Founded by the highly acclaimed organist Sergio de Pieri, and this year directed by Mark Higginbotham, the Brunswick Beethoven Festival is a bold program of nine fine February music concerts, not really centering on Beethoven as the main fare this year, but featuring many of the best and most wonderful popular Melbourne artists.
Concert 1 of this diverse Festival of chamber music opened with a most astonishing and challenging piano recital by Stefan Cassomenos, one of Australia’s leading concert pianists, and a most highly regarded and prolific performer, composer, musical director and accompanist.
Was it the hot weather, the difficulty of Sydney Road parking availability, the challenging program of rarely heard piano works, or the attraction of neighbouring cafes, bars and neighbouring salsa dancing that resulted in a small audience in the Brunswick Uniting Church?
Surprisingly, only minimal traffic noise affected this outstanding recital. Cassomenos whipped up his own admirable orchestral storm with his opening piece by popular Australian composer Carl Vine: Toccatissimo (2011), described by Vine as “an extreme toccata, not for the faint-hearted”. Commissioned by the Sydney International Piano Competition, this brilliant work is most inspiring, impressive, even entertaining at times, demanding extreme contrasts of sparkling designs and explosive peaks and troughs from both hands in true orchestral style. Cassomenos displayed energy and physical immersion and expression throughout this energetic and most virtuosic piece, which is clearly clearly one of his favourites.
Very detailed program notes were most welcome, describing Miranda Driessen’s piece Werden Menschen Bruder? Alle? (2019). The Dutch composer had responded to German pianist Susanne Kessel’s invitation for her huge Global Project” 250 Pieces for Beethoven, as a lead up to Ludwig’s 250th birthday anniversary. At times the work posed questions, elements of hope and joy, and doubts about the “universal brotherhood”. Unusual in its shaping as a “sound sculpture”, this intriguing piece was given a sensitive and expressive performance, as new colour, poetry and a sense of introversion was combined with technical demands and new musical questions with no gratifying “classical” final cadences. It was played with much warmth and intuition.
Cassomenos is a pianist with huge resources of colour, touch, tone and fresh interpretation. He is dedicated to performing new and rarely heard work, championing female and Australian composers. As a grand finalist and recipient of both the Second Grand Prize and the Chamber Music Prize at the International Beethoven Piano Competition in Bonn (2013), he is deeply connected with Beethoven’s music, choosing his 33 Variations on a Waltz by Anton Diabelli (1819-1823) as the main course. This was an extraordinary finale, a one-hour performance truly fitting with Schoenberg’s description: “in respect of its harmony, this deserves to be called the most adventurous work by Beethoven”. These complex variations thoroughly transform Diabelli’s original waltz theme into a hugely innovative form. If a small seed was planted in the opening C major theme, we are taken on a mountainous journey of growth and invention through powerful and dramatic musical scenes. Again, most admirable was Cassomenos’ advanced orchestral colouration, with varied contrasts from power to peace and soulfulness. Two splendid fugues showed the pianist’s superior technical excellence, stamina and concentration, holding the audience’s wonderment for the full one hour required for this piece. Lengthy applause showed how this audience appreciated the opportunity to have heard this rarely performed repertoire.
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Julie McErlain reviewed Stefan Cassomenos’ piano recital, presented as part of the Brunswick Beethoven Festival at the Brunswick Uniting Church on February 5, 2025.
