NELSON GOERNER

Nelson Goerner is the second of the two contemporary pianists i have decided to write about, although there may be one or two others later. If I had a favourite pianist now to go and hear in concert, I recon the Argentinian Nelson Goerner would be very high on the list.

I always think that the Rachmaninoff 3rd concerto is a test of any pianist's prowess, and to hear a live performance should leave something of a mark on each of the occasions you experience it. Over the years i can recall four different occasions when i have heard this piece live in concert, the pianists being John Lill, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Dame Moura Lympany and Nelson Goerner. For one reason or another, all these performances stand out in my memory but the latter two most especially. Lympany of course a great favourite of mine, and Goerner because he makes such a strong case for the traditional and forward pushing approach. Both Lympany and Goerner adopt the shorter first movement cadenza, and although my preference is probably for the longer version, Goerner makes such a strong case for it.

On the evening in Manchester when I heard the Goerner performance of the Rachmaninoff 3rd, I had spent the first half of the concert in the company of a contemporary work conducted by the composer...normally the concerto is in the first half and the symphony in the second. I am convinced that to avoid an empty auditorium the only way they could guarantee a strong crowd was to put the Rachmaninoff in the second half.

And what a second half it was...and a recording of the work by Goerner was made when he again visited Manchester the year after.

Interesting also, is the list of other pianists who also originated from Latin America, which includes: Martha Argerich (Argentina), Teresa Careno (Venezuela), Giomar Novaes (Brazil), Magda Tagliaferro (Brazil), Claudio Arrau (Chile), Jorge Bolet (Cuba), Nelson Friere (Brazil).

(...there may be more to add here but not sure yet...)