The Concerto

[kimmoor@mindspring.com (Kristen Immoor)]

Hi all,
        Conversation seems a bit slow today...
        I have decided that, at the risk of sounding overly indulgent
towards the soloist, I really enjoy the concerto format. It hit me today at
the office while listening to the old CBS disc of the GG Bach piano
concertos. I don't see the dynamic between the soloist, the orchestra and
the conductor as a fierce competition, to me it seems to be more of a dance
or a game.
        I will grant that at times the solo elements can seem grandiose,
but I think it hinges upon the performer's disposition; when the performer
does not take himself to be a more "serious" performer than his musical
compatriots, the resulting venture can really be a successful and
cooperative effusion of emotion. How can anyone listen to the 1st Cto in d
min without singing or moving to the music? That piece, call it trite if
you must, is like a wake-up call for the heart. Or the Largo from Cto 5 in
f min, what a heartbreaker! Incredible pathos in that Largo, a real
cliffhanger, opening the door to the forceful resolution of the Presto.
        I wish that GG could have gotten an enjoyable thrill from the
concerto, a giddy, gut-twisting wallop of adrenaline and serotonin, a
skittish stage fright highball. Though I can't say from experience, I would
guess that even in the privacy of a recording studio with no audience in
sight it would be quite thrilling to be trapped with a few dozen other
musicians in the middle of a rousing concerto.
        As with any other thrill ride, there will always be those who run
smiling to the gates and climb willingly into the roller coaster cars.
Others (like myself,) approach with trepidation and a sense of impending
doom, but know in their hearts that the payoff will be well worth the risk.
Still others refuse to ride at all and, in fear or ambivalence, wait with
their feet firmly planted on the ground. Gould didn't really seem like the
Six Flags type, so it shouldn't surprise me that he eschewed the concerto
whenever possible. Perhaps he dismissed the concerto not because there was
competition between the other musicians, but because it raised the
competitiveness within himself. He must have hated to surrender his control
to a conductor. Much as GG disliked not being able to make spontaneous
choices about cuts and/or tempi in live recitals, he would also be
prevented from doing so under the baton.
        To my mind, the concerto is much more (for lack of a better word)
*genuine* than a solo piece, much more immediate and visual. I can almost
see GG at the piano in front of the orchestra, bouncing in his chair, mouth
agape, sounding out the dentals in the music as he runs his hands down the
keyboard in time with the urging of the maestro. No time for obsessive
correction, no time for self-doubt or hesitation, the music flows from the
mind to the fingers and out into the air without a wasted breath. There is
unity in the concerto, a collective labor of love that wrenches a coherent
finished work from an army of disparate instruments. When listening to an
adept concerto, I always feel that I am eavesdropping on a jubilant
experience. I wish that Gould could have enjoyed it a bit more.
        Incidentally, can anyone confirm what sounds like a horrendous
gaffe in the lower string section about 7 or 8 seconds (CBS time) into the
Bernstein/Gould JS Bach d min cto #1? Sounds like someone dropped their
cello. :-o

Up too late for solid reason,
Kristen

____________________________________________________________________________

"Soon, as if Gould is playing a vampire, he goes out mostly at night. He
drives a big American car, with the security of steel, glass, and metal
plating. He uses the cover of darkness. (At night everyone is disguised.)"

                                                              -- B.W. Powe