Music Review; Pianist Matsuev's debut with Pittsburgh Symphony concludes the Rachmaninoff Festival

Music Review; Pianist Matsuev's debut with Pittsburgh Symphony concludes the Rachmaninoff Festival

by Shuo Zhang

I was once convinced that live performance in classical music can never be as perfect as the recording. As time passing by, I was proved wrong by some soloists in concerts but remained partially skeptical about whether I was really wrong. Last night at Heinz Hall, pianist Denis Matsuev, playing Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto no.3 with conductor Slatkin, delivered such an glittering performance that once again proved I was indeed wrong.

As the last part of the concert series of the Rachmaninoff Festival, the concert last night contained some of Rachmaninoff's best known works--including the beautiful and sorrow song the Vocalise (which is dedicated by Slatkin to the three police officers killed last week), Symphonic Dances, and the wildly popular Piano Concerto No.3.

The two symphonic pieces in the first half shows the orchestra's ability to paint diverse colors on the canvas of music. Comparing to the much softer and soul-touching whispering timbre of the Vocalise, Slatkin interprets the Symphonic Dances by contrasting three kinds of different moods: one soft and light-hearted, one dynamic, delivered at the top volume of the full orchestra, and finally one lyrical, at the same time full of the sentiment heard on the strings played using the entire portion of their bow. Such sentiment is especially strong when the borrowed theme from Rachmaninoff's own Symphony No.3 appears, here in a different harmonic configuration. Meanwhile, the various percussions used in the third movement, including the xylophone, triangle, snare drum, tambourine, cymbals, tubular bells, and the gong.

A Russian virtuoso pianist, Denis Matsuev is well known for his Rachmaninoff and his works in collaboration with the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation. The most notable of his Rachmaninoff No.3 last night is that he seems to conquer this massive and extremely technical demanding piece rather effortlessly, while the performance turned out to be perfectly accurate and affectionate.

It also turns out that Matsuev makes effective use of body language in corresponding to the contrast in music, seen in the calm, almost motionless upper body of the opening theme (and many reappearance) in the first movement, and the fierce, dramatic movement of the notorisouly long Cadenza passage, which in this unusual case was set to the Development section in the first movement by Rachmaninoff. In this latter case, seeing the movement of the hands on top of listening to the music is absolutely another level of shock by the dazzling techniques of this piece.

Slatkin, on the other hand, successfully blends the color of the orchestra with the piano with careful design. There are parts where the orchestra overshadowed the piano in volume even when there is much going on to keep the pianist's hands busy, showing the coordinated collaboration between the two （instead of piano dominating all the time).

The program repeat on Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 P.M.

CD Review; Alsop conducts Brahms with London Symphony Orchestra

by Shuo Zhang

Featuring Brahms Symphony No.1, this is one of the first CDs of Marin Alsop conducting more "mainstream" canonical classical works released by Naxos. As one of the few female conductors who successfully secured tenure in the top orchestras in the world today, Alsop has been very well received for her Naxos CDs with the interpretation on American symphonic works as well as other lesser well known compositions. Marching into the realm of Brahms, Alsop proved once again her interpretational power with a variety of repertoires.

In one of her interviews upon the release of the CD, Alsop expressed her affinity to the music of Brahms, one of the composers she feels close to her heart.

The Symphony no.1 has a special place in Brahms' works. It is well known that he worked for over ten years before he finally completed it and premiered. (The audience must have given up on hearing his symphony ever, so imagine what they were like when they hear the introduction of the first movement!--taken from Alsop interview) In any case, it is also known as a work looking up to the Beethoven's symphonies, which Brahms admired so much, and to prove wrong the statement of Richard Wagner that no pure instrumental symphonies could possibly be any valuable after Beethoven's ninth.

The overall impression of Alsop's interpretation of Brahms no.1 is her balance and pace--which she indeed intended to deliver (she called at "balance and proportion") and did a good job. The symphony is big and grand--a huge structure, but Alsop's conducting does not feel like it is excessively heavy, and the pace was perfect in forming a natural flow in the unfolding of the structure.

The opening of the first movement is handled with considerable sensitivity on top of the darker color, manifesting the chromatic theme which reappears once and once again throughout the entire four movements. The struggle between the fierce and the calming themes is full of contrast.

Comparing to the long first and last movement, the brief second and third movement were casted a lighter yet sorrow mood. This is in contrast to some other conductors who assign more gravity and dramatic dynamic change to these two movements. It also prepares well for the coming of the fourth movement--an overall design of balance.

The fourth movement hears the triumph of the brighter themes upon various repeat use of the alphorn melody that Brahms originally sent to Clara Schmann on her birthday. The contrast use of this melody is distinctively heard in brass, immediately followed by the flute (and also by the flute later), which signifies a shift to a more triumphant ending of the symphony.

Ms.Alsop is looking at possibly another cycle of standard repertoire with Naxos while continuing her journey with the American composers and less known works in the near future.

DVD Review; Salzburger Festspiele 2002 Turandot

The debate of whether music should take precedence in an opera has been around for centuries: as the German musicologist Hanslick wrote in the 19th century, that if Mozart wrote an opera, it would be a good opera even if the libretto is really dull. Well, many modern stage directors proved, at least, that opera is not all about music. The newly released DVD of Puccini's Turandot, recorded at the Grosses Festpielhaus in Salzburg in 2002, directed by David Pountney, once again remind us the truth in this statement.

Turandot--an ancient Chinese story appeared in the well known Persian fairy tale collection "One thousand and one night" (a.k.a "The Arabian Nights"), tells the story of a prince who fell in love with the princess Turandot but had to solve her three riddles in order to survive and marry her. Set in the remote past, it reflects the kind of prototype Chinese story as it is imagined by the Westerners--which certainly loans itself to much different interpretations.

Pountney's direction highlights the queer and nightmarish atmosphere of the world where the story took place--an imagined world filled with ghost-like masks and giant robots in the form of a Chinese man controlled by the solders. Almost every one on stage is armed with terrible murder weapons, and the arms of the three ministers Ping, Pong and Pang are replaced by the instruments of torture. Turandot--the princess--always appears behind a giant mask and is standing in a height that is closer to heaven than to the earth.

The concept of this design, turns out, comes from an artistic perspective of the "fear of civilization" that Puccini took up in the 20s and 30s, namely, the fear that the fatal combination of rapid technological progress, which is gradually spinning out of control, and inhuman political systems pose a fundamental threat to all human values. In this context, the freedom and the existence of the individual appear to be constantly threatened by a soulless, robot-like administration. This conflict, in this particular production, however, is seen to be resolved in the last Act with a happy ending, when everyone returns to the normal human form.

In general, although the story is set in this kind of imagined world, Pountney did make reference to the Chineseness of the opera by occasionally setting stage backdrops in a Chinese painting and excessively using the color of red, which symbolizes the presence of China.

The music of this production by Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Valery Gergiev is effective. While what happened on stage does need a little attention to comprehend, the music did not fade out as unimportant--rather, the two actually blended really well in a somehow bizarre way.

CD REVIEW;TWO INTERPRETATIONS OF HANDEL MESSIAH ON NAXOS AND DHM

CD REVIEW; TWO INTERPRETATIONS OF HANDEL MESSIAH ON NAXOS AND DHM

by Shuo Zhang

Although originally composed within 24 days, Handel's Messiah has enjoyed its popularity in performance in the past few hundred years and also in recordings in the past few decades. Recently, when the two new recordings of Messiah, released by Naxos and DHM came out, the inevitable question appeared to be, "what is special about them and do we need two more recordings of the Messiah?"

As I immersed myself in the two CDs for the whole evening, it becomes clear that the two interpretations adopt radically different approaches to the work, each gives it something new in the contemporary context, while both root themselves on a historically informed performance.

In contrast to Bach, who was considered old school and remained largely unknown in his time, Handel enjoyed a flourishing "international" career with his new musical styles. Messiah, a rather atypical work of Handel--as it is almost exclusively concerned with prophecy and meditation-- on the other hand, among all of his works, received much opposition in its early days due to many people's disapproval of biblical words being sung in a common theatre, where most of Handel's oratorios were performed.

The fact that Handel did continue to revise his manuscript for the Messiah after the first 24 days to suit different occasions and performers results in the many surviving versions of the work, also giving rise to the different possible interpretations heard today.

In this respect, the DHM recording of Messiah, featuring Nikolaus Harnoncourt as the Music Director, includes in the program notes a "comments on this performance" by Harnoncourt, in which he traced the many renditions of the current recording to the result of the a careful study of the Handel's manuscripts while taking into account the difference in versions.

The Naxos recording, on the other hand, gives a strong reason why we should listen to this CD--as it claims to provide the only modern account of Handel's unique London performances in April and May 1751, when he used treble voices for choruses and arias.

Why is this important, that we want to hear this 1751 version? Well, turns out, that the configuration of different voice settings do make a big difference in these two recordings, and one may have a unforgettable experience listening to the loft voices of the all-male singing in the 1751 version, as reproduced by the Academy of Ancient Music and Choir of New College Oxford under the direction of Edward Higginbottom in this recording.

As all other "regular" arrangements, the Harnoncourt Messiah features all voices, with the all-star soloists Schafer as soprano, Larsson as alto, Schade as tenor, and Finley as bass. Despite the early instruments, the use of a larger instrumental ensemble, with its acoustics similar to modern day symphony orchestra, coupled with the four soloists, gives the work a fuller sound that I find more relatable as of today.

The Higginbottom version of the 1751 manuscript, on the other hand, gives a distinctively "early music" sound with its all-male choir (many of which are boys), male countertenor and tenor and bass, as well as three boys on the treble voice, and the use of lighter instrumental ensemble of Renaissance and Baroque style. It reminds one of the different aesthetics of musical sounds projected by a early music ensemble and a modern day symphony orchestra.

In general, the treble voices produced by young boys are comparable to the voice range of that of a soprano, while the countertenor, an adult male with a incredibly high voice range than average, often act as the counterpart of a female alto. Different than one may assumed, however, in this case, Handel did not simply substitute the two female voices with the two male ones, instead he made radically different arrangements for many arias with the countertenor and the treble voices in place of all sorts of voice settings in other manuscripts, such as tenor, giving the entire work a new design in terms of voice.

The tone color delivered by the two versions are also different, with the 1751 version distinctively having a more unified and clean tone, as comparing to the more diverse blend of the SATB in the Harnoncourt version. This is also reflected in the instrumental music heard in the two CDs: while the former has a more clean, unified color, the latter, a bigger orchestra, seemed to be more sensitive to deliver the change of color in the different mood of the music.

One other unexpected character of the 1751 version in the Naxos CD turned out to be the clear diction of the words by the treble voice boys, whereas the soprano in the DHM CD singing the same passage is harder to understand. On the boys part, whether this is intended or not is hard to say, but I have indeed met church choir directors who emphasize the significance of diction over music for the religious purposes---music must not cover the words as delivered in the Bible.

All being said, it is interesting to note that Handel's Messiah is not, in the accepted sense, a sacred work, despite of its subject and text. Once being called a "fine entertainment", which Handel himself was not exactly happy about, Messiah is indeed a probably too beautiful a musical work that even it is played in church, it tends to diverge people away from the worship aspect and inclined to just enjoy the music, especially when they encounter fresh interpretations such as these.

Music Review; Pianist Osorio Interprets Brahms Piano Concerto with Honeck in Heinz Hall

Music Review; Pianist Osorio Interprets Brahms Piano Concerto with Honeck in Heinz Hall

by Shuo Zhang

If you would like to attend a concert once in a while just to hear the less well known classical music and find them equally charming from the beginning to the end, this is the one for you. Last Friday, pianist Osorio joins Manfred Honeck with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in a concert that features Brahms' Piano Concerto No.1 and Dvorak's Symphony No.8.

Brahms published his first Symphony at the age of 43 after years of revising the work. The piano concerto No.1, on the other hand, is one of his earlier works, and also one of those works to be rearranged and revised for different instrumentation from time to time, just like his Piano Quintet No.34, a forceful work with strange charm, which has a history of also being a string quintet and a piano duo. In the case of Concerto No.1, it was originally composed as a piano duo, and has been called by some as the "symphony with piano".

It is indeed a piano concerto that is big in every sense, and under Honeck's interpretation, the somehow unsettling first theme of the first movement reminds one of the strength heard in the famous Violin Concerto in D major, a most commonly performed piece of Brahms.

Mr.Orsorio, on the other hand, contrasts the massiveness of parts of the music with his delicate playing in some other passages, giving the music a fuller range of color. Known for his recordings of Brhams, Osorio is indeed one of those less well known but equally charming and masterful pianist.

A strong Bohemian flavor and the rural fresh air hit the audience in Heinz Hall in the second half of the concert with the coming of Dvorak's Symphony No.8, another equally charming work after the celebrated No.9. This symphony, often labeled as "Pastoral" following Beethoven's No.6, is also considered as having a hint of improvisational style that resembles a symphony poem.

The symphony captured the flow and contrast of the symphony, and depicts a vivid scene of bird singing and possibly some kind of rural religious ceremony in the third movement. The last movement was marked by the distinctive sound of the brass section, casting a remarkable liveliness to the finale.

The concert repeats on Saturday at 8:00pm.

DVD review:Christa Ludwig "Die Winterreise" and Lieder Recital Birthday Edition

This DVD set, released by Arthaus Musik in 2008, is a special edition in celebration of Christa Ludwig's 80th birthday. As the world renowned mezzo-soprano, Christa Ludwig has played numerous leading roles in major productions of European and American opera scenes since her debut in as Orlovsky at Frankfurt in 1946. Throughout her career, she has collaborated with and been favored by such world class conductors such as Klemperer, Levine, Solti, Bohm, karajan, and Bernstein.

Two DVDs are included in this birthday edition, both from private lieder recitals dating back to 1994, accompanied by pianist Charles Spencer. The first program features Schubert's song cycle "Winterreise", a work intended for tenor and piano, at the same time a portray of a man's lonely journey in the dark winter after he discovered his beloved fell in love with someone else.

A lieder cycle used to be considered not appropriate for female singers, Ludwig was the second female singer, after Lotte Lehmann, to give a concert hall performance of Winterreise in 1994. Back in 1986, DG released a new recording of the "Winterreise" performed by Christa Ludwig with piano accompaniment by James Levine. As the first female singer's recording of "Winterreise" to be released by a major label at that time, Ludwig's performance was reviewed as made one aware of "advantages accruing to a female interpreter".

Twenty-two years later, the current DVD release still includes in the programme notes an interview with Ludwig on her justification of performing the song cycle. "I still maintain that this is the winter's journey of a soul and not that of a man or a woman", said Christa in the interview.

Originally written for higher register, as a custom for mezzo, the songs were transposed to fit the natural vocal range of Ludwig, giving the full display of her mature and warm voice. It also turns out that her lower and powerful voice does a even better job depicting the gloomy darkness of the winter as compared to a tenor voice.

The story of "Die Winterreise" is less narrative than is a collection of emotion, from desperate to loneliness, solitude to fear, and courage to hope, which Ludwig portrayed by her changing voice as well as her moderate use of body language and facial expression. Mr. Spencer's responsive playing is highly effective in setting the tone for the music, ranging from "Frozen Tears" and "Spring Dreams"

to the vivid imitation of the sorrow hurdy-gurdy in "Der Leiermann".

The second program, "Lieder Recital" announces its lighter mood by setting the backdrop less dark and lighting brighter. The repertoire of this recital, featuring lieder by Franz Schubert, Hugo Wolf, Gustav Mahler, Leonard Bernstein, and Richard Strauss, is designed as a contrast to the darkness of the "Winterreise". Besides the most well known works of Schubert such as "Die Forelle" (the Trout) and "Der Tod und das Madchen" (The Death and the Maiden), there are lighted-hearted works especially toward the second half, including Bernstein's "I Hate Music--A Cycle of Five Kid Songs", and Wolf's "The Gardener" and "How far already".

The recital reached its most humorous and delightful moment when Ludwig performs Bernstein's celebrated "I Hate Music" song cycle, the only non-German song cycle in the entire program. Both performers gave a heart warming portrait of the childish character.

Also included in the DVD set is a selection of Master Classes with Christa Ludwig on the stage of Vienna’s Volkstheater in 1999.

King's Noyse Celebrates R&B 40th Birthday

Olde, Newe, Borrow'd, Blue--if this makes you think you're at an old English wedding, you'd probably not be surprised to come in and hear some old Irish tunes. Well, if you didn't happen to see a violin that is played rested on someone's left arm and a lute that has a bent neck.

Relax, now, this is not some kind of avant-guard innovations--on the contrary, these are old fashions. Last Saturday, a group of eager audiences--some of whom may not know what they are expecting--spent their two evening hours in the intimate space of Synod Hall in Oakland, being surprised, amazed, and pleased at a special concert of the Renaissance & Baroque Society's 40th anniversary.

One of the most celebrated early music groups in the country, King's Noyse is indeed an all-star band. Founded by David Douglass in 1988, the group mostly performs violin consort repertoires from 16th and 17th century, with its members among the leading musicians in their fields, such as Robert Mealy and Shira Kammen. Their Saturday concert was joined by the world renowned lute player Paul O'Dette and vocalist Ellen Hargis.

Dividing the concert program into four parts with the title "Olde, Newe, Borrow'd, Blue" may sound corny but at the same time the repertoire turns out to be incredibly creative and refreshing, presenting a wide variety of different musical styles. Many were especially entertained by the last part, "Blue", which features arrangements of modern great hits, such as Gershwin's "Summertime", Beatles' "Michele", and Thelonius Monk's "'Round Midnight'.

The whole concert was elaborately designed in terms of instrumentation, alternating among ensemble playing to solo vocal accompanied by the lute.

Many audience new to King's Noyse were particularly impressed by the authentic instruments they play on. The violins, played rested on the arm instead of the shoulder, delivers a very soft but clean sound, sometimes with rich timbre variation and little vibrato. The deep sound of the bass violin reminds one of the excellent acoustics in the Synod Hall. Frequently, O'Dette had to play louder to maintain the balance with the fiddles, due to the soft volume of the lute.

Hargis demonstrated her versatility with the traditional voice of "Barbara Allen", more modern voice of Monk's "'Round Midnight", and the expressive narrating voice in the lively piece "The Battel".

I am amazed by the power of a five-people string ensemble like King's Noyse to deliver radically different sounds. There is the smooth flow of the Renaissance sound; there are also the vivid sounds depicting scenes in a battle, such as "March of the horseman", "Bagpipe and Drone", and "Burying the Dead"; in Leonard Berstein's "Some Other Time", one hears the sound comparable to a string orchestra. Needless to say, Mr.Douglass's arrangement and improvisational creations for the violin band is no doubt glittering from the beginning to the end.

May the Pittsburgh audience continues to find the music from R&B surprising, amazing, and pleasing in their 50th,60th, and 70th anniversary.

Silk screen meets Blue Pipa in Pittsburgh

MUSIC REVIEW; Silk Screen meets Blue Pipa in Pittsburgh

by Shuo Zhang

10/03/08

 

Pittsburgh has been blessed by the music of pipa—an ancient Chinese lute, since the ‘Music on the Edge’ project presented a concert featuring collaboration between Pitt composition professor Eric Moe and pipa soloist Wu Man in 2005.  Three years later, last Saturday night, at the opening concert of Silk Screen Film Festive 2009, another pipa virtuoso, Min Xiao-Fen, brought her Blue Pipa to the curious audiences in the packed concert hall of Pittsburgh CAPA High School.

 

Min, an internationally acclaimed pipa soloist and composer, moved to the United States in 1992 from China, where she has established herself as an accomplished musician. She has since worked with numerous prominent composers, including Carl Stone, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Philip Glass, and Tan Dun, among others, to perform pipa music ranging from traditional Chinese to Western classical and jazz. A featured jazz artist at Lincoln Center for the Arts, New York City, Min founded the Blue Pipa Trio in 2003, whose current member also includes guitarist Steve Salerno and bassist Dean Johnson.

 

Their Saturday performance was the most inspiring in the unfolding of the music throughout the concert, which reminds one of the ancient Chinese philosophy of Tai-Chi—a process moving between the two poles of “yin” and “yang”, rest and motion.

 

Starting from “lyrical” style traditional repertoire for solo pipa, the first half of the concert culminated when the sound from battlefields of ancient China swept the concert hall with the “martial” style piece “Shi Mian Mai Fu” (Ambush from All Sides). A piece called by New York Times music critic Allan Kozinn as “energetic, rolled strumming similar to the technique guitarists call rasgueado; rapid solo figuration; and clear-textured counterpoint”, Min, with her virtuoso mastery of the complicated right-hand skills, demonstrated the power of a relatively small instrument over the large space of the concert hall. It may come as more astonishing than what Franz Liszt did to show the power of piano as comparable to a symphony orchestra back in the 19^th century, considering the size of the instrument.

 

The last piece before the intermission, Written On the Wind, a commissioned piece by New York based Chinese composer Huang Ruo, presents an experimental approach that combines vocal and pipa, both played by Min, with the two unfolding in a linear fashion rather than vertically structured.  Interestingly, the lyrics for the vocal part in this piece are not in any language in existence—rather, they are non-sense syllabus, supposed to be “personal words, feelings, stories”, “that meant to kept to her [the performer] own”. A not uncommon design seen in modern Western compositions, Min’s presentation was full of contrast and affection, on top of which a special flavor cast both musically and phonetically, showing her background in Mandarin Chinese oral delivery.

 

 

The second half featured the whole crew of Blue Pipa Trio performing their most classic pieces such as “Chinese Take-out”, “Red Haired boy Dancing with Golden Snake”, and “Fortune Cookie”. The concert reached its climax when the trio played the last piece, “Fascinating New Year”, another work that features Min’s singing. As a matter of fact, there is more than singing—but really was singing and dancing and mumbling—the voice, the bodily motion, and the instruments all came together to the most exciting state, just as the audience were heated up to the top of their fervor.  

 

As a trend, the collaboration among Chinese instrumentalists and jazz musicians has been proved to be fruitful in the States in recent years, in which a Chinese instrument usually leads with a Chinese flavored melody and other Western instruments follow and explore with their potentiality where the music is going. I have heard American audiences speaking of it as “inspiring” and “most refreshing”, and the Blue Pipa is no exception.  Throughout each piece, the potential of all three instruments are fully explored and the exposition of their individual parts by Salerno and Johnson are proved to be full of inspiration.

 

Overall, the Chineseness and the spirit of jazz gave the music a fresh liveliness. Although one might argue that there can be more variety for Blue Pipa Trio in terms of timbre—indeed, the tone quality of three plucked stringed instruments may run the risk of sounding homogenous. On the other hand, Min’s vocal performance and some of the double bass part played by Johnson using the bow do add to the diverse layers of the music’s tone color.

 

“I needed a harmonic instrument that can provide the chords for my music”, said Min in an after-concert discussion about her thoughts on the instrumentation. “But piano is definitely not the one that I’m looking for. It has to go well with the flavor and timbre of pipa”.

 

 

Mr. Shuo Zhang is a Ph.D student of Music at University of Pittsburgh.