Ronan Apcar
Ronan Apcar, piano
Wesley Music Centre, October 17
Reviewed by Len Power
When beautifully tender piano pieces by Romantic composer, Johannes Brahms, were contrasted with modern works by Australian and American composers, the result was an exciting musical whiplash.
Performed non-stop by pianist, Ronan Apcar, four of Brahms’ Fantasies alternated with three works that could not have been more different. Suddenly the Brahms works seemed even more delicate and fragile than usual, while the modern pieces became even more exciting, violent and explosive.
Apcar introduced the concert, giving us an insight into his enthusiasm for the music he would be playing. With his humorous and relaxed manner, he warned us to be ready for something out of the ordinary.
Beginning with the fourth Brahms Fantasy, adagio, his sensitive playing was immediately captivating, bringing out the beauty in Brahms’ music. At the gentle conclusion, he launched into American Leo Ornstein’s Suicide in an Airplane. This distinctive work, with its insistent sound of airplane engines, could not have been more different to the Brahms work. The contrast was fascinating and Apcar’s playing of this complex work was excellent.
Without a break, Apcar performed the fifth Brahms Fantasy, andante. After the Ornstein work, the gentleness and sentimentality seemed even more apparent. Again, without a break, he then launched into Australian, Gerard Brophy’s Abraço. This stormy and exciting work sounded like five noisy, but thrilling dance parties going on at the same time. Apcar played it superbly.
Brahms’ Fantasy No. 6, andantino, was next. The emotion in the music was again delicately played. Immediately afterwards, there was the contrasting and wild Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues by the American composer, Frederic Rzewski. If the earlier modern pieces seemed unusually complex, nothing prepared you for this one. Ranging across the whole keyboard, this furious work was the most exciting of all. The technique required to play it was astounding. At times, Apcar was playing passages with his whole forearm. When the blues section of the work was reached, Apcar sang the lyrics as well. It was an extraordinary performance.
Ronan Apcar
Apcar finished the concert with an encore, The Spritely One by jazz musician, Judy Bailey. The applause at the end of the concert was explosive and sustained. Apcar richly deserved it for devising this daring program and performing it with so much skill.
Photos by Peter Hislop
This review was first published by Canberra CityNews digital edition on 18 October 2026.
Len Power's reviews are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 in the ‘Arts Cafe’ and ‘Arts About’ programs and published in his blog 'Just Power Writing' at https://justpowerwriting.blogspot.com/.
Len Power also presents the weekly Concert Hall program on Artsound FM, playing recordings of some of the best concerts from in and around Canberra. Concert Hall can be heard on Sundays at 8pm and is repeated on Wednesdays at 2pm.
