Above: pianist André Watts, photo by David Bazemore
~ Author: Oberon
Thursday October 26th, 2016 – Pianist André Watts joined ORPHEUS this evening as the beloved chamber orchestra kicked off their 2017-2018 Carnegie Hall season with a New York premiere and classics by Mozart and Beethoven. We learned that 600 school-children were in attendance – up in the balcony – having been provided with tickets free of charge. A subtitle for the program might have been “Pianists Who Compose”, as Mozart, Beethoven, and Iyer each first won renown at the keyboard.
American composer Vijay Iyer (above) is a jazz pianist, bandleader, producer, electronic musician, and writer. Tonight ORPHEUS offered the New York premiere of Mr. Iyer’s Asunder, an eclectic and vastly pleasing work that suits the ORPHEUS players to perfection.
In his program note, Mr. Iyer said that, on first receiving the ORPHEUS commission, he thought of writing a piece that would reflect the current deep divisions in our country and “…how it feels to be an American today: pulled apart, broken, anxious, untethered…” He thought of writing big, violent music but then he chose instead to write a piece that “…imagines unity anew…” Bravo! for taking such a stance, Mr. Iyer.
Asunder is presented in four movements; it opens with pacing horns and an oddly noble feeling. Pulsing rhythms and a somewhat ominous timpani carry us thru to a passage for strident winds. Swirls of notes from both strings and winds allude to the movement’s title: Agitated. It ends with dour, deep sounds.
Marked Patient and mysterious, the second movement begins with plucking and a jazzy piccolo solo over bass and cello. A Mid-Eastern flavour permeates; following a build-up to an almost militant passage, a Glassian repetitive motif takes over and we settle into a slow sway.
Calm and precise, like clockwork begins with a gorgeous flute solo; bell tones and other percussive effects designate the effect of time. A repeated downward passage is repeated just a few too many times (my sole reservation about the work).
Solo oboe over bass accompaniment opens the concluding Lush movement; then a rather drowsy clarinet takes over. The Mid-East is evoked again as the music assumes the feeling of a desert journey, then pulses up over deep bass notes. The glockenspiel sounds again, and after a plucked passage the finale turns cinematic.
Percussionist Maya Gunji did a great job in the Iyer, as did several of her woodwind colleagues, though I couldn’t see them clearly enough to name names. And the strings sounded superb…all evening, in fact. Mr. Iyer was called to the stage and was enthusiastically applauded by audience and musicians alike.
The Steinway was then rolled out, and André Watts appeared to a warm welcome from the Carnegie audience.
André Watts came to public prominence at the age of 16 when Leonard Bernstein chose him as a soloist, making his New York Philharmonic debut on one of the orchestra’s Young People’s Concerts – a concert which was broadcast nationwide on CBS-TV. Two weeks later, Bernstein again called upon the young and charismatic Mr. Watts to substitute at the last minute for the ailing Glenn Gould in performances of Liszt’s E-flat Concerto with the New York Philharmonic. In 1976, André Watts’ recital for the Live From Lincoln Center series was the first full-length recital broadcast in the history of television.
The Watts career has spanned over half a century, interrupted at times by health issues. Now 70 years old, he plays with the energy and distinction that have endeared him to audiences worldwide over the decades; he played, in fact, like a very jeune homme.
Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9, composed in January 1777, picked up the appellation “Jeunehomme” “young man”) by mistake when Mozart’s mention (in a letter) of the name of the young pianist who inspired the work – Victoire Jenamy (1749-1812) – somehow got scrambled from Jenamy to Jeunehomme. Victoire was the daughter of the famous 18th-century ballet master Noverre, and she was apparently in Salzburg during the winter of 1776-77 where she met Mozart. This was the first of the composer’s piano concertos to appear in print, published in Paris around 1780.
My first impression of Mr. Watts as he began to play (I’d never heard him live before) was: “He makes the piano sing!” This concerto is very demanding, and – as the pianist remarks in his program note – shows such maturity of writing from a 21-year-old that we could easily be convinced it comes from a later time in the Mozart’s career. It is, overall, music that brings genuine comfort and joy.
In the opening Allegro, Mr. Watts displayed a light touch in a series of delicious trills, with much charming filigree; yet there was also warm power and rhythmic vitality to be enjoyed. An elaborate cadenza held the audience in silent thrall. The following Andantino begins in a somber mood, and the pianist’s sad song (again with some sweet trills) was expressively played. As a more hopeful feeling rises, the orchestra has a really lovely passage: the music has an unusual sense of containment, of assurance and grace. A downward-flowing cadenza, with yet more intriguing trills, showed Mr. Watts’ control and artistic depth.
The finale, a Rondo, commences with virtuosic feats from the pianist. A fine flow develops, with cascades of piano notes. In the middle of the movement, Mozart injects a courtly Minuet interlude, introduced by the soloist who unfurls the melody gently over a pizzicato accompaniment. Another cadenza, now with a rising aspect, again gives us savourable trills.
The audience abundantly hailed Mr. Watts and the ORPHEUS players: a full standing-ovation ensued. We hoped for an encore, but the pianist – perhaps wisely – left us to our Mozartean reveries.
Following a longish intermission, the Beethoven 1st symphony provided a perfect finale to the evening. We’d just heard this work a couple of weeks ago, played by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in this very hall. It’s such a cordial piece, and I’ve grown really fond of it. It was nice to hear it again so soon.
The Beethoven 1st is the symphony that seems to start mid-phrase. The ORPHEUS players gave a marvelous performance, with a breadth and richness of sound that filled the venerable space. Rhythmic acuity and some lovely solo bits from the winds players engaged us from first note to last, and made for an impressive end to a thoroughly satisfying evening of music-making.
The Program:
VIJAY IYER: Asunder (New York Premiere)
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 9, K. 271 “Jeunehomme”
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 1
~ Oberon
Oberon's Glade 