Alexandra Dariescu, the ravishing musician who became, in 2013, the first Romanian pianist to perform on the stage of the prestigious Royal Albert Hall along with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, will delight for the third time the audience of the George Enescu International Festival in its 2017 edition.
Text by Mădălina Mărgăritescu
The works to be performed at the Enescu Festival 2017, on September 14, along with the violinist Remus Azoiței, include compositions by George Enescu, Lipatti and Beethoven.
Alexandra Dariescu is the kind of artist who continuously enriches her manner of revealing music.
She studied at the Pocklington School in Yorkshire, at the Royal Northern College of Music and at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where she was guided by extraordinary musicians. Alexandra Dariescu is the first pianist trained by the famous Imogen Cooper, and András Schiff, aside from the music advice he gave her, also instilled in her love for art. In an interview she gave a few years ago to the foreign press, the pianist recalls the joy stirred by András Schiff when he used to tell her about the paintings they admired together at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“Chopin & Dutilleux” (2013), the first album in the trilogy of preludes edited by Champs Hill Records, brings to our attention the connection between music and art. The cover of the record is a black & white picture that reinterprets the painting “The Umbrellas” (1881-1886) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Rain becomes the common point of Frédéric Chopin’s preludes and the French painter’s work. Created as short music pieces, the 24 preludes were written in Paris and Mallorca, and in some of them we can hear the sound of raindrops, particularly in Preludes no. 6 and no. 15.
The music performed by the pianist takes the shape of a fine lace fabric.
The delicate sounds created by Alexandra Dariescu seem to be the thin silk threads of the most precious lace. With clear, precise movements, she tries, just like the great couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga, dubbed the “lace magician”, to reveal the music forged by these fragile sounds. Skilfully recomposed, the music works performed by Alexandra Dariescu appear gracious and fluid, like Balenciaga’s figures.
Tactful elegance builds atmosphere, its sound carries the audience to days of old and at the same time it conveys the pleasure of bringing joy to others. Alexandra Dariescu speaks of the Parisian refinement of La Belle Époque, a period appreciated by Balenciaga himself, who claimed that a couturier must also be a musician for the harmony of creation.
Skilfully recomposed, the music works performed by Alexandra Dariescu appear gracious and fluid, like Balenciaga’s figures.
With her music touches, the pianist Alexandra Dariescu gives snapshots of the Paris she has noted in the paintings of Jean Béraud, chronicler of life. Sober, yet possessing something that cannot be defined, Alexandra Dariescu illustrates Paris chic like only Béraud could paint it in his works. The record “Tchaikovsky – Piano Concerto No. 1 – Nutcracker Suite” (2016) marks the same expressivity in conveying scenes. The album is the first one that the talented artist has recorded with an orchestra, and Alexandra Dariescu is also the first Romanian pianist to release a CD with the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
The impressive musician has performed on some of the most famous stages, including Carnegie Hall, Barbican, Royal Albert Hall, and she keeps enchanting audiences all over the world. In 2018 she will also debut at the Vienna Konzerthaus.
Translation provided by Irina-Marina Borțoi, Biroul de Traduceri Champollion
