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Pianist Garrick Ohlsson brought The Friends of Chamber Music’s 2010-11 Master Pianists Series to a satisfying conclusion Saturday in a performance of Chopin and Granados repertory for an audience of around 700 at the Folly Theater. As the first American winner of the Chopin International Piano Competition in 1970, Ohlsson has become one of the foremost interpreters and champions of Chopin’s repertory. His performance in Kansas City featured a program celebrating the bicentennial of Chopin’s birth (1810) and the centenary of Granados’ composition of his Goyescas in 1911. The evening’s performance was characterized by an impressive breadth of musical contrast, thoughtful interpretation, and overall artistry.

In the first half’s Chopin set, a graceful rubato gave a lovelorn character to the initial melody of Chopin’s Nocturne in F Major, Op. 15, No. 1, while subtleties in the left hand’s repeated chords added a necessary propulsion. The second theme injected thunderclaps of murky bass chromaticism into the placid atmosphere of the first theme. Indeed, Ohlsson seemed to relish Chopin’s occasionally stark contrasts of moods and themes, highlighting such moments throughout the program.

Ohlsson continued his Chopin set with an assortment of Op. 25 Études. It was quite interesting to compare Natasha Paremski’s Folly Theater performance of the Op. 25, No. 1 Étude in A-flat Major to that of Ohlsson’s only one week apart. Whereas Paremski created gauzy veils of sound, Ohlsson produced a radiant, warm sound that was incredibly clear, dividing the layers of the texture like a prism of light. Both interpretations were beautifully executed by these artists and it was lovely to witness such contrasting takes on the same score.

Ohlsson’s take on the E Minor Étude Op. 25, No. 5 achieved a reedy, concertina-like effect with an opening “Scotch Snap” melody (a dotted rhythm where the shorter of the two notes is on the beat). This effect was exaggerated even more in a taver-like lilt later in the Etude with Chopin’s acciaccaturas, where neighbor tones were first sounded with their resolutions then released. The ending’s double trill led to a final, expansive arpeggio, where Ohlsson’s stance at the piano as the chord decayed to nothing called attention to the exquisite blend and voicing of the sonority.

The Op. 44 Polonaise in F-sharp Minor—at eleven minutes, one of Chopin’s more massive works on par with the Ballades—followed the Études selections. The martial principle theme’s rhythmic impulse immediately brought to mind Rachmaninoff’s similarly rhythmic Prelude in G Minor, Op. 23. Ohlsson brought out the heroic nature of the Chopin work, leaving behind the melancholic sentiments so often associated with Chopin. A sensitive, middle development returned to familiar territory before a rumbling transition to the recap and ending revived me from a lull.

There were a number of what seemed to be teaching moments in Garrick Ohlsson’s recital. One of the first came with the Scherzo in B minor, Op. 20: if you play thick Chopin textures fast enough in a space like the Folly, the room acoustics will pedal for you, we learned. Ohlsson’s foot was hardly on the pedal except during significant, extended bass tones, yet a flurry of notes were woven into a beautiful harmonic tapestry without becoming too blurry.

If Chopin had written fandangos and boleros instead of mazurkas and polonaises one might end up with the music of Enrique Granados’ Goyescas: Los majos enamorados. In this performance, however, the first selection from Goyescas, “Los Requiebros,” [“Flatteries”] was perhaps too Chopin-esque and it wasn’t until the latter part of the piece that Ohlsson achieved a color distinct from that of the preceding Chopin.

The second of the set, “El Fandango de Candil,” [“Fandango by lamplight”] was an incredibly fun listen. The fandango rhythm had great propulsion and impressive uniformity despite virtuosic challenges. It was a sophisticated layering of parts, with allusions to castanets, guitar, and vocal lines.

The opening of “Quéjas, ó la Maja y el Ruiseñor” [“Complaints, or the Maja (Maiden) and the Nightingale”] was a beautiful depiction of a sighing, lovesick melody accompanied by moonlit, guitar-like arpeggiation. Some of Granados’ chord progressions here were particularly beautiful, a mixture of folk-influenced modal progressions and French harmonic structures. The story of this selection concerned a maiden confiding her secrets to the nightingale, who remains silent for most of the movement. Towards the end, the music erupts in a flurry of activity, depicting the nightingale’s character confiding its own secrets to the maiden.

Written a couple years after Goyescas, Granados’ El Pelele: Scena Goyesca served as an epilogue to the Goyescas selections, bringing Garrick Ohlsson’s program to a close. This work was a Lisztian showpiece, with double trills, sweeping arpeggios, and rapid octaves, all in quick succession.

Following a warm reception, Ohlsson offered two encores. The first was Rachmaninoff’s C-sharp Minor Prelude—another teaching moment: I’ve always thought it best in this piece to make use of the rarely utilized sostenuto pedal (the middle of the three) to effectively layer this piece without blurring. Ohlsson was able to give an effective, robust performance using only the damper and una corda pedals.

Lastly, the pianist gave a very personalized rendering of Debussy’s Clair de Lune. It was truly a moonlit whisper, with the dynamics rarely rising above pianissimo and a tone which was persistently veiled and delicate. The un poco mosso accelerandos were almost dispensed with altogether and there were several poignantly-placed fermatas here and there. Having just taught the piece to two students, I got the sense there may have been a few notes before the recap which were omitted in a small memory slip. Nonetheless, due to Ohlsson’s experience and professionalism, the piece still came off seamlessly without any noticeable blemishes, for a very beautiful, haunting performance.

I can’t recently recall a pianist giving quite this kind of recital. Garrick Ohlsson really used his time on the stage last Saturday to say quite a lot about the piano music of Chopin and Granados, performing, and listening. All without saying much in words at all.

REVIEW:
The Friends of Chamber Music, Master Pianists Series
Garrick Ohlsson, Piano
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Folly Theater
300 W 12th St, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-561-9999 or visit chambermusic.org.

Top Photo: Garrick Ohlsson by Kacper Pempel

By Topher Levin

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.