Joep Beving : Hermetism

Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide, 18 July 2024

“Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” That’s how one feels in reviewing Dutch minimalist pianist Joep Beving, who is obviously a very nice guy, but his work is alarmingly redolent of the kind of records Windham Hill put out in the 1980s.

We were told: “Beving’s latest endeavor, Hermetism, released in 2022, marks a return to solo piano, inspired by the ancient spiritual philosophy of Hermeticism. Through this project, Beving invites listeners into a meditative exploration of music’s ability to reflect the universal laws of nature and the interconnectedness of existence.” Rest assured we’re not being introduced to the St Anthony-kind of hermitism; rather, on a very dimly-lit stage (initially, a weak lamp only was directed at the piano keys) that was intermittently bathed in glaring light (see below), where the pianist, his back to the audience, was at times almost invisible, playing a number of noodling, dark, impressionistic and – dread word – mellow piano pieces, with a very basic structure, a simple tone accompanied by a guide one to form kinds of repetitive chords. The effect was pleasant enough, and represented an interesting departure from the standard piano recital format, but alas, tending to the soporific.

Beving’s latest endeavor, Hermetism, released in 2022, was ‘meditative’ and ‘immersive’, to use rather overworked terms, and smacked of highly competent film scores.  In a recent interview with Edmund Black for In Review*, Beving remarked: “I wanted to go back to an era in which I thought things were looking more optimistic, so that’s kind of how the more romantic, fin-de-siècle vibe got into the album.” We liked “For Mark,” the therapeutic mood of “Pax,” and “Sleeping Lotus,” this last dedicated to his daughter, which came alive in the use of highly percussive notes.

Hermetism was pleasant but The Varnished Culture prefers Martha Argerich, Vladimir Horowitz, Artur Rubinstein or Sergey Rachmaninov, playing less ‘wandering’ pieces, thanks.

[* https://inreview.com.au/inreview/music/2024/07/11/a-piano-recital-like-no-other/]