama ReLoaded". More than anything she loves theatre and is very keen to share her experiences with this forum. Each year she directs secondary students in plays from Australia and across the globe, in productions large and small.