GG: east-west background

[Bradley P Lehman <bpl@UMICH.EDU>]

Juozas wrote:

>Bradley has praised Goldberg Variations played on the piano by a Chinese
>(?) Zhu Xiao-Mei. I still haven't got the opportunity to listen to the
>rendition but it well might be interesting if it's really different from
>the many recordings of the work.

That review is here, and it also includes my comparative thoughts about
all four of GG's recordings of the Goldbergs:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/zhu-goldbergs.htm

=====

Another terrific pianist with an east-west connection is Mark
Swartzentruber.  He's an American now living in England: his "east"
connection is the way he integrates yoga and Aikido into his work.  I have
all his CDs except the newest Schumann....  Here's his site:

http://www.solorecords.co.uk/

I especially like this part of the notes to his Schubert CD:

"When it comes to judging the essential form of a piece, he feels,
instinct should be supported by careful analysis of the music. Making
sense of the harmonic restlessness in the finale of Schubert's sonata in C
minor or the numerous changes of mood throughout the sonata in A Major
requires more than a rudimentary knowledge of Sonata form. 'I've always
loved melody and the challenge of producing an expressive melodic line'
explains Swartzentruber, 'but it wasn't until I studied with Michel Block
at Indiana University that I realised the importance of harmonic structure
to that process. More recently, study with Maria Curcio, a protige of
Artur Schnabel, has given me an appreciation of transparency.' The
acquisition of certain analytical methods, he adds, led to greater
consistency in his playing. 'Ideally, the knowledge of the structure
should be strong within the player, but the surface of the music should
still appear flexible and spontaneous in performance. It's a great mistake
to place one's concept of the structure on the surface. That's equivalent
to ham acting or giving your audience a music lesson. The structure of the
music should be like the finest oriental carpet, where it's possible to
see how the thing was made only by looking at the back.'"


[Incidentally, Swartzentruber here articulates my own main complaint about
the way Tureck and the post-1970 Gould played Bach.  Too often it seems to
me their concept of the structure is too close to the surface.  It's
interesting, but also didactic...for me it dulls the music's impact, and
detracts from my enjoyment of it.  Anyway, today's not the day to go into
that....]


Anyway, back to Zhu: she and Swartzentruber both play Scarlatti
beautifully on the piano.  Such poise and balance, with a simmering
passion that is just beneath the surface...crackling energy.  Wonderful!


Bradley Lehman, Dayton VA
home: http://i.am/bpl  or  http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl
CD's: http://listen.to/bpl or http://www.mp3.com/bpl

"Music must cause fire to flare up from the spirit - and not only sparks
from the clavier...." - Alfred Cortot