The Greenville Symphony (GSO) concert that Dottore Gianni
attended on 26 January was one of their
finest since his arrival here, more than one and one-half years ago.
The primary reason for its excellence can be recounted in
two words: Vadym Kholodenko. This 2013 winner of the Van Cliburn International Competition dazzled
us that afternoon in his moving and dramatic rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Piano
Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23. More importantly, he seemed to have
raised the level of the GSO’s musical skills as he did so. Those of you who
have been following this blog in the last year will be aware that the good
doctor was wowed by the GSO in the first several concerts he attended, but that
this second season of his subscription found him more critical, as the first thrill
abated. The thrill? That Greenville, SC should have such a strong orchestra.
The more critical Dottore Gianni? That fine as it is, it has its fair share of
flaws. But Kholodenko seems to have inspired the orchestra to reach beyond its
talents. I have seldom heard them make music as such a tight unified body. With
Kholodenko the GSO made the most beautiful music one could hope for from them.
Obviously they are not the New York Philharmonic or the
Philadelphia Orchestra, and though with each concert he attends the good
doctor, perhaps unfairly, demands a higher and higher level of work from them
and is often slightly disappointed, this time they exceeded his expectations.
So Greenville is lucky to have young Kholodenko!
Part of Greenville’s “luck” is the burgeoning prestige of Maestro Edvard
Tchivzhel. In fact at the concert it was announced that Yo-Yo Ma would be
returning in October 2014 (for the third time!) to play a GSO concert, because
he admires Tchivzhel and is impressed with the symphony. Dottore Gianni was
delighted to hear this, and very pleased that subscribers to the GSO will have
first chance at the tickets for the event, which will sell out rapidly. If ever
the good doctor had ruminated on relinquishing his subscription, he now states,
for the record, “Perish the thought!”
Obviously the GSO is not the New York Philharmonic or the
Philadelphia Orchestra, and though with each concert he attends the good
doctor, perhaps unfairly, demands a higher and higher level of work from them
and is often slightly disappointed, this time they exceeded his expectations.
A word or three on Kholodenko. Not yet 30 years old (born in
the Ukraine – Kiev to be exact – in 1986), he studied piano in Kiev, and
excelled. At the age of thirteen toured to the U.S., China, Hungary and
Croatia. In 2005 he continued his
studies at the Moscow State Conservatoire and
continued to win respect and competitions the most recent of which, preceding
the Van Cliburn award, was at the 2011 Schubert Piano Competition in Dortmund,
Germany. Given Ukraine’s nightmarish political situation Dottore Gianni is
happy to know that he, his wife and their young daughter reside in Moscow, and
he now teaches at its Conservatoire, where he was once a student. As a result
of the Van Cliburn Prize he is touring the U.S. playing 50 different concerts
during the 2013-14 season, and is also engaged internationally, one of his most
prestigious events a month-long residency at the fabled Mariinsky Theatre in Saint
Petersburg (Russia, not Florida heh heh), where he was named Artist of the
Month by its distinguished music director, Valery Gergiev, who is also probably
the busiest, most sought after conductor in the world.
Pianist Vadym Kholodenko |
This piano concerto is a difficult one for any pianist.
Indeed, Nikolai Rubinstein, the brilliant pianist to whom Tchaikovsky
offered
his Piano Concerto No. 1, greeted Tchaikovsky’s playing of the first movement
in an ominous silence, followed by an outburst
described by Tchaikovsky himself thus:
The brothers Rubinstein - Anton (l) who taught Tchaikovsky, Nicolai (r) who lambasted his first concerto |
“It turned out
that my concerto was worthless and unplayable; passages were so fragmented, so
clumsy, so badly written that they were beyond rescue; the work itself was bad,
vulgar; in places I had stolen from other composers; only two or three pages
were worth preserving; the rest must be thrown away or completely rewritten.
"Here, for instance, this—now what's all that?" (he caricatured my
music on the piano) "And this? How can anyone ..." etc., etc. The
chief thing I can't reproduce is the tone in which all this was uttered.
In a word, a disinterested person in the room might have thought I was a
maniac, a talented, senseless hack who had come to submit his rubbish to an
eminent musician.”
Ah, what would we do, where would we be without crrrriiitttics!?!
For more of this and information from the paragraph below, see
Ah, what would we do, where would we be without crrrriiitttics!?!
For more of this and information from the paragraph below, see
ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Concerto_No._1_(Tchaikovsky)#cite_note-11
Ah, what would
we do, where would we be, without critics?
For more of this
and information from the paragraph below, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Concerto_No._1_(Tchaikovsky)#cite_note-11
Needless to say,
Rubinstein did not play the premiere performance of the concerto. Instead,
another eminent pianist of the era, the German Hans von Bülow, took it on
and performed it first on
a tour of the U.S. in 1875, at Boston. It was received so well by the audience
that Bülow was compelled to
repeat the last movement! The critics were not so kind, one of them writing
that the concerto was “hardly destined...to become classical.” Some of the
criticism was directed at the sloppy playing by members of the orchestra
because of insufficient rehearsal. "They had not rehearsed much and the
trombones got in wrong in the ‘tutti’ in the middle of the first movement,
whereupon Bülow sang out in a perfectly audible voice, The brass may go to
hell!”
Hans von bulow |
Reason number
2,351 that Dottore Gianni loves live performance! Fortunately the GSO brass and
all the rest of the orchestra was extremely well rehearsed by Maestro Tchivzhel,
resulting in this glowing critique by the good doctor.
Apparently New
York critics received it much more positively when Bülow repeated the piece shortly
thereafter, its Russian premiere. At its first performance in Moscow, who
should be conducting the work but Nikolai Rubinstein, who had come around to
the merits of the concerto. In fact the solo part remained in Rubinstein’s
permanent repertoire. So! All’s well that ends well, yes?
The rest, as
some fools say, is history. The first piano concerto has become one of the most
endearing works for piano in subsequent performance history, and according to
the GSO program notes also “the most popular work for piano and orchestra in
the repertoire.” That is saying a lot, in fact Dottore Gianni thinks it may be
saying too much. Has there been a definitive comparison between performances of
this concerto and other very popular piano concerti? Given the nerdical nature
of music critics and historians there may well be such a study. Suffice to say
that it’s a brilliant, oft-performed piece of music, and that even more importantly,
a favorite of Dottore Gianni!
And that’s all
that needs to be said about the Tchaikovsky, don’t you think? Even if you DON’T
think (many of you do not, tsk tsk) this is where the good doctor’s comments on
it end. Oh! But of course those of you who want more on Tchaikovsky have only
to scroll down in his posts to May 2013, specifically to his review of an earlier Tchaikovsky concert by the GSO, to learn much more about Tchaikovsky, the man and his music! What? You say, "Thank you"? Happy to oblige.
After his
excellent work on the concerto, which just for the record is marked as follows:
I.
Allegro
non troppo e molto maestoso –
Allegro con spirito
II.
Adagio
ma non troppo – Allegro vivace
III.
Allegro
– Allegro vivace
Kholodenko,
responding to prolonged applause by the audience, played a stunningly beautiful
transcription for piano of the "Bohemian Dance" from Carmen, the
great opera by Bizet." From the flash and thunder of the Tchaikovsky to
the tender subtle harmonies of Bizet, the young pianist thrilled the audience
in general and even more so than before the encore, Dottore Gianni in
particular.
So, how does
one follow such a fine first part of a concert? Maestro Tchivzhel chose to
continue in the Russian repertoire. Sergei Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 3. Dottore
Gianni was looking forward to this performance almost as much as he had the
Tchaikovsky, first because he loves the music of Rachmaninoff, second because
while he loves what he knows (Symphony No. 2 and Piano Concerto No. 2
especially, as well as the sublime strains of the composer’s choral masterpiece
known as the Vespers), of the composer’s work, he was not familiar the third
symphony until this concert. In fact this is the last symphony the composer
wrote, and a great chronological distance separates the three works, as he
wrote Symphony No. 1 in D minor, Op. 13 in 1895, No. 2 in E minor,
Op. 27 in 1907, and No. 3 in A minor, Op. 44 not completed until 1936.
Each was written in a different phase of his career, and each represents a distinct
change of style..
Rachmaninoff, by Konstantin Somov |
Dottore
Gianni’s regular readers know that he loves uncovering the biographies of his
subjects. He is not all that well informed about the life of the composer
either, so he’s been researching and is more than willing to share what he has
discovered with his readers. Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) is
often called the last of the great, late Russian Romantics. He was born on an
estate in northwestern Russia into one of those interesting impoverished
aristocratic families – no cash but lots of attitude – sounds like someone
close to Dottore Gianni!). More than anything or anyone else, it was Sergei’s
father that ruined the family. A scholar referred to him as a wastrel, a
compulsive gambler, a pathological liar, and a skirt chaser.”
He gambled away nearly all of the family’s property and money, and they were forced to move from the estate to a cramped flat in Saint Petersburg. Fortunately for Sergei (I don’t mean to get personal with his name, but I definitely don’t mean to spell out Rachmaninoff) every time I mention him) his mother wasn’t a bad sort, and gave Sergei piano lessons from the age of four. His paternal grandfather was extremely helpful, particularly in arranging for a fine Saint Petersburg based teacher to continue his studies. It wasn’t long before the teacher realized that she had an unusually fine budding pianist in their midst, and his teacher was able to get Sergei (actually let’s shorten the name even more – to initials disregarding the middle name, or “patronymic,” thus SR) accepted at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory at the age of ten. The father left the family, and they were much happier after that, as his maternal grandmother helped to look after SR and his siblings. She was religious and she made sure they were too, so SR regularly heard the liturgical chants which influenced his writing much later in life. He soon outgrew the academy in Saint Petersburg and was ushered into the finest place to learn music in Russia (which in late nineteenth-century Russia meant pretty damned fine), the Moscow Conservatory.
Saint Petersburg - On the Fontanka, Dr Jack, November 2000 |
He gambled away nearly all of the family’s property and money, and they were forced to move from the estate to a cramped flat in Saint Petersburg. Fortunately for Sergei (I don’t mean to get personal with his name, but I definitely don’t mean to spell out Rachmaninoff) every time I mention him) his mother wasn’t a bad sort, and gave Sergei piano lessons from the age of four. His paternal grandfather was extremely helpful, particularly in arranging for a fine Saint Petersburg based teacher to continue his studies. It wasn’t long before the teacher realized that she had an unusually fine budding pianist in their midst, and his teacher was able to get Sergei (actually let’s shorten the name even more – to initials disregarding the middle name, or “patronymic,” thus SR) accepted at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory at the age of ten. The father left the family, and they were much happier after that, as his maternal grandmother helped to look after SR and his siblings. She was religious and she made sure they were too, so SR regularly heard the liturgical chants which influenced his writing much later in life. He soon outgrew the academy in Saint Petersburg and was ushered into the finest place to learn music in Russia (which in late nineteenth-century Russia meant pretty damned fine), the Moscow Conservatory.
He grew in
excellence as a pianist and at the same time as a composer. While finishing up
at the conservatory he was already writing his first piano concerto, and of
course playing it as well, and for one of his final projects he wrote an Aleko,
an opera about whose success he was pessimistic about, but which proved so popular
that the Bolshoi Theatre produced it, and placed the great Russian singer Fyodor
Chaliapin in the central role. SR was not quite twenty years old at this time.
He continued to compose and perform, often his own pieces, after graduation,
most famously for that stage of his career one of his most important works, the
Prelude in C-sharp minor. During this period of his life SR also added
conducting to his skills, and if he himself had conducted the
premiere of his
first symphony it might have received a better response, for the composer Alexander
Glazunov, who did conduct it, was over-worked and probably drunk during its
performance. The failure of the symphony threw SR into a three-year funk. During
this time he conducted rather than compose for a living and also married his
first cousin, over strong objections from family and the Russian Orthodox
Church. While intermarriage is not always healthy for offspring, it is all too
often the stuff of the aristocracy. But the marriage of seems to have been a
love match, and lasted for life.
Rachmaninoff and his wife |
It may have
been the marriage that aided himto rid himself of his depression, and the
therapy he undertook with a psychologist was of definitely use in the process.
He began
composing again and in 1901 he premiered his second piano concerto,
playing the solo part himself, and it was rapturously received. It remains one
of his best-known works. In 1904 SR became a conductor at Russia’s greatest
musical venue, the Bolshoi. In 1909 he toured the U.S. for the first time,
which tour was also a grand success. His career, or careers, Dottore Gianni
should say, as he was a triple threat – able to compose, perform on the piano,
and conduct orchestras, all at a high level of quality.
Rachmaninoff at the piano |
Then, in 1917
the October revolution and the resultant takeover by the most militant of the
revolutionaries, the
Bolsheviks, threw Rachmaninoff’s life into turmoil. As a
member of the upper middle class, he was immediately viewed with suspicion and
his estate was confiscated. It was also very likely that his musical skills
would be labeled reactionary and that he would lose his livelihood. In December
of 1917 he his wife and their two daughters left the former Saint Petersburg,
now Petrograd, on a sled, and crossed the frozen channel into Finland. He was
right to do so, as the rise of the Soviet Union and Stalin would more than
likely have taken his life as well as his livelihood.
Rachmaninoff with his daughters |
SR and his
family spent a year in the Scandinavian countries, then in late 1918 he left
for the United States, of which he became a permanent resident, and in which
his reputation continued to grow. He was so sought after as a pianist that he
had little time for conducting or composing, until his success
as a performer
ensured that he would be a monetary success as well. Musical seasons in the
U.S. did not normally include the summer months, so SR built himself a summer
home, the Villa Senar, on Lake Lucerne in Switzerland and between 1932 and 1939 spent summers
there. He began composing again, after a long break, and it was in Switzerland
where his third symphony was written. It is said to be one of his most
“Russian” works, and may well be, as he looked back longingly on his home. He
never returned to his native land.
Rachmaninoff relaxing at the Villa Senar |
Instead he
made his permanent home on both the east coast (New York City) and west coast (Beverly Hills). But he maintained Russian ties. Chaliapin was also in the U.S. and the two remained friends. A strong friendship also developed betweet SR and
the legendary Russian pianist Vladimir Horowitz. The two performed together,
and Horowitz even revised SR’s second piano sonata, which the composer
welcomed. When he heard Horowitz play his third piano concerto at the Hollywood
Bowl in 1942, he said. “This is the way I always dreamed my concerto should be
played, but I never expected to hear it that way on Earth.”
SR did not
have much time left on earth, falling ill at the end of 1942. He was diagnosed
with melanoma from which he died early in 1943. While he had hoped to be buried
at his Swiss villa, that was impossible. At his funeral a choir sang his
beautiful Vespers, also known as the All Night Vigil, and if you like you can
find his grave at the Kenisco Cemetery in Valhalla, NY.
Symphony No. 3
in A minor, op. 44 is made up, unusually, of only three movements. It is
marked:
I.
Lento
– Allegro moderato – Allegro
II.
Adagio,
ma non troppo – Allegro vivace
III.
Allegro
– Allegro vivace
At the
concert, the GSO seemed to hold on to the spirit that it had gained in playing
alongside Kholodenko, but as much as Dottore Gianni wanted to like the piece
itself, he doesn’t think that the symphony is in the same league with his
second symphony, for example, and definitely not in league with the second
piano concerto.
At its
premiere, in 1936, performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by another
legend, Leopold Stokowski, the critics and audience seemed in agreement with
the good doctor, the former giving it mixed reviews, the latter receiving it
negatively. Perhaps those present at the performance were, as Dottore Gianni
did recently, comparing it to earlier, greater works. In any case it is not
played as frequently as other works of this great composer. He himself was
proud of the work and disappointed by the less than favorable responses to it,
and had this to say about it: “Personally, I am firmly convinced that this is a
good work. But sometimes composers are mistaken too! Be that as it may, I am
holding to my opinion so far.”
Bravo Rachmaninoff! While he may not agree, Dottore Gianni admires you for that!
and last but certainly not least:
Vivaldi for Valentines (oh, God!)
********
A
Silly Coda: as
Dottore Gianni was looking for other classical music to buy this morning, he
came across this
album: Rachmaninoff for Romance, and he thought, “How ridiculous!” Then he saw Rachmaninoff for a Rainy Day...Of course there is a series of these attempts to be “classical music for people who hate classical music” but the good doctor did not know how many until he dug around a bit on Amazon.com. Here, in alphabetical order, is a list of the ones he could find – some more ridiculous than others – Bach for Booklovers???? Mozart easily leads the pack, followed by Bach:
album: Rachmaninoff for Romance, and he thought, “How ridiculous!” Then he saw Rachmaninoff for a Rainy Day...Of course there is a series of these attempts to be “classical music for people who hate classical music” but the good doctor did not know how many until he dug around a bit on Amazon.com. Here, in alphabetical order, is a list of the ones he could find – some more ridiculous than others – Bach for Booklovers???? Mozart easily leads the pack, followed by Bach:
Adagios for
After Hours
Bach at
Bedtime
Bach for Barbecue (oh, please!)
Bach for Barbecue (oh, please!)
Bach for
Booklovers ??? also Brahms and Beethoven
Bach for
Breakfast
Baroque at
Bathtime (!!!)
Baroque for
Beauty Sleep
Baroque for Brides-to-be
Beethoven for your Beloved
Baroque for Brides-to-be
Beethoven for your Beloved
Chopin and
Champagne
Debussy at
Dawn
Debussy for
Daydreaming
Liszt for
Lovers
Lullabies for
Lovers
Mozart at
Midnight
Mozart for
Massage
Mozart for
Meditation
Mozart for
Mothers-to-be
Mozart for Morning Coffee
Mozart for Morning Coffee
Mozart for the
Morning Commute (!!!???)
Mozart for Morning Meditation
(one I'd like to see - Mozart for Medication heh heh)
Mozart for Morning Meditation
(one I'd like to see - Mozart for Medication heh heh)
Mozart for the Millennium (AGH!)
Mozart for
your Brain (come on, you can do better!)
Mozart for
your Mind (that’s more like it!)
Mozart in the
Morning
Mozart on the
Menu
Puccini and
Pasta (what???)
and last but certainly not least:
Vivaldi for Valentines (oh, God!)
Of course
there are other attempts to lure you into classical music, which isn’t bad, but
most of them offer only parts of pieces, which in Dottore Gianni’s mind is not
a good thing: stuff like Classical Music for Learning, 100 Must-Have Bedtime
Classics, Classics for a Rainy Day, The 50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music, and
Beethoven: Greatest Hits…he could go on, but he won’t.
Full
disclosure – the doctor owns Bach at Bedtime himself – so what’s he railing about?
Cheers all!
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