Royal Gazette of Bermuda: 'Sparkling performance enhanced by pianist's eloquence and grace'

[Pianist Maria Thompson Corley]

The Royal Gazette

Bermuda

By Rebecca Zuill

Published Feb 16, 2011

Faithful, sensitive and meticulous are the words that perhaps best describe the musicianship of Maria Thompson Corley.

“From a technical standpoint, she is a superlative pianist who at the same time articulates exquisitely both the broad descriptive aspects and the nuances of the pieces she performs. It made her performance on Friday evening one that was deeply thoughtful and at the same time really engaging the audience was entranced from her opening bars to the final of two encores performed in the aftermath of a standing ovation which had the entire theatre on their feet. It is with pride that we can say that Dr Corley has close Bermuda connections, and those connections are musical her grandmother Cecily Caisey was a piano teacher. Her programme featured much-loved works and others that were, to some of us, delightful discoveries.

"One of those was written by the contemporary African American composer H Leslie Adams, who collaborated with Dr Corley to record his ‘Twelve Etudes'. As Dr Corley has described them: 'They are highly representative of his compositional language, including jazz-inflected syncopations, neo-romantic harmonies, and the strong melodic sense one would expect of such a brilliant composer of songs.' From this collection, Dr Corley played the Etude in A minor; it was a performance to savour and a revelation of a piece, one that could have been inspired by Aaron Copland's expansive works describing the vastness of the American frontier.”

“The life of the black Mozart, Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint Georges, would make a wonderful costume drama: born to a beautiful slave girl...he became the darling of the French court of Louis XVI. He was, of course, a superb composer and the finest swordsman of his day.” “While much of his music was destroyed during the Napoleonic era, some did survive and today he has been rediscovered and honoured with a Parisian street named for him. Dr Corley's sparkling yet delicate performance of the Chevalier's sublime Adagio in F illustrates exactly why he was often compared to Mozart as the pianist herself described it, this piece is a gem of the classical period; it reflects the style precisely and with all the joie de vivre for which Mozart himself was so famous.

"Dr Corley had opened the evening with a work that was to contrast with the rest of the programme; it was Beethoven's Op. 13 Pathétique. The composer wrote vast amounts of music for the piano, and of all his works, Pathétique is among his best known. This highly dramatic piece provided Dr Corley with much opportunity to demonstrate her extraordinary sensitivity as she explored the drama, passion and colour of this most expressive of composers. Beginning with this beautiful and emotional piece provided the audience with a clear introduction to the pianist's cerebral and nuanced approach.

“As an aside, Beethoven dedicated the piece to his patron Prince Lichnowsky. His stormy nature is clear in the story of the conclusion of their relationship, when the composer took offence at being asked to perform for the Prince's friends. Walking out, he said: 'There are many princes and noblemen, but there is only one Beethoven.' And there is only one Maria Thompson Corley. But happily for Friday evening's audience, she is a far more gracious and generous artist who shared her extraordinary musicianship with eloquence and grace. [H. Leslie Adams (b. 1932) and Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799) are profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Maria Thompson Corley Plays 'Adagio in F' of Saint-Georges & 'Étude in A Minor' of H. L. Adams at Bermuda Festival

[Maria Thompson Corley]

On Friday, Feb. 11, 2011 in the City of Hamilton, Bermuda, Pianist Maria Thompson Corley made her first appearance in the Bermuda Festival. She performed Ludwig van Beethoven's Sonata Op. 13 Pathetique; Barcarolle, Op. 60 of Frederic Chopin; the rarely performed Adagio in F minor of Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges; and the Étude in A minor of H. Leslie Adams. AfriClassical.com profiles both Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799) and H. Leslie Adams (b. 1932).

Natalie Hinderas recorded the Adagio in F (6:25) of Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges on LP. It is now available as a download from ClassicsOnline.com for $1.59.

The Bermuda Festival program notes tell us:

"Jamaican-born Canadian pianist Maria Thompson Corley, who is also Bermudian, is the granddaughter of Cecily Caisey, a well-known piano teacher on the island of Bermuda. Maria Thompson Corley gave her first public performance at the age of eight. Since then, she has appeared on radio, television, and concert stages in Canada, the United States, Central America, the Caribbean, Bermuda and Europe, both as a solo and collaborative artist."

The program notes say of the work of Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges:

“His Adagio in F Minor is an eloquent expression of deep sorrow, rendered with the sort of transparency that makes this piece deceptively difficult.”

The program notes quote the pianist as saying of the composition of H. Leslie Adams:

“While Adams' intention in his études was to create moods, rather than focusing exclusively on one technical problem, several of them follow the mould established by Chopin in his famous sets of concert études. The Étude in A Minor fits this category; it is an octave étude, full of turbulence, but with a delightfully unexpected blues break in the middle.”