Monday 6 July, 1998 Victoria Concert Hall |
5th International Piano Festival | |
JOHANNES BRAHMS Variations on a Theme of Paganini, op.35 Books 1 & 2 (1862-3)
Robert TAUB piano |
OVERALL NOISE RATING:
5 (Dismal - Pianist literally waited for a person to switch off that time bomb as he scrambled to put it off - I'm lost for words in disgust).
The Noise Rating Index is a partially-objective measurement of pager and handphone blasts, 9pm and 10pm watch beeps, coughing-during-the-pianissimo-bits, intra-audience conversation and other mind-bogglingly inept noises emitted in the concert hall during actual performance of music. It is measured on a scale of 0 to 5, in increasing annoyance.
Johann D'Souza
In the second of a four-day marathon of piano concerts at the Fifth International Piano Festival, entitled "Lightning!", the American pianist Robert Taub took on arguably the toughest programme of all the years in the history of the Festival.
Robert Taub has already recorded all the Scriabin Sonatas and has been acclaimed as one of today's most influential interpreters of the composer's works. Taub's performance of the first two Etudes in C# and D#, made well-known by the Russian legend Vladimir Horowitz, were beautifully and elegantly rendered. Octaves runs were clear and distinct, while his phrasing was done with enough leeway to allow him to bring our the clear melodic lines in the right hand. His tempo, although bordering on a slightly slower range, is in my opinion more beautiful that way. They never sounded laboured in Taub's hands, compared to many other pianists who prefer to race through them as if they were Chopin Etudes or Rachmaninov Preludes, thus displaying only the virtuosic aspects of these pieces.
The fourth piece in the programme was the ever popular war horse of Beethoven's "Appassionata Sonata". While this has been played by many a great pianist, it remains one of the most difficult pieces to interpret because even if played well, the X factor could remain missing. Taub launched into the work with a sense of urgency. The interpretation of Beethoven's Sonatas have often been said to be played by two schools of thought - the intellectual and the virtuosic, Taub gave you a mix of these two schools, thus never bothering on either extreme. He demonstrated a keen sense of timbre; speeds in the first and second movements never threatening or taking anything to the extreme.
As pointed out by many of the people around me, Taub has a beautiful touch and where the Steinway at the VCH has often disappointed even the best of pianists, Taub was able to transcend above this. Still, I felt that the third movement was a bit disappointing. Starting off in a hurried manner, Taub seemed to struggle with the pace. The right hand became rather mechanical as it tried to pulverize and keep up with the pace set by the left. Octaves were slightly haphazard and runs were taken a bit carelessly. Repeats sounded no different from the previous, thus becoming colorless. I am of the opinion that this particular piece should have been played in the second half, that is - after a short break. Then again, adding the Brahms Paganini Variations would seem a mountainous task for the best of pianists.
It was here that I thought Taub suffered from slight lapses in memory - mind you there are close to 28 variations. However it was in these descending runs that his octaves were rather careless and at times ordinary. Eg. Variation VI and VIII of Book 1 and VII of Book 2. However in the slower Variations, nos. X, XI, XII and III, XIII of Book 2, he is exciting and introspective which I think showed the other side of his virtuosity. The performance of Book Two, which started off strongly, had moments of beauty but these were far and wide apart. Somehow it seemed that he did not exude the confidence that was needed and this could have been artificially aggravated by the fact that lapses in concentration or just that he could have been struggling with technique - let me qualify that as meaning: he was not yet ready to be perform the Variations on stage or that he could have just had a bad day. (We are all human).
I somehow feel that Taub should have reversed the programme as it was a heavy first half. Perhaps he should have alternated the big works with short pieces, as in the renditions of his Etudes he played with musical intelligence and inspirational alliance. In fact after hearing his Scriabin I am convinced that with his musical insights he would do good to play music by Rosvalet or Moskowski.
Taub played two encores of different latitudes. His second encore was the famous La Campanella by Liszt, which I found again a bit disappointing as he struggled with the descending chords. The first encore is taken from a Schumann song "Fruhlingsnacht", which means "Spring Night". (Thanks Derek, our resident "German Language Expert", who spelt it out for me). This was introspectively done and I have to say that where I found Taub at his best.
Taub (right), who was playing in Singapore for the second time, comes with noted credentials. A winner of numerous awards, he has premiered works like Mel Powell's Two-Piano Concerto and solo works by Milton Babbit, and has recently performed the Persichetti Piano Concerto under Charles Dutoit (something I hope to hear in Singapore some day)
Scriabin's Tenth Sonata, which lasts approximately 14 minutes, has often been viewed as having a sense of mysticism. While it is not exactly lyrical or extremely virtuosic, like the Fourth Sonata, it has often said that it was written during a time when Scriabin had a fascination for works of a diabolical nature. Chords are generally taken in the extreme registers of the piano, with phrasal markings left quite a bit to the discretion of the pianist. Taub seemed to be at home with the piece and lashed at it with great understanding. The ending has a fade-away which he took in a manner making the listener wanting more. I had noticed that Taub never quite lets virtuosity cloud the clear intonaton and expression which is essential in expressing Scriabin's music. While virtuosity may be important, Taub was always conscious never to let that take over at the expense of the spirit of the music.
This single mammoth work, the Variations on a Theme of Paganini, op.35 Books 1 & 2, occupied the second half. Many composers have had a special affinity for Paganini, notably in the Caprices. Rachmaninov wrote his Variations on a theme by the Paganini based on this. Just as the original Caprices pose extreme difficulty, the piano "versions" are by no means an easy feat. It is interesting to note that Brahms (right) paid true homage to Paganini by retaining all the idiosyncracies which the "Devil's Violinist" had originally intended. There is no shortage of pounding chords, shifts in tempo, ascending and descending runs and especially the descending octaves.
Johann D'Souza believes that many pianists practise meditation to achieve that special Tao when they play. He wants to learn meditation so that he will have the Tao and guts to go back to playing the piano.
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