Symphonic Piano Duo (4/4/13)

Ranko Markovic & Marialena Fernandes, duo pianists, at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York. This is a fun venue that I know I’ve mentioned before, and this concert was one piano, four hands (as opposed to two players, two pianos).

The program: Six pieces for piano four-hands (1896), Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951); ‘Nachstück’ from Mahler’s Symphony No. 7, arranged by Alfredo Casella, Gustav Mahler (1860–1911); selections from ‘Several short waltzes for piano four-hands’ (1979, 1988), Wolfgang Rihm (b. 1952); Chamber Symphony, Op. 9, arrangement for piano four-hands by Felix Greissle, Schoenberg.

First, Schoenberg and Mahler were composers who were stretching the limits of classical music in their eras. While the music is sometimes still difficult to get a handle on, this concert was surprisingly easy to listen to. The Six pieces had an angularity and folk music feel, with the third of the six having running, fast fingering motifs. The fourth was gentler and tonal but still a bit spiky. The fifth had a highly charged, rhythmic feel.

Nachstück was very interesting, technically. A note, though. This duo has as their raison d’être a pianistic view of symphonic writing—not just a piano reduction or a watered down version of the score. They want to present a version of the score pianistically and symphonically. With this work, I often found myself thinking that I knew where the tune was going, until I didn’t. It veers just slightly away from what you expect. This was a good example of a classic march movement from the Symphony No. 7.

Rihm’s waltzes. Well, they’re waltzes; they’re lovely; they’re evocative; they’re sometimes somewhat scary (think Stephen King’s carousel or Stephen Sondheim’s darker moments). My notes include such random thoughts as “reminiscent of a film score,” “richness and density of four hands,” and “slower tempo sounded gray and drizzly to me—on the outside looking in.”

The Schoenberg Symphony arrangement had more of the dissonance and stretching of boundaries that I associate with the writing of that era. It sounded somewhat disjointed—even off-putting to my 2013 ears. I can’t imagine what an audience or critical response would have been at the original first hearing. For me, it was hard to get a sense of the music because of all of the notes in the way.

As an encore, the duo played a scherzo, Bruckner (symphony? No. 3?) that, even at its fiercest and most furious, had a bright, positive quality in both the composition and the performance.

Throughout, it was very interesting to see the interaction (hands, bodies, even feet (each pianist was in charge of the piano pedals at different times)) of the artists. I enjoyed this concert quite a bit.

ConcertMeister