A PIANO JOURNEY: FROM BOHEMIA TO BROADWAY / KAREL KOSAREK Piano Recital / Review

 

A PIANO JOURNEY:

FROM BOHEMIA TO BROADWAY

KAREL KOSAREK Piano Recital

Victoria Concert Hall

Friday (4 July 2025)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 7 July 2025 with the title "Delightful programme of Bohemian and jazz selections".

The Singapore International Piano Festival has come and gone, but the piano music continues. This weekend, Victoria Concert Hall hosted another two fine pianists. The first was veteran Czech pianist Karel Košárek, replacing his young and prodigious compatriot, the indisposed Jan Schulmeister.

Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884)

Performing on a Czech-made Petrof Monsoon grand piano, Košárek’s delightful programme of dance and song began in his homeland of Bohemia before crossing the Atlantic to the United States of America. Coaxing a rich yet mellow sound, without being over-bright in upper registers, Bedrich Smetana’s Skocna (Hop Dance) from the second book of Czech Dances was a virtuoso study of light touch and vibrant rhythm.

Photo: Guan Ziwen

This was in the same popular vein as the well-known dances from his opera The Bartered Bride. Just as nationalistic was the Fantasia on Czech Folk Songs, which displayed a Lisztian level of technical prowess. This was well-articulated, with emphasis on crisply detached notes and no smudging of textures by over-pedalling.

By way of contrast, two of Hungarian composer Franz Liszt’s Petrarch Sonnets (Nos. 104 & 123) from the Italian Book of his Years of Pilgrimage were oases of lyricism, dressed up with the filigree of florid cadenzas. Still from Bohemia, the well-travelled and highly cosmopolitan Bohuslav Martinu’s Three Czech Dances of 1926 – the Obkrocak (Stepping Dance), Dupak (Stomp Dance) and Polka - were eclectic, with spicy dissonances, quirkily kinetic rhythms and jazz influences that reflected 20th century trends but without forsaking their folk roots.

All this set the stage for Košárek’s second half, which opened with six Preludes by George Gershwin. Did the American song-writer and jazz legend not compose just three of these? The inclusion of three posthumously published pieces was a revelation and provided pure aural pleasure. It was hard to dislike the playful insouciance of Novelette in Fourths, contrasted with the Chopinesque vibe of Rubato and the bluesy languor of Sleepless Night. The original three Preludes were performed idiomatically and with clear rhythmic insight.

More virtuoso-oriented were the musings of Austrian pianist Friedrich Gulda, who worshipped Bach and Beethoven but regularly moonlighted as a jazz pianist, sometimes playing in the nude. His Exercise No.9 from Play Piano Play was pure fun, then launching into the syncopated Bachian tribute that is his wild and anarchic Prelude and Fugue, later popularised by Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

Photo: Guan Ziwen

The main work of the half was Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Although he performed the published solo version which had some cuts, Košárek tore through its pages with a fearless abandon, raising a huge cheer from the clearly enthused audience.

His well-received encores included Lou Busch’s riotous boogie-woogie arrangement of Aram Khachaturian’s Sabre Dance and a welcome return to Bohemia with the simple unadorned beauty of Smetana’s Poetic Polka No.2 in G minor (from Op.8).

THE GERSHWIN & BERNSTEIN CONNECTION / Navona Records / Review

THE GERSHWIN &

BERNSTEIN CONNECTION

Eliane Rodrigues & Nina Smeets, Pianos

Carlo Willems & Koen Wilmaers, Percussion

Navona Records 6230

 

Two pianos and percussion, what could be more exciting? The cult classic is the recording on Deutsche Grammophon by Martha Argerich and Nelson Freire, partnered by Peter Sadlo and Edgar Guggeis, with works by Bartok and Ravel. This album of George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein by the mother-daughter duo of Eliane Rodrigues and Nina Smeets with percussionists Carlo Willems and Coen Wilmaers comes very close. A programme of sheer exuberance and infectiousness of rhythms, coupled with excellence of execution. What more could one desire?

 

To be honest, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue does not really benefit from added percussion, so these come like extra bells and whistles. At close to 20 minutes, it is also on the slow side with the opening introduction needing an extra push. But when push comes to shove, there are truly exciting moments which all build up to a frenetic close. This reading is adapted from the full-length orchestral version (not the truncated piano solo version), which proves to be the right choice.

 

There should, however, be no reservations whatsoever for Gershwin’s Concerto in F, with the percussion parts added by Thomas Schindl. The original highlights the timpani from the outset, so percussion is an essential element of what makes this work rock. The foursome have the idiom down pat. Jazzy rhythms are incisively delivered, and with percussion not being optional extras, sonorities generated have an truly orchestral feel. Also, something is right when the solo trumpet of the central slow movement’s blues is not missed. The driving rhythms of the “Spanish” finale are exhilarating, and the recalling of themes from earlier movements tautly unites the work as a whole. The spectacular tam tam crash near the end is also pure Hollywood. Totally memorable.  

 

Wedged in between both Gershwin works are the Symphonic Dances from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story, adapted from the two piano version by John Musto. The vital link between this and that legendary Argerich and Co. album is the late Peter Sadlo (1962-2016), who arranged the percussion parts. Like the concerto, this is another sonic spectacular. The finger snaps and police whistle have been retained, but there is no room for the “Mambo!” shouts, instead replaced by two brusque chords and glissandi. At any rate, the voices of just four people would have sounded a tad underwhelming. Here is a totally enjoyable disc of memorable music, memorably transcribed, and brilliantly performed. Cult status due soon.

 

This album may be purchased, downloaded or streamed at:

The Gershwin & Bernstein Connection – Navona Records

SSO POPS CONCERT: RHAPSODY IN BLUE / Review

RHAPSODY IN BLUE

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Friday (13 February 2015)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 16 February 2015 with the title "Ozone and his breathtaking jazz".

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra's Pop Concerts have truly replaced the Familiar Favourites Concerts of old, and now enjoy a new branding in its own right. Conducted by Associate Conductor Joshua Tan, this concert of American jazz classics could be said to be a landmark, and one to which future pops concerts are judged.

Everybody had come to hear Gershwin, but The Essential Ellington, a medley of popular standards by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn and orchestrated by Jeff Tyzik, served as a de facto overture. Employing lots of brass, woodwinds and a drum-set operated by Jonathan Fox, melodies like Take The A Train, Satin Doll and Perdido were given a gloss of glitz. One could be forgiven for thinking this was an evening at the Boston Pops.

Then Japanese jazz pianist Makoto Ozone took centrestage. Attired in just black shirtsleeves, he appeared totally at ease and was all smiles. After clarinettist Li Xin's siren-like solo, Ozone's imposing entry was an indication that this was going to be a rather different Rhapsody in Blue. First he played around with the harmonies and then added flourishes of his own, but not enough to alter the tenor of the well-loved classic as yet.

Cue the moments when the orchestra became tacit, and these were open season for Ozone. Purists might not take to his going off on a tangent, introducing new material and extemporising on it, but this was the true essence of jazz. He did so with such panache that it was difficult to dislike, and one often wondered when the orchestra would get its look in. Somehow with all the modulations, wheeling and dealing, he and conductor Tan managed to get the band to rejoin, and then it was off to the next adventure.

The cadenzas supplied by Gershwin took on new dimensions, always overblown but firmly in the right spirit of the game. It should not be forgotten that on its 1924 New York premiere, Gershwin was faced with a multitude of blank pages, from which he dished out a tour de force of improvisation on the spot. Ozone seemed to be reliving that legend and how he relished it.

While Rhapsody in Blue was free-formed, Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F resembled a more structured creation in sonata form, with tighter and fixed parameters. As such, its first movement gave far less scope to doodle, and Ozone was impeccably faithful to the score, well almost. The bluesy slow movement was however the red flag waved to a charging bull, and new flights of fantasy were soon taking off.

The biggest surprise came in the finale. Even within its strict toccata-like missives, Ozone found ample room to do his stuff and how. One is reminded of the finales in Beethoven's piano concertos where a cadenza is improvised for a few measures before entering the final coda. Here, he was afforded the luxury of several minutes of heavy-duty barnstorming, not once but twice.

The big band closing was as full blown as one could have hoped for, and this spectacular and memorable endeavour was cheered on by a frenzied audience with a standing ovation, the sort that ends jazz concerts. Smiling as always, Ozone dedicated his tender and sentimental encore, Home, to his family. Tomorrow was Valentine's Day after all, and that was the only reminder one needed.    

  

So much for "no cameras allowed in Esplanade".
Who's going to stop the musicians?

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, October 2012)

SOLER Keyboard Sonatas Nos.1-15

MARTINA FILJAK, Piano

Naxos 8.572515 / ****1/2

For those who enjoy playing or listening to Domenico Scarlatti’s 555 or so keyboard sonatas, there are some 150 sonatas by the Spaniard Padre Antonio Soler (1729-1783) to keep them occupied. Soler joined the priesthood and like his Italian mentor was devoted to teaching the scions of royalty. The prince Don Gabriel was dedicatee of many keyboard sonatas, which follow Scarlatti’s single-movement, two-part form with repeats. These were likely to have been composed in homage, and bear many striking similarities with Scarlatti’s more celebrated examples.

The sonatas traverse a variety of emotions and moods, while being marvellous exercises in nimble and virtuosic playing. Listen to Sonatas No.2, No.6 and No.9 for those busy, guitar-like figurations with rapidly repeated notes, contrasted with the more moody ruminations of No.5, No.8 and No.11. Sonata No.4 delights in percussive military band effects, while No.12 and No.13 go for big-boned orchestral sonorities. Croatian pianist Martina Filjak, winner of the Maria Canals (Barcelona) and Cleveland International Piano Competitions, plays the first 15 sonatas based on the publication and cataloguing system by Padre Samuel Rubio. The readings lack nothing of the humour and vitality that make these attractive pieces a pleasure to behold.

THE GERSHWIN COLLECTION

Decca 478 2687 (7 CDs) / ****

That George Gershwin (1898-1937) was the most important cross-over composer of the 20^th century is without question. This budget box-set presents his major works in the form of original concert versions as well as arrangements, with a fair share of hits and misses. Why, for example, include a bowdlerised edition of Rhapsody in Blue for two pianos and orchestra instead of the original?

Although Katia and Marielle Labeque are undoubtedly glamourous, this performance with the Cleveland Orchestra directed by Riccardo Chailly comes across as top heavy and over-fussy. The Labecques also accompany an all-too-operatic Barbara Hendricks in a selection of songs including the rarity Anyone Seen Joe, from Blue Monday, Gershwin’s first stab at  the opera genre. The latter contains the same music as his early Lullaby For Strings, also performed here. 

Gershwin’s show music takes the form of several Overtures to his musicals (Boston Pops and Arthur Fiedler), and Broadway songs idiomatically delivered by Patti Austin, Gregory Hines and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra led by John Mauceri. This set’s true triumph is the 1975 production of the folk opera Porgy and Bess conducted by Lorin Maazel, arguably its best recording ever. The titular roles feature the incomparable Willard White and Leona Mitchell with an all-Afro-American supporting cast. A synopsis is included but not the full libretto. This still represents a bargain at under $40 at HMV.