The music — An Elegant Sufficiency

The primary reason for being in Lachen this weekend was to hear our dear friend Tra play a recital as part of the ongoing celebrations of Joachim Raff’s bicentenary. My Hero might blush but I will credit him anyway, as one of the leading experts on Raff’s life and work and as a result, it was important for us to be there.

I’ve shared this picture previously, of the green-shuttered building which now stands on the site of the composer’s birthplace and where there is now an extensive collection of archive material thanks to the Joachim Raff Gesellschaft.

Since we were last here, a really great installation has been placed on the corner, beneath the memorial plaque up there on the wall marking the significance of the location. Now, on Saturday morning, the market trader nearby had bundled his grey tarpaulin and stuffed it behind the silhouette of the great man, but as he was doing a brisk trade, I didn’t really feel it fair to ask him to come and remove it!

The text on the portrait silhouette tells Raff’s story:

You have probably never heard my name though I am one of the best known musicians and composers in the German speaking world. I was born and raised here in Lachen. The bells of the church in Lachen rang out just as my mother was giving birth to me – a sure sign that I was meant to become a musician. Even as a child I knew that one day people would read about me. And so it was. If you turn around you will see my monument right next to my present archive.

I could read at an early age, mastered Latin at eight and played the violin, organ and piano. As a musician I was self-taught to a large extent – and successfully so. With diligence and perseverance I managed to emerge from the shadow of the famous pianist and composer Franz Liszt, whose assistant I was for a time.

My great love for water has often imbued my compositions. Understandably so, since I grew up on the shores of the beautiful Obersee. Immerse yourself in my musical world!

Did you know?

When I heard that my idol Franz Liszt was giving a concert in Basel, I was in no doubt – I had to attend. But I didn’t have any travel money, so I set off on foot, despite the rain. When I got there, the concert was sold out. But luckily, Liszt had heard that I had walked all the way to Basel and gave me a seat in the concert hall – and thus my career in music began.

The tall triangular structure behind the portrait has a few buttons to press (the instruction suggests leaning on them with the elbow!) Doing so prompts a short extract of music to play - and there’s a brief explanation of the significance printed there by each button. Fabulous!

The overcast weather on Saturday morning didn’t enhance the photograph I took whilst my Hero was chatting to our friends and Raff people, Res and Severin, but shortly afterwards, a little ray of sunshine appeared and there was music!

Tra had arrived to spend the day preparing for her performance. Now, we’ve known each other for years but I’ve never really thought about what life on the road must be like for a professional concert pianist. How can they practice without a piano?

Tra answered my query in a Facebook post, showing the folding keyboard she travels with and on which she can practice when she doesn’t have access to a full size instrument. But clearly, there’s nothing like the real thing with a proper stool and so on. She was also using her electronic music with the bluetooth pedal page turn. Fascinating!

Whilst I continued to potter about, taking one or two photos,

including one of my Hero’s masterwork, of course, the finer details of the evening were being discussed.

So with a last snap of the doormat (!) my Hero and I left to go buy chocolate and drive over the pass and so on, leaving those with work to do in peace.

The recital that evening was a sell out! I overheard a member of the audience comment that a small Swiss town doesn’t often get to hear such an acclaimed artist.

The internationally extremely successful British-Vietnamese pianist Tra Nguyen already played as a soloist at the age of ten in the Grand Opera House in Hanoi. A short time later she presented herself with Mozart's Piano Concerto KV488. She later completed her studies in London (with Christopher Elton) and Moscow (with Lev Naumov). On Saturday, August 20, 2022, at 7:30 p.m., the celebrated pianist will give a piano recital at the Hotel Marina in Lachen.

The elected member of the Royal Academy of Music, London, is active on many important concert stages worldwide. So in London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and many other world cities. Major orchestras and conductors work with Tra Nguyen, such as the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Norrland Opera Symphony conducted by Kerry Stratton, Roland Kluttig and other well-known conductors and instrumental soloists. Her live performances, for example, on BBC Radio 3, Hong Kong Radio and Television 4, National Vietnam Television, Radio Swiss Classic and distribution on many other major international radio networks underline her international reputation.

Tra chose to perform a selection of Raff’s works from different stages of his life and her performance was electrifying. For sure, there were several in the audience for whom this music is familiar already, but the joy was that there were many people present for whom this was a new discovery. There was a queue to buy signed copies of her CD collections and there’s no doubt that Lachen took Tra to their hearts on Saturday evening.

Wonderful!

As we waited in the hotel lobby, the piano had already been brought down the stairs (by means of a small caterpillar-tracked vehicle!) and was in the process of being taken out into the van. Tra was leaving in the morning, flying back to London to prepare for another recording later this week, but feeling more relaxed and still in the post-recital glow, she joined us for a walk by the lake to catch up and destress.