RSS 2.0 FeedJanuary 25, 2012, Classical
Freddy Kempf packs the Folly
Playing to a standing-room only crowd, pianist Freddy Kempf rightfully chose shorter works which were friendly to the younger audience for his Harriman-Jewell Series appearance on Friday night.
In Beethoven's "Les Adieux" Sonata, Op. 81a, the London-born pianist played with emphatic physical movements and sensitive emotion. Airy gestures in the first movement gave way to a brooding character and richer bass in the second. The third movement had some of the best moments in the piece, notwithstanding the emotion-drenched opening, with exciting and bubbly trills and arpeggios and a strong finish.
I was glad to see Kempf's program included choices such as the Brahms 16 Waltzes from Op. 39, which worked well for the shorter attention spans of younger audience members. The most memorable of the set were the opening B major Waltz with its rich bass; the light and airy sixth in C-sharp major with its well articulated, playful, rustic mood; the eleventh in B minor which featured crisp thirds and lilting rhythms; as well as the other B major Waltz—the thirteenth—during which strident bass tones and rolled chords had a particularly rich color.
The pairing of Chopin Ballades followed nicely on the heels of the Brahms Waltzes with the lilting themes of the third Ballade well served by a bright tempo and minimal rubato—a nice trick by Kempf that maintained the momentum and character established with the Brahms. The showpiece moments were executed with sparkle and pizzazz, though I would have preferred to hear more gusto in the meaty, strident sections of the piece.
The themes of the fourth Ballade, one of my favorite works, were treated to a number of subtle color changes throughout, drawn from the piano by Kempf with a thesaurus-worth of touches. Kempf again eschewed rubato except in the most appropriate moments. The fugal treatment of the theme midway through stood out as a particularly sublime, well-controlled moment.
The Schumann Etudes Symphonique of the second half didn't quite achieve the same effect as the set of Brahms Waltzes from the first half. The theme and twelve etudes were too tightly woven to feel like smaller parts of a larger whole, instead the piece seemed a bit monolithic and daunting for the uninitiated. Nonetheless, the piece was well played by Kempf and the rousing twelfth etude achieved an immediate standing ovation from the audience.
Kempf returned to the stage to play Liszt's arrangement of “Isolde's Liebestod” from Tristan und Isolde as his encore. It was quite a high note in the concert as Kempf excelled at the Lisztian gestures and revealed a growling timbre not explored elsewhere in the program.
Overall it was an exciting and well attended program with the highlights for me being Brahms, Chopin, and the fantastic Liszt encore.
REVIEW:
Harriman-Jewell Series
Freddy Kempf, piano
Friday, January 20, 2012
Folly Theater
300 West 12th Street, Kansas City, MO
For more information, visit http://www.hjseries.org
Top Photo: Freddy Kempf (Photo by Neda Navaee)
Classical Editor and Contributor
Christopher (Topher) Levin is a composer, pianist, music theorist, and music blogger based in Kansas City, MO. His compositions have been performed at music festivals across the US and in Europe. He has spent two summers in Paris, France studying music at the Ecole Normale de Musique through the EAMA program. His trio for clarinet, piano, and percussion is published in the SCI Journal of Scores.
Topher holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (M.M.) in music theory and (M.M.) in composition and from James Madison University in Virginia (B.M.) in composition. Primary composition teachers have included John S. Hilliard, Paul Rudy, Zhou Long, James Mobberley, Chen Yi, Claude Baker, Narcis Bonet, Michel Merlet, and João Pedro Oliveira. His piano teachers have included Patricia Brady and Karen Kushner. Topher maintains a piano studio of 22 students.
Having recently completed a Master's thesis on the beautiful complexities of Chinary Ung's trio, Spiral I, Topher turned his writing attention to the more informal blogging medium. He has taken to it quite well, sharing posts on strange and wonderful music and art found across the web with a modest but growing number of blog followers. He looks forward to writing for KCM and sharing with its readers the stories of all the amazing musicians performing in Kansas City.
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