Sequenza21/The Contemporary Classical Music Weekly

Last Night in LA--Music for Piano

Thomas Schultz played at Zipper Hall for PianoSpheres last night in a concert which went from high to high. Most of Shultz� concerts combine 19th century works with contemporary music; his upcoming June concert in Weill Hall, for example, is programmed to combine Schubert and Liszt with Rzewski and Stockhausen. Last night was all contemporary, a set of challenging works to which Tom Schultz brought a sense of melody and line as well as absolute technical mastery.

The first half of the concert was uncompromisingly atonal, starting with Stockhausen�s �Klavierst�ck IX� (1961), one of the more dramatic of the composer�s Piano Pieces. This was followed by a work written for Schultz, �Touch� (2002) by Christian Wolff. Wolff is notable for the following statement: "One day I said to myself that it would be better to get rid of all that--melody, rhythm, harmony, etc. This was not a negative thought and did not mean that it was necessary to avoid them, but rather that, while doing something else, they would appear spontaneously. We had to liberate ourselves from the direct and peremptory consequence of intention and effect, because the intention would always be our own and would be circumscribed, when so many other forces are evidently in action in the final effect."

Of course it certain hands, only the first sentence might be given. As an aid, Schultz told the audience that we should listen to �Touch� as if we were on a leisurely walk, observing one thing, then another. I think this helped, but �Touch� is still a difficult work to understand.

After intermission, Schultz performed two works written for him by Hyo-shin Na, �Rain Study� (1999) and �Walking, Walking� (2003). Both works have basic themes derived from folk songs, the first Korean, the second Chilean. �Rain Study� presented images of a hard, cold rain which gradually eased and softened, a moody piece. �Walking, Walking� was performed by Schultz last year at Weill Hall; it conveys many moods, analogous to reactions and thoughts while on a long, varied walk. Both works by Na are lovely as well as interesting, rewarding as well as challenging.

The concert closed with �Piano Piece #4� (1977) by Frederic Rzewski (1977). This work is especially an exploration of the sonorities of a piano, including pitches from open strings in sympathetic vibration following loud chords. There are many interior melodies growing out of slight changes in repeated chords. Unfortunately for me, I dislike the qualities of the Fazioli piano in Zipper Hall; I felt it might be good for student pianists, with a bright tone and an easy touch, but it produces tubby bass notes and harsh high treble. In the preceding pieces, Schultz� pianism overcame the flaws in sound, but in the Rzewski it couldn�t be done.

posted by Jerry Zinser 4/20/2005