Schubert and Byrd at Wigmore Hall: Mishka Rushdie Momen impresses, again
Mishka Rushdie Momen remains, as much as ever, a name to watch
Schubert, Byrd Mishka Rushdie Momen (piano). Wigmore Hall, London, 1130 am, 8.6.2025
Schubert Piano Sonatas: A minor, D 784 (1823); C minor, D 958 (1828)
Byrd Prelude in A minor. Fantasia in A minor.
I was very, very taken with Mishka Rushdie Momen’s Sheffield recital last year at he Crucbile Playhouse, where she pitted music by Schumann, Fauré, mendelssohn and Ravel against Rameau. While she has a predilection for pre-Baroque keyboard music, she is not bound by it: one of her most interesting recordings of the Concertante in D minor for piano, violin, cello, double-bass and orchestra by Cipriani Potter on cpo (with BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Howard Griffiths), a piece that examines, brilliantly, the well-known melody Les folies d’Espagna.
Schubert’s Piano Sonata in A minor, D 784, is not the most famous of his sonatas but it is remarkable piece, its first movement almost orchestral in demeanour. Rushdie gave the music space, which it needs to ‘speak’ fully. A gently rocking theme felt like a lullaby. The lead-in to the exposition repeat emerged as almost modern in Momen’s hands. Clarity and attack were superb throughout; the same could go for the central Andante (which did, though, feel more like an Adagio). It was the cat-and-mouse counterpoint of the finale that delighted, though, and there was a finely-honed sense of both contrast and Affekt here.
It was a nice idea to insert some of Momen's beloved Byrd into the mix, a Prelude in A minor and a Fantasia, also in A minor, nicely linking in key to Schubert’s A minor sonata. The Prelude is from Musica Britanica, Volume 27 No. 12. It is interesting to hear the work on different keyboards: Pieter-Jan Belder recorded it on both organ and harpsichord (two performances) as part of his survey of Byrd’s keyboard music on Brilliant Classics, but for those of us who revel in Bach on the piano (Argerich a formative influence here), hearing Byrd on the piano has a revelatory aspect all of its own. The clarity available (in the right hands) seems so perfect, and Rushdie brought us the trill-encrusted musical surface brilliantly, the counterpoint clear, lines ultra-even, articulation crisp. The Fantasia in A minor (T 466, MB 13) is a miracle of invention, and again it was the linear clarity that made it in Momen’s reading, alongside a willingness to let the music explore its territory. Moments of calm in a crazy world.
Schubert’s C minor Sonata is a huge ask, and the Wigmore Hall has heard many a fine pianist in this piece (Imogen Cooper and Elisabeth Leonskaja are the first two to mind). The most overtly dramatic of the final three of Schubert’s Sonatas , the C minor begins with a triple-time explosion. Momen’s reading was full of detail but always perfectly pitched, her left-hand semiquaves buzzing with energy; she also allowed for a rich bass, so vital to grounding Schubert’s harmonic explorations. Gesture was clearly important, too. Interestingly, in the context of the programme, the flourishes of the Adagio seemed to hearken back to the Byrd; but there was no doubt we were in late-Schubert territory: her every detail mattered, from the weight of octave staccato between hands to the importance of the middle voice. Sudden silences spoke volumes in the innocently named ‘Menuetto,’ while the Trio offered a remembered Ländler. Finally, a finale full of coiled tension and disquiet. There were again charged silences separating the ongoing dramatic statements. A wonderful performance.
One encore: from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, John Bull’s infinitely touching My Grief. Intriguingly, along with My Selfe, the two form a pair of ‘jigs,’ although given the title, My Grief could justifiably be called a jig in disguise.
There was an announcement at the beginning about malfunctioning electronics and hearing aid settings. It was possibly this issue that resulted in a lot of extra electronic sounds during the recital; a pity, as Momen’s playing is radiant. Mishka Rushdie Momen remains, as much as ever, a name to watch.
Momen's Hyperion disc Reformation is stunning, and is available at Amazon here.
