Concert Report

Concert Report      MUSIC 250 

October 13^{th, 2008}  Guest Artist. Solon Pierce, Piano recital.  AFC 7:30pm

Repertoire

From Moments Musicaux, D.780…………………Franz Schubert(1797-1828)

  No.2 in A-flat

  No.5 in f minor

  No.6 in A-flat 
I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise…………………George Gershwin(1898-1937)

  Swanee (from Songbook)

  Rialto Ripples (with Will Donaldson)

  The Man I Love (transcribed by Percy Grainger) 
Graceful Ghost Rag………………………………William Bloom(b.1938) 
Menuet…………………………Georges Bizet-Sergei Rachmaninoff(1873-1943)

(From L’Arlesienne Suite No.1) 
Prelude in G-flat,Op.11 no.13……………………Alexander Scriabin(1872-1915) 
Liebesleid………………………………………Fritz Kreisler-Sergei Rachmaninoff 
Nocturne-Impromptu(1985)………………………Nathaniel Pierce(1969-2007) 
Carnaval,Op.9……………………………………Robert Schumann(1810-1856)

I hadn’t been to too many recitals before, but this was definitely one of the best to me. Since European classical music and Chinese pop music has taken up most of my entertainment time, I have very little knowledge of American modern music including Jazz and Blues. While in this recital, the pianist played mostly jazz piano (except for 3 pieces of Romantic works) which led me into a completely new music world and expanded my limited horizon of jazz. It was a feast of listening, brilliant and fantastic. It was also very emotional as the dedication in memory of the pianist’s brother. I was quite touched by this musical experience.

After making some searches and clearing my mind, here I am going to make a brief description about my feelings of some compositions.

Schubert :Op.94 D.780 Moments Musicaux

No.2 A flat — Slow and peaceful. Very quiet throughout the piece except for a small middle part showing up with a dramatic forte. The whole piece feels much like a barcarolle, with free rhythm and floating melody.

No.5 f minor — Short and fast, like a small march which was done at a dish

No.6 A flat — Longer and slower. The pianist looks like a thinker or a poet losing himself in thought. The melody transferred from sharp to flat from time to time, displaying a subtle mood, sometimes sounding like sighing. I wonder if the pianist was thinking about his dear brother~

George Gershwin:

Swanee — After a long slow and quiet piece, the pianist's emotion suddenly became bright, with music style changing from Romantic into Jazz, fast and jumping. Well, I guess there was not only sad memory but also happy things~

Rialto Ripples — Fast ,similar rhythmic pattern and theme repeated, humorous, allegramente, and funny which reminded me of Broadway ,ended with a sudden stop.

The Man I love — Allegretto, beautiful romantic melody with fanciful grace notes. We can feel an in-love woman’s heart; affectionate and dreamlike. 

William Bolcom :Graceful Ghost Rag

It was one of my favorite compositions in the recital.

Rag, short for Ragtime ,which I thought was part of the title but later figured it out to be a 19^th-century dance form characterized by highly syncopated melodies, contributed to early jazz. And that’s the charm of this composition—the melody seems like unbalanced but compact to make a conflicted mood.

It was played as Moderato. As the title says ”graceful ghost”, the theme was so graceful with a kind of gloomy beauty, gentle and blue, I can imagine that a ghost was circle dancing on tiptoe again and again, freely but lonely, dropping itself into memory. When the music came into the middle part, the melody became unrestricted, it looked like the ghost was relieved from itself, sort of “American dream” feelings. Later when it came to the theme again, the speed was a little faster and there was less of a maze than before.

Fritz Kreisler: Liebesleid

It was the composition I like most in the recital.

When the melody firstly came into my ear, I felt it so familiar that I must have heard it somewhere. Then I realized that it was recomposed into a Chinese pop song called “half cigarette” which was one of my favorites. It’s kind of weird to hear the same melody but in complete different styles. And later I found a third version and the original version—violin version. And I got to know that the composition was often played by Trios.

The comparison of the piano and pop version:

The piano version

Fast, free rhythm, emotional, dreamlike.

The theme is so graceful with fancy gloom. It was repeated about four times and reached the peak at the two minutes 20 seconds. Every time I could feel the heavy mood in the main melody, but then that the music subtly changed into a flowing and gorgeous part. The listener may think they have passed the sad part in this piece of composition, but the tension and dissonance just came into their ear again when they haven’t realized it. I guess that’s why this composition was called “Liebesleid”, which means “love’s sorrow” in German, because sorrow was everywhere even presented in bright way, but it’s also true that I felt more elegance than sorrow in the music.
 

The pop version

Moderato, steady rhythm, more gentle and graceful, blue beauty with imaginative lyrics which is quite suitable. It is a perfect combination of post-modern and classic and mixed with a little Latin.

The prelude at the very beginning is very interesting, with funny descending leaps; it sounds like someone sneaking around on his tiptoes which matched to the lyrics. The interlude of violin may be the most wonderful part of the song, making the music more dramatic. 
     According to the singer's comprehension to the lyrics— the second hand just made one round when I passed by the hallway on tiptoe and turned around, the time of waiting for her(my lover) was up when half cigarette burnt away.

Here are the Chinese lyrics and my translation (may not catch the Chinese charm)

半支烟                   Half cigarette

秒针究竟转了几圈      How many rounds has the second hand turned ,
已过去了多少时间      how much time has already gone ?
我悄悄地进了房间      Quietly I went inside the room,
转过回廊的脚尖        turning around on tiptoe at the end of the hallway.

打不开熟悉的唱片      I couldn’t play my old CD,
我猜因为作祟的指尖    I thought it was my annoying fingers.
踩着飘过去的音乐      Sliding with the floating music,
向着她吐一口烟        I puffed out a smoke at her.

燃掉吧 半分感情的烟   Burning it up ,the cigarette with only half love

that’s been left!

一段在嘴边            part at the mouth,
一段在空空荡荡的房间  part remained in the empty room.

想着她哼出来的歌      Thinking of the song she hummed,
舞步像掉进了旋涡      my dance step were as if falling into a swirl.

散落在空中的烟灰      The cigarette ash that fell down in the air
是等待过的滋味        tasted its waiting.

写下我来过的便签      I dropped the note saying I was once here,
在我离开她到来之前    before the time I have to leave her comes;
等待是半支烟的时间    Waiting counted the time of half cigarette,

你转过脸就发现        But you wouldn’t notice unless you turn around

燃烧吧 半分感情的烟    Burning it up ,the cigarette with only half love      that’s been left!

慢慢消失               It’s fading away,

留给我的是苦滋味       leaving me only the taste of bitterness.

All three version audios had been put on here (my Chinese blog):

http://www.mtime.com/my/lanxinwu/blog/1495330/