Written by: alessiobax
Tuesday, August 15, 2006 8:57 PM

So, here I am, back home, after a very intense summer, trying to get a bit of organization into my work schedule. While touring, I try to practice in between concerts, on any piece of furniture that remotely resembles a piano. Sometimes, those pianos are in such bad shape that they have no business being called pianos at all, but it is all good, and we pianists have to be grateful when they do get us a piano to work on. That is the curse of a pianist, I guess, and some even use it as a good excuse at times!

Anyhow, the organization of my practicing schedule, now that I have a few "free" weeks, brings me to the title of this post. For the first time in my life I find myself working intensively on two composers: Mozart and Bartok. Being this a Mozart Anniversary year, I was quite surprised that a part from a few concerti, I was asked to play only two all-Mozart Recitals. One will be with Lucille and will include works for two pianos and piano four hands, and the other will be (on the next day), a solo recital. I chose a repertoire that puts together the familiar and less-familiar works. I wanted to show a bit the diversity of Mozart as a composer, as opposed to what recently a music critic astonishingly called: "aural wallpaper". In the first half I will play an unfamiliar set of Variations (Mozart's own transcription of the Variation movement from his Clarinet Quintet), sandwiched between two slices of Sonata bread (d major and f major).  The second half will be more unusual. I made up a little set of three pieces. The first is the Ouverture from a fragment of a Suite in the style of Handel, which consists of a French-style Ouverture and a dominant-closing fierce Fugato. It is some of the most uncomfortable Mozart writing ever, I must confess, but a great piece indeed.  It is a very contrapuntal Mozart, as you can imagine. After the dominant closure, the tonic will be once again established by the Marche Funebre del Sig. Maestro Contrapunto, in what can be seen as Mozart's turn of page from the Baroque style. The last part of the group will be a free-sounding, improvisation-like Capriccio, which shows the wild side of Mozart. In the same key, the next piece will be the famous "easy" C major sonata. The last piece of the program will be a set of variations on a theme of Sarti. They are a wonderful set, very beautiful and full of virtuoso passages that seem to have been written in a fit to show off who the real virtuoso of his time was (very unusual thirds, sixth, octaves and huge leaps!) I don't have any historical fact to back that up, but I'd like to think so.

Most of this program is new, and although I was a bit nervous about it (after all I do think Mozart is one of the scariest composers to perform), I do feel much better now that I am working on all of it at the same time. As an experiment, I am working on all the first movements of all the sonatas at the same time. It is a bit strange, but also quite helpful. I can see the similarities and differences so clearly, and am looking at these works with new eyes and ears, as if I had never heard them before. I am so overwhelmed by such beauty.

At the same time, I am working on Bartok's Second Piano Concerto. It is probably one of my favorite works of the 20th century. Rarely have I found such imagination, skill or inventiveness all at once. I am totally enamored with it. It is incredibly hard to play, and learn, but it is so worth it. I have always been a big Bartok fan. It all started with his Dance Suite, and then his orchestral and choral works. I was always touched and interested in his relationship with folk music and his love for nature, which to me is the greatest inspiration. Working on his second concerto has been a life changing experience. Somehow, in this music, in spite of all the difficulties and the obvious instrumental interest that such work can trigger, I cannot help but feel that this was a man with his priorities straight, who had a clear vision of how men, nature and the world ranked in the big scheme of things. It all comes across his music with a sense of sincerity, honesty and purity that other 20th century composers never achieved.

Now, I was shocked to see how working on these two composers influenced one another. One can go on and on to see how different, or how similar they are, and we can all agree on these various points. However, my reaction is a very visceral one. I can spend hours and hours on Bartok, than switch to Mozart, and back to Bartok, and feel totally balanced. They are both so righteous that at the end of the day I have this wonderful feeling that somehow I've done something good, I've hopefully improved on the pieces, but, most shockingly, I feel that these two composers have made me a bit better as a person. For the first time I am not focusing on Romantic and post-romantic music, and I don't feel any void, or don't miss it at all. I have a feeling that I could go on for the rest of my life this way. Oh well, I am playing Beethoven's Hammerklavier again next January, and that is also such a big part of me as a human being, but there is something about Bartok and Mozart that is much bigger than us and at the same time so accessible, simple and just...right!

Now, I am looking forward to a new day tomorrow. I will probably work on the second movements of the sonatas now, and hopefully advance a few more pages in the Bartok. What a nice life!

Alessio

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Written by: alessiobax
Tuesday, August 15, 2006 8:57 PM

So, here I am, back home, after a very intense summer, trying to get a bit of organization into my work schedule. While touring, I try to practice in between concerts, on any piece of furniture that remotely resembles a piano. Sometimes, those pianos are in such bad shape that they have no business being called pianos at all, but it is all good, and we pianists have to be grateful when they do get us a piano to work on. That is the curse of a pianist, I guess, and some even use it as a good excuse at times!

Anyhow, the organization of my practicing schedule, now that I have a few "free" weeks, brings me to the title of this post. For the first time in my life I find myself working intensively on two composers: Mozart and Bartok. Being this a Mozart Anniversary year, I was quite surprised that a part from a few concerti, I was asked to play only two all-Mozart Recitals. One will be with Lucille and will include works for two pianos and piano four hands, and the other will be (on the next day), a solo recital. I chose a repertoire that puts together the familiar and less-familiar works. I wanted to show a bit the diversity of Mozart as a composer, as opposed to what recently a music critic astonishingly called: "aural wallpaper". In the first half I will play an unfamiliar set of Variations (Mozart's own transcription of the Variation movement from his Clarinet Quintet), sandwiched between two slices of Sonata bread (d major and f major).  The second half will be more unusual. I made up a little set of three pieces. The first is the Ouverture from a fragment of a Suite in the style of Handel, which consists of a French-style Ouverture and a dominant-closing fierce Fugato. It is some of the most uncomfortable Mozart writing ever, I must confess, but a great piece indeed.  It is a very contrapuntal Mozart, as you can imagine. After the dominant closure, the tonic will be once again established by the Marche Funebre del Sig. Maestro Contrapunto, in what can be seen as Mozart's turn of page from the Baroque style. The last part of the group will be a free-sounding, improvisation-like Capriccio, which shows the wild side of Mozart. In the same key, the next piece will be the famous "easy" C major sonata. The last piece of the program will be a set of variations on a theme of Sarti. They are a wonderful set, very beautiful and full of virtuoso passages that seem to have been written in a fit to show off who the real virtuoso of his time was (very unusual thirds, sixth, octaves and huge leaps!) I don't have any historical fact to back that up, but I'd like to think so.

Most of this program is new, and although I was a bit nervous about it (after all I do think Mozart is one of the scariest composers to perform), I do feel much better now that I am working on all of it at the same time. As an experiment, I am working on all the first movements of all the sonatas at the same time. It is a bit strange, but also quite helpful. I can see the similarities and differences so clearly, and am looking at these works with new eyes and ears, as if I had never heard them before. I am so overwhelmed by such beauty.

At the same time, I am working on Bartok's Second Piano Concerto. It is probably one of my favorite works of the 20th century. Rarely have I found such imagination, skill or inventiveness all at once. I am totally enamored with it. It is incredibly hard to play, and learn, but it is so worth it. I have always been a big Bartok fan. It all started with his Dance Suite, and then his orchestral and choral works. I was always touched and interested in his relationship with folk music and his love for nature, which to me is the greatest inspiration. Working on his second concerto has been a life changing experience. Somehow, in this music, in spite of all the difficulties and the obvious instrumental interest that such work can trigger, I cannot help but feel that this was a man with his priorities straight, who had a clear vision of how men, nature and the world ranked in the big scheme of things. It all comes across his music with a sense of sincerity, honesty and purity that other 20th century composers never achieved.

Now, I was shocked to see how working on these two composers influenced one another. One can go on and on to see how different, or how similar they are, and we can all agree on these various points. However, my reaction is a very visceral one. I can spend hours and hours on Bartok, than switch to Mozart, and back to Bartok, and feel totally balanced. They are both so righteous that at the end of the day I have this wonderful feeling that somehow I've done something good, I've hopefully improved on the pieces, but, most shockingly, I feel that these two composers have made me a bit better as a person. For the first time I am not focusing on Romantic and post-romantic music, and I don't feel any void, or don't miss it at all. I have a feeling that I could go on for the rest of my life this way. Oh well, I am playing Beethoven's Hammerklavier again next January, and that is also such a big part of me as a human being, but there is something about Bartok and Mozart that is much bigger than us and at the same time so accessible, simple and just...right!

Now, I am looking forward to a new day tomorrow. I will probably work on the second movements of the sonatas now, and hopefully advance a few more pages in the Bartok. What a nice life!

Alessio

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Location: Blogs AB Web Blog