Raj Bhimani, Piano (2/21/15)

Raj Bhimani played a very nice program on Saturday afternoon.

Preludes, Book 1 (1910) – Claude Debussy (1862–1918)
I. Dancers at Delphi (I’ll be using the English translations)
II. Sails/Veils
III. Wind on the Plain
IV. “Sounds and Fragrances Turn in the Night Air”
V. The Hills of Anacapri
VI. Footsteps in the Snow
VII. What the West Wind Saw
VIII. The Girl with the Flaxen Hair
IX. The Interrupted Serenade
X. The Sunken Cathedral
XI. Puck’s Dance
XII. Minstrels (the same in French and English)

Océanides (1988) – Thérèse Brenet (1935–    )

Sonata in C Minor, D. 958 (1828) – Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

Since the music of Debussy and others of his era is often called ‘impressionistic,’ I’m going to offer impressions of the individual preludes. Debussy wrote two books of twelve each, and while there’s no suggestion that they’re made to be played all together, there are precedents, so that’s what we heard here.

I. Slow opening, slightly mesmerizing, finished with a solid major chord; II. Introducing more ‘impressionistic’ flourishes, still with some repetitive rhythms and touches of orientalism, as well; III. Ripples of notes, plus some explosive phrases, fade away to nothing; IV. Definitely impressionistic, but more of a sense of romance and sensuality, with some angularity thrown in; V. Moody opening, jaunty tunes, what felt like a bit of a dance, finishing in the upper registers of the keyboard; VI. Quietude, calm but not somber—even though there was a range of dynamics, gave an impression of muffled sound; VII. Arpeggiated lower range wind, then with stronger gusts—good range of dynamics, harsh at times, written to be very powerful—sudden ending; VIII. Tuneful, recognizable to me (probably to a lot of you, too [Girl with the Flaxen Hair]), gentle but still varied dynamically and in sentiment; IX. Very rhythmic, choppy opening, short, calmer interludes—bouncing back and forth between themes/phrases, jolly little ending; X. Gentle, somewhat mysterious sounding, then on to a dramatic louder section, thick prominent block chords, then a retreat to the calmer sounds; XI. Lively, rhythmic—at one point, busy left hand with the right hand providing repetitive rhythmic accompaniment, light fun ending; XII. Rhythmic and dancelike, phrases repeated, but with some shaking up, surprisingly tonal ending.

Well, those are my impressions—literally the notes I wrote to myself during the performance. I hope they made an impression on you.

Océanides was a piece written for the left hand alone; very often, pieces are commissioned for the left hand alone, especially if a pianist has lost the use of a right arm or hand.

Beginning in the extreme lower register of the piano, the piece uses the pedals quite a bit, in order to create a wash of sound and to let the left hand provide both accompaniment and melody/chords. The very modern harmonies were slightly harsh at times. There was also a march-like section—sounding like actual marching. While the piece used interesting composition and performance techniques, it didn’t really speak to me in the long run.

The Schubert sonata was, to my ears, all in all a heavy work, with its themes and constant hints of darkness; heavy, without being ponderous.

The first movement had a very dramatic opening, then a tuneful section that also included lots of chords. A shift to a dance-like section incorporated a large variety of themes and sections, still with a sense of drama, even in the quieter sections. It seemed almost overstuffed, to me. The second started with what seemed to be a song or chorale. There were pretty tunes; it was sort of like a collection of dark, dramatic songs.

The third movement had a rippling accompaniment, still with a dark undercurrent, even in the rapid finger work passages. There was finally a touch of brightness, even though it stayed in a minor key and still with a sense of drama. The final movement was very dramatic and almost frantic at times. It too had that slightly overstuffed feeling as in the first movement. I liked it, even with the heaviness and darkness. I didn’t realize until checking the program and the dates that it was written in the last year of Schubert’s short life. Maybe there’s a reason for that heaviness and darkness.

Mr. Bhimani played the entire concert from memory and did a great job. His control of the dynamics and flow of the entire concert was very good—as in, you weren’t aware of the technique and ebb and flow while it was happening, and that’s a good thing.

ConcertMeister