Bach and Bach's variations, Live at Lunch (Royal Opera House, 25.02.2022)

"West meets East and they reunite in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach" - that could be the subtitle of the Friday's recital at Linbury Foyer of the Royal Opera House. Every single "Live at Lunch" performance is unique and interesting because it always brings to the public something new or often less-known, opening another door to our cultural knowledge. This Friday, it was Gunel Mirzayeva (an Azerbaijan-born pianist) who showed, through her own Bach's variations and re-compositions, how the musical and cultural harmony between the West and the East can not only "exist", but also complement and enrich each other.

Gunel Mirzayeva, who is passionate about J.S. Bach since her childhood, started her concert with Bach's Partita n.6, to set up the tone and the reflective mood of her performance. She continued with Bach's Goldberg's variations and, at the end, she interpreted three of her own Bach Mugham compositions, in which she perfectly fused elements of Azerbaijani music into Bach's original compositions (Mugham is an Azerbaijani classical poetry and musical compositions). "Bach is like a sun and other composers are orbiting around him", she said, explaining her life-long admiration for Bach. Bach is always there, he's a "touch-stone" and - acknowledging this - one can take his music further and open it to another interpretation. Gunel Mirzayeva is also a thinker, and - as such - she's taking Bach's music more reflectively, so - where she feels that Bach's contemplative passages could be embellished and infused with eastern melodies, ornamentations and patterns, she very naturally does so. That inherently gives the Bach's more "regular" rhythm another - more passionate and emotional dimension.