I must admit I didn’t come prepared with high expectations of an arrangement by contemporary Russian violinist and conductor Dimitry Sitkovetsky (B.1954) of one of Bach’s greatest, most complicated and intricate works for keyboard (probably harpsichord). By the middle of the first variation I found myself really enjoying this work performed with perfect intonation, precision and Vivaldi-esque Italian-German brio.

Although this music is much more difficult than anything Vivaldi wrote for strings, Cynthia Baehr, violinist, Chad Kaltinger, violist and Vanessa Ruotolo, cellist performed the dancelike rhythms of Bach with its complex counterpoint sounding like colorfully entwined, woven strands of energy and light.

Some purists may object that it is an arrangement (although a very good one), and thus inferior to the original. However, that would be like comparing apples to oranges, for Bach often recycled, or I should say ‘re-imagined,’ his own and other’s music for different occasions and different instruments.

Next was a magical performance of Stravinsky’s 1933 arrangement for violin and piano of his Suite Italienne from Pulcinella (1920). This music was inspired by the Baroque composer, Pergolesi and is among Stravinsky’s most enjoyable pieces. A cornucopia of creativity, wit, irony, grace and beauty, it was tempting to sort out at different times whether the music was more ‘Pergolesi-Stravinsky’ or ‘Stravinsky-Pergolesi.’ The performance by violinist Roy Malan and pianist Michael McGushin was full of sensitivity and embodied the classical Apollonian and Dionysian sides of Stravinsky’s recreative genius.

The last piece performed proves that not all programs need a flashy ending. Quite the opposite, this rare performance of the piano quintet (1972-1976) by Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998), subtitled “In Memoriam,” was written in reaction to the death of the composer’s mother. This piece raised a tragic event, to the level of art as it gave profound musical expression to the feeling of mourning and sadness over the loss of a loved one.

This it achieved through Schnittke’s ability to engender emotional resonance using a synthesis of 20th century compositional techniques. Schnittke cleverly mixed atonal with tonal idioms, dense tone clusters and some unconventional sound effects such as the silent and slow regular rise and fall of the pianist’s foot on the damper pedal at the end of a section suggesting whimpering soundlessness in the face of death. With all the players contributing their fine musical sensibilities, special mention goes to pianist, Michael McGushen, whose part seemed to serve as protagonist and commentary of the whole demonstrated a high level of pianistic skill in terms of timing, dynamic range and touch sensitivity.

If you are a connoisseur open to exploring the wonderful world of classical chamber music played by some of the finest musicians in the Santa Cruz area, check out the Santa Cruz Chamber Player’s website at http://www.scchamberplayers.org/concerts.php.

Their next program, Monteverdi’s “Miniature Masterpieces: Madrigals of War and Love,” will take place on Saturday November 19 and Sunday afternoon November 20th in the intimate surrounding living-room-like environment of Christ Lutheran Church in Aptos.

Watch for KUSP’s broadcast of this opening program scheduled for December 2, Friday evening at 8PM.

Michael Tierra is a bio-herbalist, acupuncturist, author, teacher, musician, classical pianist, singer and father of pianist Chetan Tierra, who competed in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009.

End

The Distinguished Artists Concert and Lecture series offered another cultural coup on Sunday with the presentation of Iranian-American pianist, Soheil Nasseri.

While it was obvious from the beginning of the program that Mr. Nasseri was up to the highest standards set by the many outstanding pianists presented over the years, a distinguishing feature of this concert was the presentation of one of the greatest and most challenging works in the piano repertoire, Beethoven’s Op 106 Hammerklavier Sonata, which occupied the entire second half of the program. This enigmatic monumental work, comprising an entire life gauntlet of human emotions and aspirations, is usually reserved for the most seasoned and mature artists, with few being able to sustain its intricate technical and interpretive demands.

To arrive at that much anticipated part of the program, however, we still had to endure the problems of the first half. There seemed to be a technical problem caused by poor placement of the piano on the stage, which created a distant and less than intimate sound, at least from my vantage point. Odd programming was also a factor. The afternoon opened with the West Coast premiere of a tedious new work, Sonata No. 2 by Hormoz Farhat. This piece was recently dedicated to the performer by the composer, who himself was born in Tehran and studied music at universities in California. Despite the fact of its faint evocation of Persian intervals and melodic lines, it was caste in a monochromatic harmonic hue, causing one to feel as though aimlessly wandering for three movements through a dry desert. As an opening work on the program, the effect compromised our ability to settle into any part of the first half of the program including the works by Schumann and Chopin that followed.

Next we heard the Three Novellettes from Op 21 by the arch romantic, Robert Schuman. These seldom played pieces seemed to lack a certain enthusiasm, probably because the performer was still recovering from the dutifully programmed and lengthy opening sonata. They Novelettes are ‘novel’ in conception, (episodic and accompanied by free ranging and frequent modulations), but they are also ‘little novels,’ that reflected Robert Schumann’s well-known literary leanings and background.

We were then treated to a fine performance of the late Chopin Fantasy in F Minor Op 49. Whether intended or not, this piece seemed to share a kind of vague undefined episodic story line similar to Schumann’s pieces.

Incidentally, there was some annoying loud talking occurring on the right side of the theater (plus a cell phone blasting out rock music) while the performer was introducing one of his pieces. These served as formidable distractions during the first half of the program making it difficult to fully appreciate the music and the brilliance of the performance.

Another problem during this concert was the lack of program notes. It doesn’t always work to send a performer out on the stage to perform such an ambitious program and have them offer comments on the music they are about to play ad extempore. In my experience unless this is carefully planned ahead of time, the performer is trapped in a dilemma between reconciling the emotional conviction necessary for a fine musical experience as opposed to a more intellectual one.

While many artists supply their own program notes beforehand, it was not the case for this program and proved to be a problem, since the performer’s off hand comments did not add to the subsequent appreciation and enjoyment of the music. Fortunately Mr. Nasseri specifically stated before his brilliant performance after intermission of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata, Op. 106, that there would be no further speaking from the stage.

No one seems to know who gave the premier performance of Beethoven’s monumental Hammerklavier Sonata Op 106. The most likely candidate is Beethoven’s outstanding student, Carl Czerny, however it is doubtful that Czerny, as the first authority on Beethoven’s 32 sonatas, had either the transcendental technique or the interpretive skills necessary for a successful performance. The name, “Hammerklavier” assigned to this work, also previously printed on the score of the tranquil Sonata, Op 101, is the Germanized term for the Italian, “pianoforte.” However fate has decreed that the Sonata, Op 106, be forever deemed the “Hammerklavier” Sonata.

Evidently the true first performer of this enigmatic work and the one who in 1836 first “made comprehensible a work not yet comprehended,” according to a critique by the composer, Hector Berlioz, was none other than Franz Liszt.

Evidently Liszt took such special pride in his performance and interpretation of this great work that he maintained it in his repertoire years after retiring from public performance. There is a touching account of Liszt playing the famous Adagio of this work, which is the very epitome of sadness, comparable to Michelangelo’s Pieta in the Sistine chapel, spontaneously for a special gathering of nobility and musical connoisseurs in Wagner’s spacious living room-study-library. At its conclusion, the be-robed Wagner was described as “thundering, rather than running” down from the balcony, flinging his arms around Liszt’s neck and sobbing with emotion thanking him in broken phrases for the wonderful gift received.

Performing the Hammerklavier is not the work for an immature artist and even great pianists such as Horowitz, Rubinstein and others have wisely and deliberately chosen to avoid performing or recording it.

One thing for certain from Sunday’s performance is that Soheil Nasseri with a prodigious unassuming, effortless technique, the widest range of dynamics and tone colors was able to conjure with abandon a most impassioned and riveting performance of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier.

I had been told that Nasseri, who presently resides in Berlin, has an unsurpassed knack for Beethoven’s keyboard music. I was informed that he presently has performed 29 of the 32 sonatas and has as his goal to have performed all of Beethoven’s piano music by the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth in 2020.

Notwithstanding its deserved reputation as the “Parnassus’ of pianist’s repertoire,” a typical live performance, or for that matter a recording by even the finest and most mature artists, can be a boring, tedious experience for the listener. One gets the sense that Beethoven was trying to cram the impressions and experiences of a lifetime into a 45-minute, four-movement work. If it is not performed well, it can have a tendency to ramble, sometimes aimlessly.

I’ve heard several interpretations of this work, both in live performance as well as recording, and I even listened to a few since Nasseri’s Sunday performance. None even come close to his unique rendering. Judging from a moment’s glance at the rapturous expression on the faces in the audience, there was not a drowsy eye in the house. Almost on cue, at the conclusion of the last note of the electrifying fugue of the last movement, the audience leapt to its feet loud in thunderous applause and praise.

One brief comment the performer made before launching into his performance was that the Hammerklavier sonata serves as Beethoven’s homage to J.S Bach. Appropriately the only fitting encore that was played was the quiet, faith-affirming arrangement by Myra Hess for piano of the famous “Sheep May Safely Graze.”

End

Michael Tierra is a bio-herbalist, acupuncturist, author, teacher, musician, classical pianist, singer and father of pianist Chetan Tierra, who competed in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009.

Pianist John Orlando

“The music of angels and heaven” rapturously exclaimed one enthusiastic patron, fortunate to attend the opening of Distinguished Artist’s Mozart Festival “Rekindling the Spirit of the Age of Enlightenment.”Judging from the smiles, wild applause and comments I overheard during intermission it is obvious that at least the vast majority of the near capacity crowd that filled the new Cabrillo College Music and Recital Hall had the same opinion.

As a musician and dedicated patron of the performing arts,  one learns to distinguish between those moments calling for astuteness and nit-picking comment, and those where all the elements of a fine evening’s music making conjoin to say “cool it” and give your left brain critic a vacation on this one,for it’s time to just sit back and enjoy the ride. This was one of those evenings served up by a group of some of our most talented local Bay Area musicians performing the most cherished classical repertoire embodying a perfect balance of exquisite melody, emotional contrast and depth, unobtrusive harmonic and contrapuntal mastery and always the impeccable a sense of form – like watching a fine gymnast– that can only be the music of Mozart, the featured composer of the series.

The program got off to a wonderful start with Mozart’s Don Giovanni overture played by the San Francisco Sinfonietta under the direction of Swiss born director, Leonhardt Steiner. From the beginning it was clear that this was not to be a “stuff-shirted” evening of classical music, appropriate to the ribald humor of its featured composer. Maestro Steiner, seeking to summon audience enthusiasm like a stand-up comic, both endeared himself and challenged the audience to more enthusiastic ovation and applause and then with tousled combed back hair, loose fitting “Groucho Marx” tux, he tongue-in-cheek implored the audience to overlook and forgive the fact that he had forgotten to bring his shoes. As soon as he began conducting I can only assume from my response that everyone immediately looked to his feet, but  hopefully not the orchestra.

The Don Giovanni overture got off to a somewhat tenuous start with only a few exculpatory “cracked” notes from the French horn (I think that many of us who have attended numerous local orchestra performances have grown accustomed to expect such unintended  moments. In fact, they seem to add an element of unexpected spontaneity to an otherwise scripted orchestral performance –  whether this should be the case or not, I will leave discussion for another time). Suffice it to say that an opening piece in any program allows the audience to set expectations accordingly and the performance of the Don Giovanni overture set mine to  above-average-satisfactory with the assurance that the orchestra was up to the task of conjuring a wonderful evening of Mozart’s music.

Next up to play, all decked out in tuxedo with white tie, was the festiva’s impresario and director of the prestigious Distinguished Artists series, Santa Cruz’s own John Orlando.

When pianists are asked who is the most difficult composer to play most will immediately say Mozart. This is not because they represent an athletic challenge of the likes of say a Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody, but more because of the transparency of Mozart’s piano writing which exposes the pianist to naked scrutiny regarding the shaping of each phrase and the evenness of each note. Since all of this has to be done with an appearance of effortlessness, Mozart is not a flashy composer and the performance of his music is fraught with peril hardly commensurate with the level of audience appreciation.

This evening John Orlando seemed to have mastered the many technical and interpretive challenges of Mozart’s most famous 20^th piano concerto of “Amadeus” fame (from the movie with the fictionalized criticism of Emperor Joseph II, seeking to demonstrate his musical astuteness with the remark that there are simply too many notes.) Of course, subsequent generations have learned that Mozart’s music, on the contrary, has precisely the right number of notes – notes that seem to cascade from the piano in gliding melismas of pearly sound adroitly navigated by John Orlando. The limpid transparent fluency we heard on this occasion tended to divert our attention from some minor barely noticeable coordination of tempi and dynamics between the orchestra and soloist.

Despite the fact that we would have preferred hearing more sound from the piano, at least two people wondered whether the piano was voiced brightly enough. John Orlando exhibited thorough control and mastery of Mozart’s great D Minor Piano Concerto and deserved the wild enthusiastic response from predisposed  and discerning patrons.

Along with many others, I have come to appreciate how much John Orlando has added to the rich cultural life of Santa Cruz community of music lovers through his Distinguished Artists Series and many other cultural ventures including this new, hopefully annual, Mozart Festival Series. He also spearheaded the raising of funds for the purchase of the new 9 foot Steinway that he had the opportunity of playing for the first time at these concerts.

After intermission, another Santa Cruz artiste, Michele Rivard, head of Cabrillo’s distinguished music faculty and a frequent guest soloist, gave a thrilling and exuberantly virtuosic rendering of Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate for soloist and orchestra, which concludes with the famous Alleluia. This work, masterfully rendered by Ms. Rivard, is famous for its range of emotional depth as well as its many challenging wide skips that at times span close to two octaves.

The program concluded with an engaging performance of Symphony No. 38, the Prague Symphony, complete with the slow introduction and the lengthy repeats that many recorded versions ignore. Anyone who has visited the charming city of Prague could not have missed the importance of Mozart to this beautifully preserved old European city of spires, bridges and the famous town clock. From marionette theaters performing the Magic flute to historical buildings where Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro was a tremendous success, as well as in concert halls where Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro was produced in 1786, Mozart still fills the air in Prague. Although his popularity tended to wax and wane in his own hometown of Vienna, the people of Prague always offered to the composer an enthusiastic welcome. In appreciation, Mozart wrote this 38^th of a total of 40 symphonies of his maturity in appreciation to the people of Prague.

So far, we don’t know whether Santa Cruz’s mini Mozart Festival will become an annual event. Such high cultural endeavors are always costly. As we grow older and come to recognize the cost and value of such experiences, I and several others, find ourselves leafing through to “special thanks” or “patron’s pages where we can appreciate the number of businesses and individuals who thankfully consistently show willingness to contribute to the arts of our community so the rest of us can simply pay the modest price of admission and enjoy the spectacle. Hopefully, after breaking ground with a successful first Mozart series, and if this is to continue, John and his board (which I think only consists of John) will be able to raise more funds from generous donors to keep this wonderful cultural event happening for years to come.

Addendum

The following Sunday afternoon I attended the second program of the series. It opened with a series of five charming arias beautifully sung by Michelle Rivard and bass-baritone Rolfe Dau, a last minute substitute for the scheduled baritone.

The featured soloist on this program was Laura Albers playing the violin concerto in D Major. As to her playing. all I can say is, move over Hillary Hahn and make room for Laura for she is every inch a master. It brought to mind that Mozart was also an accomplished violinist and fully exploited its potential in this concerto. I couldn’t help feeling that I’d really like to hear more of Laura. She has been playing the violin since the age of two and performs with her two sisters in the Albers Trio. I hope that we will have the opportunity of hearing Laura and perhaps her trio. I noticed in the notes that she performs in the Cabrillo Festival orchestra – perhaps Marin will consider featuring her or her trio future venues.

The program again ended with the San Francisco Sinfonietta performing Mozart’s Prague Symphony.  If I had any reservations as to the caliber of this fine chamber orchestra and its warmly personable director Urs Leonhardt Steiner, they were dispelled during this second rendering of Mozart’s masterpiece. At first, I wasn’t sure I would enjoy hearing it the following day, but as it turned out it was played so wonderfully that I felt comfortably embraced by the celestial harmonies of Mozart. I fully understood John Orlando who several years ago when I asked him, if you had only one composer to take with you to the hereafter, who would it be? His reply was “Mozart.”

End

Michael Tierra is a bio-herbalist, acupuncturist, author, teacher, musician, classical pianist, singer and father of pianist Chetan Tierra, who competed last year in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.