Members and Friends of the Gosport and Fareham Music Society were given a rare treat with a  stunning recital by Bulgarian-born pianist Valentina Seferinova.

The somewhat intimate nature of Fareham's Ashcroft art centre seemed, at times, barely large enough to contain the emotion created by the energetic playing of Miss Seferinova.

The first half of the programme consisted of a marathon performance of Franz Schubert's Sonata in B flat major which kept the near sell-out audience on the edges of their seats.

Following the interval, the programme comprised two interestingly diverse pieces by Scriabin in which the soloist highlighted the melodic aspects of the composers writing.

But it was in Debussy's 'Suite Bergamasque' that Miss Seferinova's defined characterisation was a revelation, especially in the well-known 'Clair de Lune' - for once heard in context - whose haunting beauty was captured with stunning accuracy.

Little surprise, then, to learn that our guest had been amongst a number of musicians invited to play at the annual Debussy festival in France.

For her encore, Miss Seferinova played a piece by one of her countrymen, a mixture of lilting folk-like tunes and warm sounds reminiscent of Rachmaninov.

Valentina Seferinova next appears at Portsmouth's Theatre Royal on Sunday, March 25^th (2001)

New-found freedom

DEVORINA GAMALOVA, VIOLIN and

VALENTINA SEFERINOVA, PIANO at Westridge

Drawing Room, on Sunday November 25^th.

AN EXCELLENT Bulgarian duo, Devorina Gamalova, violin, and Valentina Seferinova, piano, who played in Westridge Drawing Room on Sunday deserved a bigger audience.

   Miss Gamalova chose a contrasted and demanding pair of works for unaccompanied violin; J. S. Bach's 'Sonata No. 1 in G minor' and Paganini's 'Caprices Nos. 14 and 19'.

  They were very well played .......

  The other two works where the violin was joined by the piano went beautifully.  The 'Sonata' by Prokofiev must have been far above Stalin's comprehension and his demands for socialist realism.  It is a lovely work, often ethereal, dreamy and sparse in texture; and the title of the last movement 'Allegrissimo' is one I have not met before.  It exactly expresses the speed between allegro and presto which he required.

  The 'Fantasie in C' by Schubert, though rather long, as often the case with Schubert's instrumental work, gave to the players the chance to give a really musical performance of equals.

  I understand that Miss Seferinova was one of the leading pianists in her native Bulgaria ...............  She has an impressively fluent technique.  Their loss is our gain.

PETER DAVIES

"Bognor Regis, that quintessentially provincial English seaside resort is unfairly famous for being the subject of the dying George V's last words - quite what he said doesn't bear repetition on a family-friendly website!  A more positive claim to fame is to be home of the delightfully intimate Recital Hall where Valentina Seferinova treated a very appreciative audience to a recital featuring some of Raff's finest piano music.  One of a series being given by the Bulgarian-born pianist in English south coast venues, this concert was unique in offering an all-Raff programme.

The programme in fact mirrored her recently issued CD [reviews] comprising the compact and innovative Fantasie-Sonate op.168, the meltingly lyrical Trois Morceaux op.2 and finally the majestic second version of the Piano Sonata op.14 from Raff's final years.

Rather than offer the usual blow-by-blow account, it suffices to say that her performances displayed all the very considerable merits she already shows on the recording - stunning accuracy, a real feel for the architecture of each piece and an understanding of the contrasting elements of Raff's style, integrating the warmly lyrical with the contrapuntal and fugal.  Where the CD hardly does her justice is in conveying her passion and commitment to the music - and this is no criticism of the recording because how could it?

She began the recital by explaining to the audience how she had "fallen in love" with Raff's music.  This sincere belief in the value of the pieces she was playing was evident from the very first bar of the Fantasie-Sonate, which then unfolded into a reading of fire and power, relieved by a delicate central section of great beauty.  It stood revealed as the towering work it surely is.  The less serious Trois Morceaux more closely paralleled her CD renditions, though the greater dynamic contrast in the opening Elegie gave it even more substance.  The central Romance was utterly charming and the cascade of notes in the twinkling Valse sent the audience off to the interval with a grin.  The substantial and potentially drier fare of the Piano Sonata was in safe hands as Seferinova gave it her all.  Again, a very "big" performance which built upon her recording by adding an emotional intensity expressed by stronger dynamic contrasts, delicate phrasing and, in the case of the second movement, breathtaking speed.  She played from memory throughout and coped with a very noisy piano pedal with aplomb.

The audience's appreciation of both Valentina Seferinova and, judging by their comments, Raff himself was fulsome and well merited.  She seems a pianist of rare talents - whilst the delicacy might be expected from her small frame, the sheer power is more of a surprise.  The quality which came across more than anything else, however, was her total dedication to what she was playing.  It is gratifying that Raff has found such a committed interpreter and one looks forward to hearing more of his music from her.

Having taken the risky decision to relocate to the UK from Bulgaria, it is to be hoped that she can re-establish for herself the fine reputation which she apparently enjoyed in her homeland.  On this showing she is a fine artist indeed and richly deserves success in the wider repertoire on the national and international stage."

Mark Thomas

"I write to say a very big 'thank-you' for visiting Winchester the other Tuesday and presenting such an outstandingly virtuoso performance.  The appreciation expressed by members of the audience afterwards was considerable."

In the presence of Natalie Wanamaker-Javier and Peter Wanamaker - both Great Grand-Children of Sergei Rachmaninov.

To a person - a standing ovation.

Valentina with Peter and Natalie after the recital

with Natalie commenting "You played beautifully".

 - 30th April 2005

Might not sound much - but when you consider who she is, how many performances of her Great grandfather's work's she's ever heard, and the fact that both she and her brother were on their feet - then Valentina was able to take it as a high compliment.

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Pianist's range spellbinding

"The capacity audience at Chichester Cathedral for Valentina Seferinova's piano recital was held spellbound by the virtuosic range of this slight pale figure with her dark ponytail set off by a flowing royal-blue dress.

    Far from playing hackneyed lollipops, Valentina chose works by composers such as her fellow Bulgarian Pantcho Vladigerov whose Song op.21 no.3 throbbed with folk melodies, and the Swiss-born romantic composer Joachim Raff sounding like Liszt, and like Liszt demanding the finest technique.

    This technique Valentina has, as her playing of the Three Pieces, op.2 by Scriabin demonstrated, including the softest pianissimo at the end of the Etude.

    Rachmaninov's Moments musicaux, op.16, nos. 3 and 4 were the dramatic yet controlled perfect finale.

    Alan Thurlow who introduced Valentina mentioned that two weeks ago she had played at the AGM of the Rachmaninov Society in London.  Present were two of Rachmaninov's great-grandchildren, and at the end they rose to their feet in a standing ovation."

Maureen Wright

reproduced by permission of the Chichester Observer 26^th May 2005

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