Enthusiastic Reception For Bela Siki

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29293, 26 August 1960, Page 13

Enthusiastic Reception For Bela Siki

The visiting Swiss pianist, Bela Siki, played in the Civic Theatre last evening. The audience was not large but it was certainly enthusiastic.

Mr Siki primarily occupies himself with the musical thought of each composer he presents. In doing so he may create the impression that his technical equipment is not so resourceful as some recitalists we have heard. But there were occasions when the falsity of such a conclusion was patent last evening. In several pieces by Liszt and an invigorating Sonatina for Left Hand by Dinu Lipatti, the keyboard mastery called for, and received a display at the virtuoso level.

Added to this is Mr Siki’s most satisfying conception of the proportions called for by each and every phrase. Tonally he is able to call on a wide range of colour, a feature he delights in exploiting in the middle and lower ranges of the pianoforte. Perhaps it is his reliable and strong left hand which induces this predilection.

The Sonata in A major. Opus 120, by Schubert, gave no inkling as to Bela Siki’s ability. He let the lyrical stature of the work assert itself, and no more. Chopin’s B flat minor Sonata, however, sprang to life from the outset. In dynamic fashion both the main themes became imbued with a vivid and contrasted clarity. The nearer they came together as music, the more Mr Siki was able to preserve their individuality of character. (Once again, that left hand was the secret). The later movements were equally successful, each possessing a degree of sonority suited to its content.

Honegger’s Prelude, Arioso and Fuguetta on the name Bach proved to be a highly-attractlve composition, beautifully laid out

in terms of the keyboard. Its concentrated thought is vital yet economical in utterance. No notes are wasted and beneath its terse vigour there is a restrained romantic beauty. Similar in scope was Lipatti’s Sonatina. It is not a show piece for five fingers, but rather a cleanly and constructed work with poetic content of rich worth. We thank Mr Siki for introducing it to us and for the manner in which he did so.

Limpid tones and rich textures were to the fore in the perfor-, mance of Liszt’s Petrarch Sonnet No. 104. Funerailles combined an eloquent tonal fervour with patriotic fire. And what a climax was achieved! One does not expect such stunning force from Mr Siki for he tends to work close to the instrument, eyeing the keys with a suspicion akin to that of a South African referee as the ball enters the scrum.

Bela Siki responded generously to an apparently insatiable audience at the conclusion of the programme. Twenty-one minutes of encores were called for! --J.A.R.