Filed under: Reviews | Tags: Bach, Etude, Friends of Chamber Music, Mazurka, Murray Perahia, Scenes From Childhood
Any concert pianist who maintains the grueling schedule that Murray Perahia maintains gets tired. It truly is exhausting work. When Mr. Perahia walked out on stage Thursday night, October 8, at the Friends of Chamber Music concert, he did not seem his usual affable self. He was, of course, totally concentrating at that point, but throughout most of the concert he was also unsmiling. In many ways that doesn’t matter at all, but it did add to the impression that he was exhausted.
He began the program with J. S. Bach’s Partita Nr. 6 in E minor. The opening Toccata was very authoritative and full of majesty, and every voice of the three-part fugue could be clearly heard. Certainly, that is no surprise, as Perahia excels in Bach. It was, however, apparent that the microphone under the piano was for amplification purposes. The resulting sound was very disconcerting, and I have no idea who it was that decided the microphone was necessary to amplify the sound of a 9 foot Steinway, especially considering who was playing it. Gates Hall is not an enormous auditorium by any stretch. I have heard Rubenstein, Horowitz, Gilels, Richter, and many other great pianists of Murray Perahia’s ilk, in the main auditorium at Indiana University which seats 3,700 people. Never was the piano amplified, because to do so distorts the sound even slightly. Perahia is such a gifted artist, and so carefully controls the sound that comes out of the piano, and is capable of great volume and the softest pianissimo, that it is almost an insult to “mic” the piano. And while we’re on the subject of the piano, this piano needed to be voiced. It was mellow in some areas, and too bright in others. I don’t know if this piano was brought in to the auditorium especially for Perahia, or if it was a piano that DU owns. But it is the responsibility of the Friends of Chamber Music to provide the best possible instrument and have it prepared in the best possible way.
The phrasing in the Allemande which follows the opening Toccata was absolutely beautiful. In the Corrente and Air, however, even though they were both done with great beauty and authority, there were a few passages which were not as articulate and precise as one would hope. I truly think that this was because Perahia was tired. As I mentioned above, he has a grueling schedule. I would hope that the slight blurring of the notes was due to exhaustion and not the recurring problem with his right hand. The rest of the Bach was absolutely beautiful. The Gigue which ends this Partita was so masterfully done that the inversion of the fugue subject that begins the second half was readily heard.
The second work on the program was Beethoven’s magnificent piano Sonata in E major, Opus 109. The opening movement is not of great technical difficulty, but the first thing to note is that Beethoven only provides eight measures in which to establish the vivace tempo that heads the movement. After that opening of eight measures, Beethoven has marked adagio espressivo. The remainder of the movement makes use of both of these slow and fast tempi. Pianists who have launched a genuinely perspicacious inquiry into this movement have seen, number one, that there is an aliquot ratio between the two tempi and, number two, that there is absolutely nothing like this in Beethoven’s entire output. Beethoven’s genius is thus spread out before us, the audience, and the performer, and in so many ways has proven himself, not only because of his deafness, but by force of his creativity, an iconoclast. Perahia’s approach was to make this first movement ethereal and it was wonderful. The second movement which begins with out a pause was equally sensational. The last movement, a theme and variations, was begun by Perahia with such a marvelously singing tone that one wondered how he could maintain it throughout the movement, but of course, he did. But again, either his exhaustion or his right hand thumb caused slight problems in Variation Three where the notes of the octaves did not come down together. I am sure that people in the audience who were not musicians, but also not pianists, would never have noticed this. And you must understand that when I make a criticism such as this, I am criticizing at the very high level. The last variation of this final movement is, in some ways, similar to the final movement of Beethoven’s last piano sonata, the Opus 111, because it also almost dissolves away into trills. In preface to these trills, Beethoven gradually adds more notes to every beat (as he does in Opus 111) just before the trills so that the connection is seamless. Perahia’s performance of this piece was magnificent.
After the intermission, Mr. Perahia performed Robert Schumann’s Scenes From Childhood, Opus 15. It was masterfully done even though I personally thought the very first “scene” was done a little fast. Throughout, Perahia showed his love for Schumann in such a way that it was as if he was imagining his own childhood. Particularly effective was A Child Falling to Sleep, which almost brought tears to one’s eyes. Perahia is a master of dynamics and tone production, and in Schumann’s composition of 1838, he demonstrated his artistry to the extreme.
Perahia ended the program with five works by Chopin. He began these selections with the Étude Opus 25, Nr. 1, in A Flat Major. This particular étude is not overly difficult, but once again there was a slight mis-articulation in one spot. The following three mazurkas were superbly done, and they are difficult. Many performers make the mazurkas sound like waltzes which they certainly are not, even though they share the same 3/4 time signature. Perahia then performed the Scherzo in E Major, Opus 54. Unfortunately, it was in this work, which was wonderfully performed, where Perahia sounded truly exhausted. I say this with all sympathy, and with the knowledge that he is one of the great pianists of our time. He closed the program with three encores, beginning with the Brahms Intermezzo, Opus 119, Nr. 3. This intermezzo is genuinely difficult because the melody is in the right hand thumb and second finger, while the third and fifth fingers played a chordal accompaniment. Perahia did it beautifully. He followed this with a Chopin nocturne, and then finished with the Chopin étude, known as the Winter Wind. It was absolutely flawless, and there was no indication of being tired.
I am quite sure that everyone in the hall felt privileged to have heard Murray Perahia perform. I certainly did, and there is always something to learn, let alone appreciate, in a performance of this caliber.
Filed under: Reviews | Tags: Brahms, Devin Hughes, Dvorak, Gomez-Guillen, Niwot, Op. 77, Op. 88, Rebekah Durham, Timberline
The Niwot Timberline Symphony gave its second performance Saturday, October 3. This orchestra has improved a great deal since last year. They play more in tune and they play with considerably more spirit than they did last year. This is a relatively new orchestra and in some ways they are still suffering growing pains, though they do have the leadership of Devin Patrick Hughes as their Music Director and Conductor. He is an excellent conductor, and it is his demands upon the orchestra that have slowly but surely given this volunteer group new life. He also has the aid of a new Associate Conductor, Julian Alejandro Gomez-Guillen, who, in addition to that duty, was concertmaster at this performance. He seems to be very strong and exerts a positive effect on the orchestra.
The program Saturday night included the Overture to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s famous musical, Jesus Christ, Superstar, Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D Major, Opus 77, and Dvorak’s Symphony Nr. 8, Opus 88.
The Overture to Jesus Christ, Superstar, was “conducted” by a local woman, Rockin’ Robin Abb, who owns a local used clothing store and is apparently the emcee of a popular summer concert series which centers around pop and rock. According to the program notes, it has been a lifelong ambition of hers to conduct the overture to this musical. I sincerely appeal to the Board of Directors of the Niwot Symphony to investigate what their guest “conductor” may have in mind before they are allowed on stage. I have never seen such behavior on stage at any symphony concert, and if the Niwot Symphony board thought that her performance would attract a larger audience, they were perhaps correct, but it does make one wonder just what type of individual they wanted in the audience. Ms. Abb pranced out on stage dressed in a tux with tails and promptly lifted the tails and swung her bottom to the audience and shouted, “Are you ready to rock?” She then stripped off her tux jacket to reveal a halter top covered with gold sequins, while strutting back and forth in front of the audience. She finally got to the podium, where she cued the orchestra with the entire upper half of her body beating up and down with it as if she were playing an air guitar. As the music began, she went over to the bass player and drummer, and conducted them with extremely violent body movements that one associates with typical rock and roll performances which require no thought about the music involved. And indeed, it was all about her. It seemed abundantly clear that as long as she was the “star,” all else was secondary.
I can guarantee you that the Timberline Symphony conductor, Devin Hughes was surprised – keep in mind that he was not on stage at the time, but observing from the wings. I also hope that the Timberline Symphony Board of Directors was surprised, for they made a serious mistake aesthetically. If this was their attempt to increase the audience size, then they have truly “stooped to sell.” Any dignity associated with serious music was lost. I am certainly not criticizing their programming Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music. But how many young people in the audience will now associate and look forward to these kinds of antics the next time they go to a concert that is not a rock concert. The Orchestra Board made a serious error in judgment which, hopefully, will not be repeated. Most of the orchestra members seemed stricken with surprise.
In 1878, Brahms composed his only violin concerto and dedicated it to the great violinist Joseph Joachim whom he had met when he was only 15 years of age. Joachim, two years older than Brahms, became a lifelong friend. There is no question that Brahms asked Joachim for his opinion while he was composing this concerto, but let us not forget that Brahms was his own man. While he certainly respected Joachim’s input, this work shows Brahms to be the virtuoso composer that we know him to be. Yes, this was the only violin concerto that he wrote, and it shows the influence of Beethoven, Viotti, even Bach and Joachim, but these two men were good friends, and a collaboration was natural. It should be noted that Brahms also respected Joachim for his own compositional ability. Brahms, out of deference to Joachim’s ability as a total musician, wrote no cadenza for the first movement, leaving Joachim to provide one. With Brahms conducting on the podium, it was Joachim who delivered the premiere of the work for his friend and colleague in Leipzig on New Year’s Day of 1879.
The Niwot Timberline Symphony chose the remarkable Rebekah Durham to perform this concerto. Ms. Durham began her study of the violin at age four in her home state of Texas, but she is no stranger to Colorado. She received her Bachelor of Music in Performance magna cum laude from the University of Denver where she studied with Professor Linda Wang. She also received her artist diploma in 2009. She has performed throughout the United States, Europe, South America, and Japan. In Colorado, she has performed with the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lamont Symphony, and the National Repertory Orchestra. She is now a graduate student at The Juilliard School in New York City.
I have heard Rebekah Durham several times now, and she is an extremely secure performer whose warmth of tone and truly dazzling technique are astonishing in every sense of the word. In her twenty-three years, she has become an incredibly mature musician able to interpret a wide range of literature with great ease. In the first movement of the Brahms, she began with tremendous energy and drive, and one could easily see how concentrated she was on playing every single note. This kind of concentration, where she let absolutely nothing distract her from making the most beautiful music, I think, is very rare in one so young. In addition, her playing evokes strong emotions from those who hear it, because she has the musical maturity to see what the composer, in this case Brahms, wants. And, she has the technique to demonstrate that maturity. In the first movement of this concerto, after the cadenza, there is a bridge section that is relatively slow in tempo before Brahms brings back the main theme to end the movement. This bridge section is perhaps 30 measures long, and I have never heard it done so beautifully. I do not know what kind of a violin she has, but it is one that certainly suits her playing ability and the demands that she makes upon it. It has a full rich sound with absolutely incredible volume, and with her deftness of technique, she can turn that fullness into the most incredibly sweet sound I have heard from a violin or violinist. The second movement was serenity itself. Her passionate lyricism showed the audience there was still so much for us to learn and hear in this concerto after all these years. The third movement, a Hungarian dance, was a burst of joy with no feeling of being safe from the technical difficulties. The tempos were very good, and the double stops were absolutely remarkable, always on pitch and with incredible tone. It is certainly time for Ms. Durham to find an agent.
Everyone knows the name of Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904), but I still think he is one of the most underrated composers that are so well known. Everyone knows his Symphony Nr. 9 which was written in the United States, in Spillville, Iowa, when he was in this country as the director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York City. His Eighth Symphony, which was the final piece on this program, is certainly one of his most beautiful and one of his most cheerful. The first movement opens with low strings and woodwinds in a minor key, but soon after the opening, the flute solo begins and changes the key to G major which is maintained throughout the remainder of the movement. There are five major themes in this first movement, and their fragments are heard throughout, sometimes competing with each other, but eventually the English horn returns the theme once played by the flute. The second movement also opens in a minor key, which again is changed to major with the help of the flutes against a very delicate accompaniment throughout the orchestra. The violin then picks up the melody strongly reminiscent of a Bohemian folk tune. The third movement, an allegretto, begins in a minor key as well, and its main theme is borrowed from an earlier opera that Dvorak wrote called, “The Pig Headed Peasant.” There is much rhythmic interest in this movement because the woodwinds are playing two beats per measure while the strings are playing three beats per measure. This is a wonderful movement which ends very, very quietly. The fourth movement is a wonderful theme with seven variations that begins with a trumpet fanfare. Fanfares and the timpani lead the cellos into the main theme. This wonderful Symphony had its premiere in Prague on February 2, 1890.
The Brahms Concerto and the Dvorak Symphony made this program very worthwhile. It truly was the best performance that I have heard from the Niwot Timberline Symphony. There were moments when the strings and horns were out of tune, and when the timpani were just being pounded instead of making music. But this orchestra, under the direction of Devin Hughes, has come a long way. Mr. Hughes is a fine musician and is certainly capable of getting much out of this orchestra. He proved beyond a doubt that he knows what Brahms and Dvorak are made of, and he draws a wonderful vigorousness and excitement from everyone in front of him. It is contagious.
