CD Reviews (The Straits Times, April 2016)

FOUR HANDS

LEON FLEISHER &

KATHERINE JACOBSON, Piano 4 Hands

Sony Classical 88875064162 / ****1/2

The venerated American pianist Leon Fleisher, once afflicted with focal dystonia of the right hand, has returned to play piano repertoire for both hands. This album sees him joined by his wife and former-student Katherine Jacobson in a lovely programme for piano duet. Johannes Brahms' Liebeslieder Walzer (Love Song Waltzes), heard here without the voices, is a more extended and mellower follow-up to his Waltzes Op.39.

The Fleishers play with great sensitivity and sympathy for the idiom, and this gemütlich (carefree and relaxed like only the Viennese know how) feeling continues into Franz Schubert's masterpiece Fantasy in F minor, which rises to dramatic height from its initial lilting indolence.

The concert closes with Lucien Garban's transcription for piano duet of Maurice Ravel's La Valse. Confined to a single keyboard, its range seems unusually constricted for most part, but the duo generates a voluminous sound and much excitement towards its climactic end. The encore is a 4-hand arrangement of living American composer William Bolcom's most famous short piece, The Graceful Ghost Rag, rendered with rare finesse and nostalgia.

THE LURE OF THE EAST

GEOFFREY SABA, Piano

Carnegie Concerts CC017 / ****1/2

Here is an excellently-programme recital of piano music inspired by Western composers' fascination with the Orient. Its generous 77 minutes of exotica may be subdivided into three parts. First is traditional musical picture-postcard views represented by Debussy's Estampes (Pagodas evoke the sound of gamelans), Godowsky's Gardens Of Buitenzorg (after the famous botanic gardens in Bogor) and Ravel's Jeux D'Eau with its cascades of pentatonics.

The substantial central section delves deeper with Szymanowski's Sheherazade (from Masques), Messiaen's ferociously complex Canteyodjaya (which in Sanskrit translates into “song of joy”), Australian Peter Sculthorpe's Harbour Dreaming and Indonesian Krisna Setiawan's AgMaTa 1, which relives techniques used in gamelan music and the kecak dance.

The final and lightest third part approximates kitsch, closing with Abram Chasins' Three Chinese Pieces (the best known is Rush Hour In Hong Kong) and Percy Grainger's Beautiful Fresh Flower, a transcription of Molihua. Australia-born British pianist Geoffrey Saba has the requisite technique, sense of colour and shade to do his selections justice, and this is accompanied by well researched programme notes and historical illustrations.

LEON FLEISHER WITH THE CONSERVATORY ORCHESTRA / Review

LEON FLEISHER 

WITH THE
CONSERVATORY ORCHESTRA
Conservatory 

Concert Hall
Saturday 

(14 March 2009)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 17 March 2009.

American pianist and conductor Leon Fleisher’s week-long residence at the Conservatory as its Ong Teng Cheong Distinguished Visiting Professor culminated with a concert in which he fulfilled both musical roles. Conducting was an activity nurtured during his years away from active piano concertising, brought on by the affliction of focal dystonia.

Fine motor control, a pre-requisite in piano playing, gave way to the broad gestures of the maestro’s baton. These he exercised with great vision and purpose. The opening punched out chords of Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture – clean and resolute – showed who was in charge. Through his hands, the Roman consul’s inner turmoil and rage, portrayed by the music’s tug-of-war between tension and relaxation that followed, was also laid bare.

Conductor turned soloist in Mozart’s Double Piano Concerto in F major (K.242, sometimes performed in its 3-piano version) where Fleisher was joined by wife and former student Katherine Jacobson. Combining both roles without much fuss, the chemistry displayed on two keyboards and a pared-down orchestra was immediately palpable. Blinding brilliance was sacrificed for intimacy, as the warmth of exquisite chamber music-making reigned supreme.

Both pianos, voiced to an altogether mellow perfection, sang as one. This was no better demonstrated in the slow movement, which passed like a dream. The finale sounded almost over fastidious but was dance-like in its simplicity. Those who favour fireworks will be advised to check Mozart’s directions – not Allegro assai but Tempo di Menuetto!

Kent Ridge regulars will already be familiar with this orchestra’s undoubted prowess. Add responsiveness to its long list of positive attributes. With Fleisher’s guiding hand, it scaled the heights and furrowed the troughs of Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony, carving out a totally memorable reading.

This was a performance that eschewed heart-on-sleeve emotions (unlike the SSO’s recent recording) for greater objectivity. The opening was expansive but well-supported, and could have done with greater contrasts when the Allegro moderato arrived. No fear about the Dies Irae-inspired Scherzo, which bristled to tempestuous life unapologetically.

The slow movement, a final efflorescence of Romantic gestures (this being 1908), highlighted many wonderful solos, pride of place going to the clarinet, with its Mozart-like lyricism. The finale’s procession of surging climaxes brought the succession emotional highs to a highly satisfying close. Can the listener expect more? Most definitely, and Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique awaits.