After eating at Palomino on Saturday night (the food was excellent - I could have drunk the Champagne Beurre Blanc sauce that came on my risotto out of a glass, it was so good, as were the scallops they came with), I went to a concert at the Minnesota Orchestra as part of the Viennese Somerfest (or Sommerfest as they've started calling it the last couple years, I guess). We heard the Grieg Piano Concerto (along with a piece by Verdi and the Tchaikovsky Fourth Symphony). I love the Grieg - I used to play the 3rd movement all the time (and indeed, pulled out my music and played parts of the Concerto on Sunday afternoon). I have a really hard time with concerts - when I'm sitting in the audience, I want to be up there playing. When I'm up in the orchestra playing, I want to be in the audience, just listening. I guess the grass is always greener (over the septic tank, as Erma Bombeck would have said)...
But there's also the added phenomenon of knowing a piece of music really, really well and sitting through another performer/conductor's take on it. There were some great moments, courtesy of Jeffrey Biegel (some things he did with phrasing I really liked, and he has such quick light fingers!), and then some not-so-great moments (tempos were a bit slow in spots, used too much pedal, dampening his nice technique and light, quick fingers). And then there were some nice things about Andrew Litton's conducting (great use of cello and viola), and a few downsides (way too much French horn - the horn rather overpowered everything else in several spots). So while I really enjoyed it, it's hard to sit through without tapping my toe to the rhythm and tamp down my itchy fingers' urge to play something, ANYthing. But it was still fun. I love a good orchestra concert.
But there's also the added phenomenon of knowing a piece of music really, really well and sitting through another performer/conductor's take on it. There were some great moments, courtesy of Jeffrey Biegel (some things he did with phrasing I really liked, and he has such quick light fingers!), and then some not-so-great moments (tempos were a bit slow in spots, used too much pedal, dampening his nice technique and light, quick fingers). And then there were some nice things about Andrew Litton's conducting (great use of cello and viola), and a few downsides (way too much French horn - the horn rather overpowered everything else in several spots). So while I really enjoyed it, it's hard to sit through without tapping my toe to the rhythm and tamp down my itchy fingers' urge to play something, ANYthing. But it was still fun. I love a good orchestra concert.
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3 comments:
My Google Alert brought me to this blog. I find it interesting that so many folks can blog these days, which allows for more than one newspaper critique. Yes, I play with some slower tempi than some--I think it's simply that most people have become used to the terribly fast tempi of certain works, and when the piece becomes too familiar, we tend to race through them all too quickly. Having played this on Grieg's piano in Troldhaugen, and toured Norway, studied the folklore and understand the dances and rhythms, one cannot help but interpret the music in this manner. Thank Heavens there are so many artists to interpret a piece as they feel. I enjoyed my time with the Minnesota Orchestra, also with the Leroy Anderson Piano Concerto, and look forward to many more splendid occasions!
Wow - I'll have to be careful what I say! I really did enjoy the performance very much, completely understand the choice of tempi and realize that not everything is a race, that everyone has their own interpretation and style, and do appreciate the hard work all the musicians put into it. =)
It is typically uncommon for guest artists to respond to any reviews, and in remembering the great pianist William Kapell, who often did respond to his writers, I thought I might chime in and respond as to why I choose to perform Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in the manner I do. Naturally, every performance is different in myriad ways, be it phrasing, dynamics, interaction with the orchestra, pedaling, breathing within phrases etc. Having toured throughout Norway on several occasions, reading a good deal of Norwegian folklore, visiting the many art museums, and simply interacting with Norwegians who have close traditions with the works of their country's best known artistic figures, I have acquired a special feeling for the music by Edvard Grieg. I have known this concerto for 33 years. Having performed it many times, the resulting tempi have become dictated by the sense of Norwegian dance forms,coupled with the charm and spacious beauty of the Norwegian landscape throughout this glorious country. Prior to my visits to Norway, I had played the piano concerto in a very popular and fast-paced style, but after spending a good deal of time from the south of Norway to as far north as Tromso, I have been in the presence of the spacious majesty and inner warmth of the country and her people. The pedal is the 'soul of the piano', and in using it to clothe the sound in the lyrical passages of this all-too-well-known concerto, is a delicate matter. There is a sense of breath within the long, singing lines in the music by Grieg, similarly to Chopin, yet going a few steps further. Grieg composed many songs, and one can find many ways to make the piano sing these lines. There are also strong similarities to his g minor Ballade, which he composed upon his father's death. I was deeply moved by the appreciation and satisfaction exhibited by the audience. I hope to have the very special pleasure to return, and I applaud the orchestra and the many supporters of this fine festival.
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