"Northern Chopin"-Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor Opus 16

The Nordic countries in Europe normally stands out from people in continental Europe just by being themselves perhaps due to the relatively harsher weather they are subjected to as well as the intimacy they have with nature. Edvard Grieg, a Norwegian composer is noted for two things in my view. Firstly, a large portion of his compositions are either for Piano or based on the Piano that some scholars nick named him the 'Chopin of the North' perhaps like Chopin, he is also a pianist that writes lots of piano based music. Secondly, his unique harmonic skills in infusing Nordic Folk songs into his compisitions in an elegant manner to qualify as main stream classical music. Classical music is used loosely here to refer to music that pass or surpass the theoretical sandbox of musical laws rather than the classical era that pre-dates the romantic era.

My reason for choosing to write on this piece is in line with my aim of creating or keeping interest in classical music alive in Singapore. It saddens me to see shops reducing their classical music sections or doing away with it altogether. Some of you might think it is strange as Grieg is not a household name along the lines of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms or the triple Bs. However, many of us would have heard excerpts of this piece as it is widely used as background music in numerous shows with acknowledgements of it so miniscule that we will surely miss it one way or another. Most do not even bother as copyrights to this piece has expired as Grieg has died for more than 70 years now. Arvid Vollsnes is of the opinion that there are more recordings of this piano concerto than any piano concertos written during the Romantic era. I beg to differ as Google it and you will find that it is most probably either Tchaikovsky or Rachmaninov Piano Concertos that occupies this spot and definitely not Grieg. Perhaps it is true in the Nordic part of the world.

Like Beethoven fifth symphony, Grieg Piano Concerto have a very distinct introduction. In the case of Beethoven, some scholars termed it as death knocking on the door. We cannot be totally sure about this as Beethoven himself did not explain the passage. For Grieg, the introduction is what I would term as surprising reality staring at your face. I got this notion from noticing film directors penchant for using this introduction to inject an element of surprise, fear, reality and almost exclusively in a negative sense. Like most minor keyed pieces, it is like starting a painting on a dark canvas metaphorically speaking. The examples are far too many to quote and do keep a look out for it.

In addition to the signature introduction, the first movement also have a too definite ending. It is not uncommon for hear a premature applause or two from the audience at this juncture mistaking it for an end to the paino concerto as the first movement is over 10 minutes. I would like to think that it is mostly a positive premature applause as opposed to a sarcastic applause that they have heard enough rubbish from the performers.

The second movement has a quieter entrance compared to the first movement and also a daring departure from the minor key to a contrasting major key. Most of the opinion that the second movement is thematically an island by itself but try putting on your thematic development facility and stretched your imagination a little further and you can most probably hear the thematic linkages between the 2 movements. This is a very unconventional posture and I am ready for volleys of canon from main stream opinion leaders.

The third and final movement takes a surprising detour to a Rondo like form away from the ABA form in the first two movements but it is done very cleverly by the composer to back link it to the theme of the first movement and leading it to a well resolved finale.

I though that there were only two versions of the Piano Concerto; the original (1868) and the final (1907). To my surprise, there are a total of seven principal versions. Most modern rendition is based on the Final (1907) version. You can still find recordings of the original (1868) version. For the other five versions sandwiched in between, I have not been able to lay my finger on them. Perhaps it is out there somewhere.

With an Opus number of 6, I would think that this Piano Concerto must have been done earlier in Grieg composing career but Opus 6 was assigned to the original version when Grieg was in his twenties with a wife and an infant in tow. The final version was autographed six weeks before Grieg death. This piece of music must have occupied a special sentimentality for Grieg to make life long revisions perhaps as a quest for musical nirvana or it is his favorite composition.

After rummaging through my collection and borrowed or stole some from my friends, I finally assembled the following recordings of this Piano Concerto.

Original Version (1868)

1. Derwinder/Hirokami/Norrkopping Symphony Orchestra

Final Version (1907)

1.Knardahl/Ingebretsen/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

2.Richter/Matacic/Monte Carlo National Opera Orchestra

3.O'hara/Judd/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

4.Ogawa/Rudd/Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (Bergen premiered this piece)

5.Perahia/Davis/Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

The differential between the Original and Final version lies mainly in the orchestration and only small changes were made in the solo piano part. I could not lay my hands on any of the sandwiched versions to make a comparison.

Of the six renditions listed above, it is not surprising that the one by Richter stands out from the rest. Not only is the dynamic range between ppp and fff being more pronounced, the emotive force is also the strongest without compromising too much on technical correctness. This should not be surprising as Richter has publicly aired his view that he plays what he likes and does not care about the audience. I take it not as a prima donna with a bad attitude but perhaps Richter has discovered that by playing for himself, it will enable him to deliver the best music to his audience. Not many might agree as Richter has quite a character like last minute no show even on very special performances for the diplomatic corp.

Other giants in the list are Perahia who made his name in his Mozart and Beethoven interpretations and Knardahl who is noted for her interpretation of Nordic works. From my listening sessions, the renditions of these two giants sounded a bit main stream with little differential. Perhaps for more popular pieces like this Grieg Piano Concerto, the differential between the great and the greatest is so small that differentiating them calls for skills beyond my reach.

Happy listening.

Cheers,,,, Pete aka lkypeter

Safe Harbor

Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Copy Rights of all contents in this blog belongs to Peter Lye unless stated otherwise.

Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1 Opus 6

Italians are renowned for their flair in design and the Germans for fine engineering. Furniture wise, we normally have great looking Italian pieces that sometimes lacked functionality and durability. German furniture on their hand are normally well engineered and durable but might not be as appealing to the eyes compared to Italian pieces in general. So it would be great to have the Italian conceptualize the design and the Germans to engineer and build it. Why the comparison about furniture on a piece of musical work? I have on hand a great Italian masterpiece in Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1 Opus 6 but my favorite rendition thus far is by solo violinist Hilary Hahn who is of Germanic stock. Could be a marriage made in heaven if you consider the combination of Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Japanese conductor Eiji Oue in the same breathe. Swedish being associated mostly with safety like Volvo car ( although Volvo car now belongs to Ford ) and Japanese for their consistent quality of their produce.

Noticed that I have not keyed the title as there are some interesting angle as it can be in either D major or a combination of D major for the soloist and E flat for the orchestra as originally envisioned by Paganini. He originally wrote the orchestra score in E flat major and the soloist part in D major but have the soloist tune his violin half a semitone higher to match with the orchestra. Paganini did not state the reason for doing so but contemporary opinions being either he felt that E flat major being more appropriate tonality wise or because the soloist part is more easily executed in the key of D major. Almost all modern interpretations are done on D major for both the solo violinist and the orchestra.

With the violin being one of the instruments Paganini plays, it is therefore not a surprise that this piece was written with quite a fair emphasis on the solo violinist especially in the first and last movements. The total time for the piece is about 36 minutes with the middle movement occupying only about 5 plus minutes and the longest first movement of about 21 plus minutes. To attain a fuller enjoyment, I would recommend both listening and watching it as the solo violin portions contain a good dose of showmanship ( meaning in both gender ) like double stops in which the solo violinist have to bow on 2 strings simultaneously and portions of the piece that takes the soloists to almost the end of the upper register of the scale for violin and quick alternating notes between the first and last string of the violin.

I have always loved the lower middle registers of the violin where at the hands of a good violiniss and a good violon makes for a very unique tonality which I can only describe as very tunefully close to the human voice. Some like this portion to be played with vibrato but I beg to differ as I love the more ancient playing style with less or no vibrato. This is also one of my reason for preferring Hanh's rendition with less vibrato.

The piece promises lots of cadenza where the soloist is at their own devices with the orchestra silent. Having said that, this is certainly not a sonata disguised as a concerto but the more tuneful blending between the orchestra and the soloist is more prevalent in the brass and woodwind portions with a good dose of accentuation from the percussion group. The string section is mostly deployed in a more harmonic support manner in my opinion.

As this is my first writing on Paganini, it would be good to note that like most warm blooded Italian being more southernly geographically, his life is not short on excitement and uniqueness especially on the romantic front as he was ever quoted saying he is not handsome but when women hear him play, they would come crawling to his feet. Gambling was also one of his many favorite vices. Later in life, he even attempted to make money out of his gambling habit by opening a casino but it lead to financial ruin for him personally and he had to wind it up. The juiciest rumor is about his alleged pact with the devil to grant him special musical talent in exchange for something sinister. It does not help that when asked about it, he was quoted at replying how else could he be so good musically. I am of the opinion that this is most probably an egotistical and mischievous reply not to be taken seriously as he has quite a flamboyant and sanguine character. This alleged rumor could also be one of the reasons why his body was denied a timely decent Catholic burial until a few decades later.

Before penning off, some of the other more noted renditions of this work you might want to listen to besides my favorite by Hahn/Oue/Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra are:

1.Accardo/Dutoit/London Philharmonic

2.Grumiaux/Bellugi/National Orchestra de la Opera Monte Carlo

3.Perlman/Foster/Royal Philharmonic

4.Rabin/Gossens/Philharmonia Orchestra

5.Menuhin/Monteux/Orchestra National de Paris

Happy reading, listening and watching hopefully in that order.

Cheers,,,,, Pete aka lkypeter

Safe Harbor. Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Peter Lye

The Middle Child Sonata-Beethoven Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 3 Opus 69

Having laid off writing for a period, a dash of inspiration hits me after listening to this popular and tuneful Sonata. This Sonata occupies the mid-point of the five Sonatas Beethoven wrote for this genre. It is unique in more ways than one besides acting as a bridge between Beethoven's first 2 and last 2 Sonatas that are stylistically quite different. One possible reason being that Beethoven took about 10 years to complete these 5 Sonatas as oppose to about 3 years to complete his 9 violin sonatas.

I shall be a bit adventurous and indulgent to nick named this Sonata as a "Middle Child" Sonata. My reasoning (whether they hold water or not as I consider myself too novice and amateurish in classical music compared to the many esteemed scholars as this is hobby craft and strictly pro-bono in my case) is manifold other than numeracy if you could hold your horses on your comments and read on first.

Of the 5 sonatas Beethoven wrote for this genre, only the 3rd has 4 movements instead of the usual cookie cutter 3 movements. A Scherzo was added as the second movement and this additional movement is no incidental movement as Beethoven has sprinkled it with a number of notables. Instead of a slower or more contemplative movement after the vociferous first movement, this movement is lively without being attention seeking. It nicely continues to develop the theme introduced in the first movement in a very Beethoven manner like he did for his 5th Symphony which was written around the same time. He also put in a gymnastic for the pianist by introducing a changing of hands in the tied note which should be a visual feat for the audience especially for the more visual pianist of our time like the legendary Lang Lang. One of Beethoven's pupil Czerny noted that this was most probably added to create a vibrato effect on the tied note. Of the recordings I have heard so far, only the Hardwood/Berner stated specifically in their liner notes that they are playing according to this notation. Many modern pianists would most probably skip this notation as it is not only more difficult to execute on modern day piano but makes little difference on modern day piano as I am made to understand. On listening to the Hardwood/Berner recording I could not hear the difference but I am only an amateur. If you were to listen till mid way into the second movement, there is a longish single note written to test the cellist's skill and patience as it is also tempered with a vibrato. Must be some tired fingers on the left hand for the cellist for what would seems like an eternity.

Thematic development in this piece is so obvious of Beethoven's work from this period of his life onwards starting perhaps with his 5th Symphony where his art is most finely honed in my opinion. The simple theme from the first movement is fashioned into numerous connected forms that will baffle many. This is most probably further proof that this Sonata is most probably conceived in his mind between his 5th and 6th symphonies other than the Opus numbering suggesting so.

Beethoven is also a master in switching between an aggressive to melancholic tuneful serenity all within the same movement. This is quite evident for the 3rd movement of this Sonata as it starts like a slow boat to China but moves gracefully between melancholy and aggressive but in a less pronounced manner than in his 5th and 9th symphonies. Beethoven might have been a jack the rabbit motor fan if he were to be alive now as his pieces sometimes behave typical of hard ABS braking followed by sudden and strong acceleration forces but leaving his passengers in a magic carpet like ride without being nauseous. All these seems a bit contradictory but have a good listen and you will sase out what I mean.

This Sonata has no clear delineation between soloist and accompanist and this could be deliberate either to elicit the best out of both the cellist and pianist or to set the stage for a struggle between them. Even if Beethoven were to have the intention of setting the stage for a fight between the cellist and pianist, the fight must have been done so with the liquidity and graceful movements of ballet dancers. I have not decided myself on this matter after hearing quite a few versions repeatedly. Would highlight 3 versions where this is more obvious as the pairing is like a pairing of equal musical giants.

1.Rostropovich/Richter (1961)

2.Maisky/Argerich (1997)

3.DuPre/Barenboim (1970)

Rostropovich was vocal enough to warrant losing his entry permit back to his Russia motherland after migrating to US. It was only with a change in Russian leadership that paved the way for his return back to Russia and I am glad that he managed to spend his final moments on earth back in his Russia motherland. He is also the musician that played spontaneously at the Berlin wall when it came crumbling down knowing that it would further complicate his possibility of returning to Russia. As for Richter, he has said it openly that he only play pieces that he likes and not for his audiences when asked why he did not want to complete the recording of all 5 Beethoven's piano concertos. He has also done things like having Stalin walk out half way through his performance as a mark of disapproval of him but he said he was lucky that he did not 'disappear' like many who cross the path of Stalin have a habit of doing so. Many of us did not notice that more people died during the communist revolution in Russia than number of Jews that were murdered during the Holocaust. On the contrary, he was one of the pianist that was performing during Stalin funereal. Richter himself remarked that this must have been a joke of sort as he did not get Stalin approval when he was alive but did so in his death. I have listened to this version of recording but did not sense any struggle for limelight and the two giants seems to gel so wonderfully together. What a surprise.

Maisky himself has also served about 18 months in prison or what they term as re-education camp for god knows what the reason is and thereafter was welcomed into the arms of Israel. He was also a student of Rostropovich. His equal in this case comes from Argentina. Argerich is very talented but has a fast and furious temperament and at about 30% of her concerts were no show for the most trivial of reasons. She blends her spirit with the music and is not straight jacketed by technicalities but have a healthy respect for it. This version makes for interesting listening as you can hear the challenge for lime light in all 4 movements between Maisky and Argerich but it was done so tastefully that it makes for very spirited listening. Perhaps, this was the interpretation Beethoveen intended.

DuPre and Barenboim is a husband and wife teaming but lets not guess who wears the pants at home. DuPre was a highly regarded cellist during her short and challenging life on earth of about 50 years due to multiple sclerosis. DuPre's fame and her health challenges could well be a formulae or excuse for unruly behavior but she is just the opposite as fellow performers, conductors, studio staff have good things to say about her gentle and joyful demeanor. Barenboim is a notable pianist and conductor himself and also a very intelligent and good at managing talented musician. In this recording, I believe that Barenboim had played more or less a supportive part but not without putting himself on the pedestal when the part calls for it without out living his welcome on the pedestal.

Before I pen off, it is widely held belief that the middle child in the family is normally the forgotten child and thus it is not uncommon for middle child to go after the lime light on every available opportunity in my opinion. This is my reason for naming it thus. Other versions worth listening to are:

1.DuPre/Stephen Bishop (1965)

2.Wispelwey/Lazic (2004)

3.Hardwood/Berner (2006)

Good weekend.

Cheers,,,,,, Pete

Safe Harbor. Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Peter Lye