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DISTINGUISHED CONCERTS INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK: DCINY
THE MUSIC OF KARL JENKINS
Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall
January 16, 2012
A full house greeted the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra and Jonathan Griffith, Artistic Director, on Martin Luther King Day. The opening work of the program was Jenkins’ “The Wooing of Etain” in its United States premiere. The piece is unusually scored for soloists that include soprano saxophone, electric bass and uilleann pipes. Despite the unconventional use of instrumentation, the work is sweetly tonal, warm and embracing. It was performed with affection and commitment, although some of the individual playing was slightly off pitch. The soloists: Rob Derke, Carlo de Rosa and Joseph Mulvanerty, performed and improvised with technical brilliance.
Jenkins’ “Sarikiz”, a violin concerto given its Carnegie Hall premiere, won the audience over instantly with its Carl Orff-like primitive energy and minimalistic repetition. Apart from the occasional reference to Kazakh folk themes, Jenkins uses two Kazakh indigenous percussion instruments, the dabel (hand drum) and the kepshek (tambourine). Like Orff’s beloved “Carmina Burana”, for example, very little counterpoint is used, the simplest of chords were often employed, and the percussion–while effective–is sometimes used a bit too often (here, they also covered the violin soloist at times). The idiomatic, virtuosic violin scoring holds the audience’s attention in this appealing work–especially with the right soloist. Jorge Avila did an outstanding job with the violin part, and his charismatic stage presence helped keep a diverse audience riveted.
Carol Barratt’s Fantasy Preludes for piano was given a solid performance by Danny Evans and receiving its United States premiere, was composed with an original touch–even though there were many reminders of 20th century modern and impressionistic influences. Nine preludes in all, there was a good deal of counterpoint–which was a refreshing change–and interesting harmonic variety as well. Melodic writing was sometimes chromatic, sometimes more spacial–but almost always lyrical. I would have placed the violin concerto after this work, as the solo piano looked and sounded anti-climactic after witnessing the orchestra.
A diverse audience was to be expected, as it was Martin Luther King Day, and Jenkins’ world premiere, “The Peacemakers”, included quotations from many important leaders or texts.
Those that were quoted include Gandhi, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, St. Francis of Assisi, Nelson Mandela, and Anne Frank (a touching, special addition to this list). Of course, there was also a Martin Luther King tribute. The excellent performers included soprano Antoni Mendezona, flutist Kara Deraad Santos, the return of saxophonist Rob Derke and electric bassist Carlo de Rosa, Benny Koonyevsky on ethnic percussion, and Joseph Mulvanerty on uilleann pipes.
Jenkins’ “The Peacemakers” is poignant, resonant, and meaningful. The music accompanies the corresponding texts with devotion. The instrumentation chosen always suited the origin or culture of the text; for example, the bansuri (Indian flute) with the Gandhi text, and the African percussion with the Mandela text worked perfectly. Martin Luther King’s tribute included an incredibly inventive mix of the Blues and Robert Schumann’s “Traumerei” (“Dreaming”).
-Anthony Aibel for New York Concert Review; New York, NY
Ang Li, piano
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
December 18, 2011
The recent New York recital of Chinese-Canadian pianist Ang Li was billed both as her Weill Recital Hall debut and as a Franz Liszt 200th birthday year celebration entitled “Years of Pilgrimage.” Referring to the masterful suites of Liszt’s, “Années de Pèlerinage,” the program actually included only one work from these sets, “Les jeux d’eaux à la Villa d’Este” from Book III; beyond this selection, the program title was mostly a gentle suggestion of unity for music that also included Liszt transcriptions of Schubert and Wagner and Liszt’s Ballade No. 2 on the first half, and two contemporary Canadian works, plus music of Debussy and Granados on the second half. It was certainly more wide-ranging than other “Liszt celebrations” heard this year – some would even say that some stated connections were rather tenuous – but it did demonstrate that it is hard to find any music not connected to Liszt by “six degrees of separation” or fewer.
It was a wise decision for Ang Li to branch out, as she came to life most with the more modern works on the program. There is no question that Ms. Li has the technical equipment for the rigors of Romantic virtuoso piano music, and her credentials, including numerous accolades and international tours, point to her mastery and versatility; her temperament, on the other hand, seemed a better fit for works by the non-Romantics. She showed a particular affinity for Debussy’s timbres through her finely controlled touch in “Brouillards” (“Mists”), while Minstrels had just the right bumptious feeling. “Feux d’artifice” (“Fireworks”) closed the group of three Debussy Preludes with brilliance, leaving one wondering whether an impressionistic theme program can be far behind in his upcoming 150th anniversary.
Prior to Debussy, we heard the US Premiere of “Es ist genug!” (2007) by Jérôme Blais (b. 1965). An intriguing, partly improvisatory work, it incorporates into a dreamlike tonal backdrop various fragments of music by J. S. Bach, as representative of the sacred in this composer’s otherwise atheistic view. One heard, among other fragments, bits of Bach’s D Major Prelude (WTC, Book II) and the B-flat Partita with bits of the title Chorale. What could have resembled (and at times approached) an Ivesian dream of Juilliard’s practice floor before a Bach recital was held together powerfully in Ms. Li’s inspired and focused conception. The composer was present to speak and receive applause, as was Jared Miller (b. 1988) whose “Souvenirs d’Europe” (2011) were given a persuasive account. Prompted by recent travels in Europe, Mr. Miller’s three pieces suggested fountains (“Fontaines”), the cathedral of Notre Dame (“Origines”), and a Spanish tourist scene (“¡La Rambla!”). Kinship with Liszt stopped at the travel-themed title, though, as these were in a new, individual tonal language (perhaps with the exception of “Origines” which struck one as resembling Messiaen – appropriately enough, given the inspiration). Miller writes brilliantly for the piano and shows remarkable accomplishment for one so young. He was quite fortunate, one must add, to have a pianist as skilled as Ms. Li to perform his music.
Also very successful was the Granados Allegro de Concierto, which closed the program. The end of the program’s westward travel arc concluding in sunny Spain, it seemed to warm the musical temperature of things, in phrasing and timbre, where the opening Liszt half had not.
The opening work, the Wagner-Liszt transcription of Isolde’s Liebestod had plunged the audience into high drama perhaps too suddenly, and the three Schubert-Liszt song transcriptions (“Wohin?”, “Der Müller und der Bach,” and “Gretchen am Spinnrade”) were well done, but felt somehow disengaged. Liszt’s “Les jeux d’eaux à la Villa d’Este” was technically stunning (and a beautiful precedent for the Jared Miller fountains), but even the octave fusillades in the Ballade No. 2 in B minor, though confidently executed, seemed to leave performer and audience a bit cold.
All in all, I look forward to hearing Ms. Li again in ever more personally expressive playing. Encores of a Chinese folk song (Chen Peixun’s “Autumn Moon Over the Calm Lake”) and Alexina Louie’s “Memories In An Ancient Garden” showed where some of that more personal involvement might lead.
-Rorianne Schrade for New York Concert Review; New York, NY
“MESSIAH…REFRESHED!”
Jonathan Griffith, conductor
Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center
November 27, 2011
Distinguished Concerts International New York has long been bringing large choruses to this city to perform in concerts with soloists and a fine freelance orchestra. I have heard them before, usually presenting very exciting performances of contemporary works. And today’s performance of Handel’s “Messiah,” entitled “Messiah…Refreshed!”, did have a 20th century component, as it utilized the Eugene Goosens re-orchestration for full symphony orchestra commissioned by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1959. I was very excited to hear this orchestration again, for I remember enjoying it with great guilty pleasure during my college days. This review will contain no discussion of Baroque performance practice, for this orchestration unashamedly does not care about such things. Historical accuracy was of no interest to Sir Thomas. As he said: “A musicologist is a man who can read music but can’t hear it.”
The performance did not turn out to be a slavish recreation of the 1959 recording by Sir Thomas Beecham. Just as a realistic painter, once he has mastered the rules of perspective and can no longer create convincing primitive landscapes, a fine musician such as Maestro Jonathan Griffith could not allow himself to use the often lugubrious tempi stipulated by Thomas Beecham. Neither could the soloists forget all they have learned about ornamentation. So although the performance was an inconstant recreation, it was far more musical than the original.
The members of today’s chorus, the Distinguished Concerts Singers International, were drawn from choruses located in seven of the United States and two foreign countries. I have been most impressed by the DCINY choruses that I’ve heard in the past. But they never had to negotiate the quick coloratura passages which today’s chorus was called upon to perform. Although their performance of chordal sections was often stirring–on the words “wonderful, counselor” in the chorus “For unto us a child is born”, for instance–the same cannot be said for the sixteenth-note runs which each section is called upon to sing in this and many other movements. I am reminded of another statement by Sir Thomas Beecham, said to have made while exhorting a chorus during a rehearsal of “For unto us a child is born:” “Ladies, please think of the joy of conception, not the pain of childbirth.” Save for the coloratura sections, the choral singing was more than adequate, what one would expect from over 200 people singing “Messiah.”
The soloists were successful to varying degrees. Countertenor Nicholas Tamanga stood out with his beautiful tone and attention to the meaning of the words. But the use of a countertenor instead of a mezzo-soprano/alto was anomalous, something which didn’t fit into this souped-up-retro-version of “Messiah.” Tenor Ryan MacPherson performed his solos with ease, exhibiting a fine tenor voice in all parts of his range. Bass Michael Scarcelle also sang well, but at times had trouble keeping together with the orchestra. I’ve rejected all of the words which I’ve thought of to describe the singing of soprano Sara Jean Ford, as I don’t want to seem unkind. She was just not up to performing this great Baroque work. Her singing was expressionless, distant, and uncommunicative.
The mighty orchestra was fine, although the timpanist seemed a bit overzealous at times. I chuckled at the cymbal rolls on the words “for he is like a refiner’s fire.” And guiltily enjoyed the flute obbligatos in “O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion.” It is interesting to note that, since in this orchestration the trumpets and timpani were playing a good deal of the time, their impact in the few movements in which they appeared in Handel’s original score was weakened. But the overall sound was thrilling.
I can fully understand why–at the end of the performance–the audience responded with fervent and heartfelt applause. Those who knew members of the chorus were thrilled to hear their friends, neighbors and members of their family performing this great work in a New York concert hall with a huge orchestra under the direction of a fine conductor. For most of the audience, matters of Baroque performance practice were not concerns. Most of the things I have discussed in the preceding paragraphs meant nothing to them, and rightly so; they heard a well-paced performance of a beloved masterwork with a Technicolor orchestration, and they responded accordingly. A good time was had by all, including this reviewer.
-Harry Saltzman for New York Concert Review; New York, NY
Narek Arutyunian clarinetist in Review
Steven Beck, piano
Merkin Concert Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
December 13, 2011
 Narek Arutyunian, Clarinetist; Photo Credit: Christian Steiner
Music is a form of communication, transference of ideas from the player to the audience. This would seem to be the motivation behind any performance, and yet, many performances fall short of this goal for a myriad of reasons. Narek Arutyunian, 19 year old clarinetist, and a winner of the 2010 Young Concert Artists International Audition, is first and foremost a storyteller, in the tradition of the best folk artists. He brings his considerable talent, facility, and appreciation of his heritage to refine this tradition into art.
Mr. Arutyunian’s most notable strengths are his big, well supported tone and flair for the dramatic gesture. He was at his best in repertoire that drew upon his natural affinity for specific genres. In the first movement of the Poulenc Sonata for clarinet and piano, his interpretation had, as in much of Poulenc’s music, a schizophrenic nature to it, sounding alternately suave and unhinged. The following Romanza ventured beyond Poulenc’s marking of “Tres Calme” into a wrenching and painful lament. Only in the concluding “Allegro con Fuoco”, however, did the clarinetist’s distinctive bright and polished sound find a perfect fit for this glittering concoction.
Each half of the recital contained a work that exploited popular genres, either to develop a theme (Jean Francaix’s Tema con Variazione) or to evoke the flavor of another culture (Paul Schoenfield’s Four Souvenirs). Mr. Arutyunian dispatched both these compositions with great humor, musicality, and a jazz artist’s sense of rhythm. In the Francaix, his phrasing on the backbeat made both the lopsided Moderato and the quirkily accented grace note waltz come to life. Just as remarkably, he employed a singer’s phrasing in the Gershwinesque Larghetto and a pristine white tone in the Adagio to great effect. Even more impressive was the Schoenfield, in which he showed a complete mastery of each of the four miniatures, most especially in the melancholy Tango, a cousin to the Depression era song, “Brother, Can you Spare a Dime?”
Joseph Horovitz’ Sonatina is a well crafted, idiomatic piece of writing for the clarinet, but unmistakably of its time, polite and superficial. Both this and the Sonata by Edison Denisov filled niches on the program, one for its lightness, the other for its unconventionality. That said, Mr. Arutyunian made strong cases for each. Only in von Weber’s Grand Duo Concertant did I feel that the clarinetist’s extroverted and highly subjective approach didn’t really work. The swift and sparkling passagework of the Rondo was terrific, but elsewhere his playing seemed forced both in tone and rhythm. This is a style which requires the player to emerge from within the structure of the music.
Two truly entertaining encores brought the program to a close. Mr. Arutyunian’s partner in this recital, the pianist Steven Beck, is simply a wonder. He plays beautifully, with unfaltering rhythm and technique, sharp ears and keen intelligence. Their collaboration was seamless.
Narek Arutyunian is already an accomplished and exciting player who is generous to his audience. I look forward to hearing more from him as he continues to grow artistically.
-David LaMarche for New York Concert Review, New York, NY
George Anthony Figueroa, violin
Ariadna Buonviri, violin
Cassandra Stephenson-Sulbarán, viola
Jorge Espinoza, cello
Hosack Hall, New York Academy of Medicine
December 9, 2011
This concert was presented by Musica de Camara, one of whose missions is to present concerts in non- traditional venues, so as to bring great music to under-served communities. Who knew that the New York Academy of Medicine, located just south of the Museum of the City of New York at Fifth Avenue and E 103rd Street, housed a wonderful auditorium? And although the armchairs and movie screen at the rear of the stage indicted that music was not the primary focus of Hosack Hall, I found it a perfect place in which to hear this fine performance by the Cuarteto Rústico.
The members of the quartet all have Latin American roots (Chile, Columbia, Venezuela and Puerto Rico) and state as their mission “to promote the origins, history and culture of the Americas through its music.” They also state that “folk, popular and classical music from Latin America is at the heart of their repertoire.” And tonight’s concert was true to their mission. It began with a spirited performance of Silvestre Revueltas’ Sting Quartet No.4, “Música de Feria.” In four quite short movements, this work is “a brash and rowdy picture of a Mexican rural fair.” Yes, it is brash, rowdy and contains Mexican rhythms and melodies, but I found it a typical example of quite forgettable twentieth-century “classical music.” I was, however, most impressed by the
playing of this fine quartet – a focused sound at all dynamic levels, beautiful phrasing, a perfect balance among the instruments.
We then heard the String Quartet No.1 by Heitor Villa-Lobos, the Brazilian master whose music is anything but forgettable. His harmonic language is unmistakable and quite beautiful, as heard in the first movement, titled “Cantilena.” Many string quartets strive for a consistently blended, homogeneous sound, and when a homophonic texture called for it, we heard such a sound from Cuarteto Rústico. But what I liked most about the quartet’s playing was that each instrument retained its own color, making crystal clear the polyphonic web which was present in so much to tonight’s music.
Popular music followed; an arrangement for string quartet of Antonio Jobim’s bossa nova, “Chega de Saudade.” During this work, which went on just a bit too long for this listener, the quartet played with the same intensity, clarity of texture and fine sound as in the previous “classical” works. The first half ended with Astor Piazzolla’s “Fuga y Misteri,” an excerpt from the composer’s tango opera “Maria de Buenos Aires.”
After the intermission we heard the concert’s longest work, Mozart’s String Quartet in C Major, K.465. By the way, it was erroneously listed on the program as String Quartet No.6. It is, however, the composer’s twenty- second string quartet. The mistake arises from the fact that it is also the last of the six quartets Mozart dedicated to Haydn and had published in 1785 as Opus 10, No.6. I felt that the tempi in the first and last movements were too fast, which made for moments of insecure playing. And strangely, although they didn’t repeat the first movement’s exposition, they did so in the fourth movement. (For my strong feelings about repeating the exposition, see the second paragraph of my review of the Nov 3, 2011 concert by The Stone River Chamber Players.)
The concert proper concluded with a wonderful performance of Jorge Figueroa’s jazzy “Salsa Clásica” for String Quartet. It was followed by an encore recognized by most of the audience, Carlos Gardel’s “Por una Cabeza.”
-Harry Saltzman for the New York Concert Review, New York, NY
Kotaro Fukuma, Pianist in Review
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
December 6, 2011
 Kotaro Fukuma
In a Weill Hall recital presented by New York Concert Artists and Associates, Kotaro Fukuma, who was born in Tokyo but now resides in Berlin, performed a beautifully varied program for a full house audience. The first half consisted of selections from Bach’s “Art of the Fugue” plus a work that was inspired by them: the Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Op. 110 by Beethoven. The Beethoven has a fugal movement of its own, and Mr. Fukuma performed it–like the Bach–with great clarity of rhythmical articulation. Indeed, his technique is superb. I would have preferred a little more delineation of the fugal entrances—i.e. more dynamic contrast between the entrance and subsidiary counterpoint. There could also have been better phrasing in terms of showing the direction of the melodic line; for example, phrases beginning with a softer, lighter touch and ending with fuller climaxes.
In the second half, Fukuma confirmed his stellar technique with Liszt transcriptions. “Ab Irato” from “Grande Etude de Perfectionnement” was fantastic. “La Campanella” could have had more Romantic-period exaggeration of dynamics; like in earlier pieces, he needed to play with a more varying touch and bring more shape (crescendo and diminuendo phrasing) to the musical lines. He ended it brazenly and powerfully, however, with polished octaves that were as clean as a whistle. One became riveted by the music’s concluding dramatic intensity.
In Ligeti’s Book I Etudes (selections), Fukuma played with a wonderfully articulate left hand, and excellent all-around clarity of rhythm. In “Arc-en-Ciel”, he could have brought more dreaminess to the atmosphere. In general, more phrasing within the given dynamics and subtleties of color were missing, but his interpretation of “Automne a Varsovie” seemingly held the audience spellbound with its sudden flare-ups of high octane heat.
Sergei Liapounov’s music from the “Etudes d’execution transcendante”, Op. 11
displayed more of Fukuma’s technical strengths, with thunderous, blazing octaves. His encores (Chopin/Liszt: “Meine Freunden” and another Liapounov Etude) were equally impressive, as they were permeated with impeccable virtuosity. Come to think of it, he didn’t miss a note all evening.
-Anthony Aibel for New York Concert Review; New York, NY
Aglaia Koras pianist in Review
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
November 29, 2011
 Aglaia Koras
A large and most enthusiastic audience was on hand for this very demanding recital by Aglaia Koras. Works spanning over 150 years of music history, from Bach to Rachmaninoff were performed. She began with Mozart’s Fantasy in D minor, K. 397. My first impression was “too romantic,” as she used lots of pedal and much rubato. The “fantasy” aspects of this piece are built in and don’t need to be exaggerated to be clear. The final D Major section, however, was played with crystalline classical clarity. My curiosity was aroused. What would happen next?
And next were two Impromptus from Schubert’s Opus 90. In the first, No.3 in G-flat Major, we heard an example of a quality of Ms Koras’ playing which, for this listener, was the most memorable aspect of the recital – her beautiful legato playing of lyrical melodies. In addition, the left hand accompaniment, which is so often the weak point in performances of works by Schubert, possessed the same clarity we heard at the end of the Mozart.
What would be Bach’s Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D minor be like? It was thrilling, one of the best performances I’ve heard of this work when played on the piano. In my notes I wrote of the Ms. Koras’ playing: “clear craziness.” I could have done without the exaggerated ritard at the end of the fantasy, but the fugue, which often sounds anticlimactic after the wildness which it follows, was played so that every line in the polyphonic web was clearly delineated – no mean feat. Towards the end, however, things began to rush and seemed to get out of control, a problem which returned in some of the following works.
The first half concluded with Beethoven’s “Appassionata” Sonata No.23 in F minor, Opus 57. The first and last movements suffered from rushing the already much too fast tempi. My notes said: “out of control.” So on the first half of the recital we saw both positive and negative aspects of Mr. Koras’ playing: beautiful singing legato melodies and clear passage work in both hands vs. rushing and choosing tempi which are so fast as to make everything a blur. What would the second half bring?
During the Brahms Rhapsody in B minor, Opus 79, No.1 both the good and the bad were again present: a beautifully played middle section with its soft legato melody and clear accompaniment was preceded and followed by quite a mess. The following Chopin Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Opus posthumous was beautifully played, as one would now expect of a soft, lyrical piece on this recital. This is not to infer that Ms Koras does not have the technique to play loud and fast music. To the contrary. In many of tonight’s works she showed that when she chose a tempo that remained within the parameters suggested by the structure of the music, she played forcefully with no loss of beauty in her sound or control over the clarity of the texture. In the Schubert E-flat Impromptu her finger work in rapid passages was perfect. She made a crescendo in the same Schubert that was breathtaking. But it was her choice of tempi (much too fast) and her inability to control them (rushing) that brought her to grief in the Beethoven, Brahms and in the recital’s final work, Chopin’s Sonata in B-flat minor, Opus 35. And yet, in the b section of the sonata’s funeral-march-third-movement we heard the evening’s most exquisite very, very soft and legato playing. The other movements just didn’t make sense.
Three Chopin encores (a waltz, the “Revolutionary” Etude and the Fantasy Impromptu) followed a tumultuous standing ovation.
-Harry Saltzman for New York Concert Review, New York, NY
Lloyd Arriola, piano
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
November 20, 2011
 Arriola Lloyd, pianist; Photo Credit by Kristin Hoebermann of Hoebermann Studios, New York Continuing the celebration of Franz Liszt’s 200th anniversary, Lloyd Arriola added his Weill Recital Hall debut to the festivities, bringing works to the table that are less than familiar to the average concertgoer. One could dedicate this entire review to Mr. Arriola’s bold and original programming, but the performer himself warrants full focus here; suffice it to say that the unconventional selections underscored the freshness that pervaded the recital in every way.
My first impression of Mr. Arriola was of his highly entertaining program notes, written in a conversational style with occasionally irreverent humor (e.g., a comparison of two of Liszt’s “sister” works to Wynonna and Ashley Judd), but always with expertise and insight. After decades of attending concerts, these are among the few sets of program notes I am actually tempted to save. I’d like to devote a separate article to this subject –how program notes should not read like a college theory essay or worse – but will meanwhile say that they do matter. Mr. Arriola “sells” his music, and it starts before the concert. The pianist’s biography, listing a doctorate from Juilliard and numerous performances as soloist, collaborator, and conductor, was similarly refreshing, avoiding the puffery one sees so often, but presenting the portrait of a working musician wearing many hats, all requiring top-notch skills. Following the biography was a page of grateful acknowledgments that would make an Oscar-winner blush. If all this text painted the picture of Mr. Arriola as a passionate “people person” his first steps onstage confirmed it. Cheers greeted him before he played a note, not the work of a claque, but the intense, spontaneous outburst of many friends present.
In an instant summoning of concentration, Mr. Arriola took on an opener of Liszt’s “Grand solo de concert,” composed as a test piece for students at a Paris Conservatory competition in 1849. A test it is, chock full of every kind of technical stunt possible (and some impossible!), but Mr. Arriola handled it with polish and aplomb. It is a substantial and exhausting work, especially when played with the intensity given on this occasion, so one marveled not only at its choice (it is understandably neglected), but also at its placement as opening piece.
A hard act to follow, it was followed nonetheless by another neglected giant, Liszt’s Fantasia and Fugue on the Chorale “Ad nos, a salutarem undam” (Illustration No. 4 from Meyerbeer’s “Le Prophéte”) transcribed by Ferrucio Busoni. Here Mr. Arriola coupled his large-scale technique with an absolutely solid mastery of structure and difficult fugal writing. It was a dramatic performance – a rare combination of passion and extroversion with laser-sharp cerebral focus. Occasionally, I felt Mr. Arriola overplayed dynamically, producing some unduly harsh sounds along with some rather distracting foot stomping, but I would take his commitment any day over its opposite. The excitement of the evening was, after all, palpable.
After intermission came an assortment of what one might call curiosities. Liszt’s shortest composition “Prélude omnitonique” (about six seconds long) was summarized by the pianist’s announcement that “every birthday party deserves a gag gift.” All jokes aside, Liszt was in many ways a visionary (as one might see in a more serious vein in the “Bagatelle sans Tonalité” and other works), and a listener enjoyed this break from the pyrotechnics. After some laughter, the Prelude was replayed (a nice touch) as an introduction to “Vagyodas Amerika Utan” (“Longing for America”) by the late Liszt proponent Ervin Nyiregyhazi (1903-1987). It was a welcome discovery for those of us who know the name Nyiregyhazi mainly as a controversial pianistic figure. Also most welcome was Liszt’s introspective “En Rêve (1884-85) played with sensitivity. In addition we heard Fantasia in D (2011), a work Mr. Arriola commissioned from Harrison Gross, a 17-year-old student at the school where Arriola is a pianist. It was a touching gesture.
Liszt Magyar Rapszódia No. 12 (Heroïde élégiaque), an earlier version of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 5, closed the program with brilliance and spirit. An encore by the pianist cleverly fused Gershwin’s “Someone to Watch Over Me” with bits of Liszt’s Piano Concerto in E-flat (along with touches of Fats Waller and others). One could only guess that Liszt, the quintessential performer, would have approved. The audience certainly did.
-Rorianne Schrade for New York Concert Review, New York, NY
Rutgers Pianists in Review
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
November 13, 2011
Twelve piano students from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University performed an all-Liszt program, one of so many tributes honoring the composer’s 200th birthday. The pianists hailed from many nations and represented several degree programs at the university. While the repertoire offered selections from Liszt’s more well-known works, the program exhibited his multi-faceted genius as a virtuoso pianist, an unparalleled transcriber, and a visionary composer. The general level of playing was of an extremely high caliber; the students played with confidence, technical security and musical sensibility proving that the music department at Rutgers is on a par with the world’s most prestigious conservatories.
Most musicians cut their teeth in group recitals, whether in their suburban teacher’s living room or community music school recitals. This is an awkward and nerve-wracking experience; one waits in the wings unsure of when he will have to step onstage and face the specter of inevitable comparison. To relax and find one’s stride in just one or two pieces is extremely difficult and the performer must go through the same physical preparations (dressing for performance, arriving on time, trying the instrument, etc.) as he would for a full-length recital. Often the most sensitive artists can be sabotaged by the endeavor, whereas the more arrogant temperaments barrel through their nerves. The brutal arena of competitions is even more grueling. Paradoxically, the audience frequently comes away with a totally different impression; the listener appreciates the diversity of the performances and how an instrument can transform under each pair of hands. While one might have personal favorites, he is not consumed by the ego of a single soloist.
The award-winning author, lecturer and pianist David Dubal acted as master of ceremonies for the evening, interspersing the musical selections with commentary which both enlightened the audience and inspired the performers. His inimitable, spontaneous yet reverent manner infused a festive aura into this event.
The program opened with Paul Conrad’s sensitive and lyrical rendition of “Au lac de Wallenstadt” from the “Annees de Pelerinage”. Eva Shu-Yu Huang followed with “Gondeliera” from “Venezia e Napoli”, which after a slightly stiff beginning settled into an evocative barcarolle. A full range of sonorities were present in Jahye Kim’s account of “St. Francis of Paola Walking on the Waves”. Three etudes followed; “La Leggierezza”, one of Liszt’s most Chopinesque works, was played with feverish ardor by Mina Nourbakhsh, Zin Bang delivered a powerful, headlong Transcendental Etude No. 10 in F Minor, and Alexander Beridze demonstrated an easy, fluid technique and piquant rhythm in “La Campanella”.
The second half of the program began with Liszt’s song transcriptions. Miao Hou presented “Gretchen am Spinnrade” and the ferociously difficult “Erlkonig”, demonstrating exceptional technical mastery and a strong connection with Schubert’s original songs and texts. Schumann-Liszt’s “Widmung” was played with tenderness by Junko Ichikawa, conveying more of an inward dedication than an open declaration of love. Two transcriptions of Liszt’s own songs followed; “O pourquoi donc” was rendered with delicacy by Huizhon Shen, and “Am Rhein, im schonen Strome” was performed with haunting mystery by Chia-Shan Cheng. These are lesser-known works which deserve more hearings.
Erickson Rojas, who arrived late as a result of untold travails in traveling, played a hypnotic, insightful “St. Francis of Assisi Preaches to the Birds”. He demonstrated superb tonal control over the filigree and trills in the upper register, and was able to create a truly declamatory, legato vocal line in single notes. The listener was drawn into the inner dialogue between saint and avian creatures. Mr. Rojas unfolded the narrative brilliantly in this work, which can seem amorphous in less capable hands. The closing work on the program was the “Mephisto Waltz No. 1”, which seemed almost too easy for Yevgeny Morozov. His performance was more of a romp than a dance, and one would have wanted a more ravishing, seductive middle section. But Mr. Morozov certainly has no shortage of mechanical facility and energy.
Min Kwon, director of the piano department and teacher for the majority of the evening’s performers, offered gracious acknowledgements at the conclusion of the concert. A notable pianist in her own right, she proved to be a skillful and enthusiastic organizer as well. Anniversary tributes have become a tradition among the Rutgers pianists, and Ms. Kwon anticipates a recital next year celebrating the 150th birthday of Claude Debussy.
-Alexandra Eames for New York Concert Review; New York, NY
Adam Gyorgy pianist in Review
Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
November 13, 2011
 Adam Gyorgy It is a testament to the gifts of Franz Liszt that, well into this year of countless 200th anniversary commemorative concerts, Liszt’s music still emerges as the inexhaustible treasure that it is. Having given several all-Liszt recitals just a few weeks ago, I had some hesitation about this assignment to review a Liszt program, but my faith in the diverse repertoire and acceptance of a wide variety of interpretive styles won out. As it has always seemed to me more meaningful to be reviewed by musicians with genuine experience in the repertoire being performed, that belief also helped offset any reservations. After all, a pianist is often the best judge of what sets (or doesn’t set) another pianist apart.
Adam Gyorgy is a young Hungarian pianist whose publicity sets him apart long before one enters the concert hall. Eye-catching photographs of the athletic Mr. Gyorgy in various exuberant action poses are matched by a biography that, in addition to the expected litany of credentials, traces his performing life to his early childhood tendency of drawing houses upside down, in consideration of the perceptions of others across a table. One imagines it was the same extroverted spirit that spurred the 2009 founding of his Adam Gyorgy Castle Academy in his native Hungary, also an effort to “give back” after all the help he received in his youth. Judging from Sunday’s performance, Mr. Gyorgy has much to give – it is only a question of how best to do it.
Starting from the high points, Gyorgy closed the evening by bringing brilliance and élan to a work that has been beset with kitschy associations for almost a century, Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. While there are other works that offer a much nobler example of Liszt’s output, Gyorgy’s fresh and engaging performance dispelled preconceptions. Moving backwards from this last programmed work (in upside-down-house fashion), one enjoyed an excellent performance of Liszt’s La Campanella from the Paganini Etudes. Sure-fingered and seemingly effortless, this performance also had the greatest tonal and dynamic range of the evening. It seems Mr. Gyorgy has lived with both this Etude and the Rhapsody, and they could easily become “signature” pieces.
Preceding these last two pieces, Liszt’s Rigoletto paraphrase was delivered with polish and confidence, but it was not set apart from the standard that one has come to expect, technically and interpretively, from any number of today’s young conservatory graduates. A similar impression was left by the pianist’s straitlaced performance of Chopin’s Ballade in G minor, which also seemed somewhat anomalous on this Liszt tribute program, despite the fact that Liszt and Chopin were contemporaries.
What was more puzzling, though, was that Mr. Gyorgy chose to play the Chopin (or anything for that matter) directly after Liszt’s epic B Minor Sonata (the recital having no intermission), making the latter masterpiece somehow a mere prelude to increased brilliance. It seemed a disservice to both Chopin and Liszt to juxtapose them this way. Some pianists (perhaps those who are trying to see and hear things from a lay audience perspective – the upside-down house) find the Liszt’s quiet ending problematic and awkward, hastening to follow it with more instantly gratifying works; even an untutored audience, however, can be trusted to grasp the depth of its final utterances and savor the silence. Perhaps this is a case for building the metaphorical house from the ground up and letting the audience come inside – there is integrity in that. An intermission would have helped.
What matched the Sonata’s minimized role on the program was the understated performance itself, subdued to the point where my companion asked whether there was a problem with the piano. The work seemed never to catch fire, with climaxes in the score (some marked triple forte) emerging muffled and monochromatic. The inherent wrestling and storming in this highly dramatic work were absent, while phrases needing to be ponderous or prescient became moderate and Mendelssohnian. Having encountered literally hundreds of renditions of this work, live and recorded, I found it difficult to embrace this one. The notes were mostly there, with admirably few smudges (not exactly unusual these days), but I needed more.
The recital’s opening “Improvisation” by Mr. Gyorgy did not help set up the Liszt either. Full of repeated primary harmonies in a sedate, New Age-type style, it seemed to dull the acute type of listening that the ensuing motivically complex Sonata requires. While quite pretty and delicately shaded, it bathed one’s ears in a wash of somewhat facile diatonic “heaven” that rendered almost meaningless the hard-won apotheosis of Liszt’s thirty minutes of high Romantic grappling. All in all, I will be eager to hear Mr. Gyorgy’s very promising playing again, but hopefully with more effective programming and more personally compatible repertoire choices.
An encore of the Liszt-Mendelssohn Wedding March (not the popular Horowitz version, but an extended transcription seeming to borrow from it) concluded the concert with spirit and humor.
-Rorianne Schrade for New York Concert Review; New York, NY
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