MISCHA MAISKY & HAN-NA CHANG / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

MISCHA MAISKY & HAN-NA CHANG

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Friday (29 September 2023)

This review was first published on Bachtrack.com on 2 October 2023 with the title "Mischa Maisky still a live wire on his Singapore return".

 

The year 1986 was a special one for the young Singapore Symphony Orchestra. For a seven-year-old fledgling outfit, it was gaining in confidence and beginning to take on big name soloists for marquee concerto performances. Enter Latvia-born cellist Mischa Maisky, he with his wild black, curly locks, irrepressible personality, and a high profile recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon besides. “Love me, love my cello” shouted The Straits Times preview, and he went on to sweep the Victoria Concert Hall audience away with Saint-Saëns’s First Cello Concerto in A minor.

 

It seems that 37 years has done little to change this artist. His flowing mane is now fully silver but the demeanour of “let me show you what I do, the way I do” remains wholly intact and totally kicking. It was Saint-Saëns One again on the cards, but it is the turn of a new generation of music-lovers to experience that full flush of Maisky, and his famed big tone. The concerto’s 19 precious minutes seemed all too brief, but he made every moment count. The fiery entry sizzled with the high voltage of a live wire, one which never stopped sparking. In a concerto without a true slow movement, the central Allegretto con moto provided some kind of respite but it was the orchestra traipsing lightly in close repartee with Maisky that kept the conversation hyper-alert and totally engaging.

 

Credit goes to the orchestra led by Han-Na Chang, herself a virtuoso cellist in an earlier iteration. If there were any conductor sympathetic to a soloist, that would be her. Not that Maisky needed any concession, as he blazed away in the finale, which also included three short slower sections to emote. The cello’s full-throated voice again came to the fore, and although one might have earlier wished for Dvorak or Elgar, this Saint-Saëns did its job with lots to spare. The enraptured young audience was rewarded with three encores, Maisky’s own arrangement of Lensky’s Aria (Kuda, kuda, vi udalilis) from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, accompanied by orchestra, and solo J.S.Bach, the Preludes from Suites No.1 and 2.

 

Although this gala concert was built around Maisky, the orchestra still had much to offer. The evening opened with Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll, expanded from its original scoring for thirteen instrumentalists to 47 players. This allowed for a greater bandwidth for the strings to shine, and a rich sonority was generated from the stillness of its quiet lullaby-like opening. The entry of winds was sensitively handled especially the oboe solo, but it soon got congested and blustery, with the trumpet’s thirteen bars unfortunately submerged beneath the throng.

 

The concert’s second half was devoted Mozart’s Symphony No.41 in C major (K.551), the Jupiter after the ruler of Roman gods. Its regal opening movement, heralded by well punched-out chords, flexed muscles and exercised unabashed vibrato. Under Chang's sure-headed direction, this was how we used to hear this music before the rising of the period instruments movement. The slow movement oozed operatic grace but not without exhibiting tension and mild dissonance as it unfolded. The Minuet and Trio was suitably animated, and the valedictory finale then piled on the volume. The fugal culmination in Mozart's greatest symphonic finale, well negotiated by the orchestra, showed he knew his Bach and Handel well. Could he have topped that had he lived beyond 1791? That has to be one of music history's abiding mysteries.

Star Rating: ****

The original article on Bachtrack.com may be found here:

Mischa Maisky still a live wire on his Singapore return | Bachtrack

CD Review (The Straits Times, November 2018)

ADAGIETTO

MISCHA MAISKY (Cello)

LILY MAISKY (Piano) et al

Deutsche Grammophon 483 5561 / ****1/2

This appears to be merely a compilation album of slow encore pieces, but it comes from the great Latvia-born cellist Mischa Maisky, renowned for his big warm tone and outsized personality to match. 

The titular track is his own arrangement of the Adagietto third movement from Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony for cello and harp (played by Sophie Hallynck). Purists might balk at the use of multi-tracking, which sounds like both players being backed by an ensemble of strings, but the effect is magical. 

Equally enjoyable are further slow movements, all transcriptions, of music by Marcello (Oboe Concerto), J.S.Bach (Keyboard Concerto BWV.1056), Tchaikovsky (piano pieces), Massenet (Meditation from Thaïs), Grieg (Solveig’s Song), Scriabin, Mozart and Saint-Saëns. In this family affair, he is accompanied by pianist daughter Lily while violinist son Sascha joins them for Schubert’s passionate Notturno in E flat major.

The last two tracks are live performances involving star power. Maisky is partnered no less by pianist Martha Argerich, violinist Janine Jansen and violist Julian Rachlin in the Andante Cantabile of Schumann’s Piano Quartet. This and the Andante from Brahms’ Third Piano Quartet have the cello wallowing in the big melodies, and Maisky gratefully laps it all up.  

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, September 2012)

DOHNANYI Piano Music Vol.1

MARTIN ROSCOE, Piano

Hyperion 67871 / *****

Although Erno Dohnanyi (1877-1960) was one of the great pianist-composers of the late Romantic era (ranking alongside the likes of Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Busoni and Grainger), his solo piano music is rarely heard these days. Even the popular Variations On A Nursery Tune gets a rare and very occasional airing, if any. This first volume of complete piano music by British pianist Martin Roscoe is a sympathetic and timely reminder of the Hungarian’s craftsmanship and virtuosity.

The Four Rhapsodies Op.11, laid out like a Brahmsian four-movement sonata, is perhaps his best known work. The scherzo-like Third Rhapsody was once a very popular encore of the rapturous, barnstorming kind, and the concluding Fourth Rhapsody sounds like the definitive apotheosis of the Dies Irae theme.

The Ten Bagatelles of Winterreigen (Winter Round Dances) are more ambitious than the title suggests, looking back to Schumann’s lyricism (the first is titled Widmung, for example) and ahead to Busoni’s complexities. Dohnanyi’s last piano work Three Singular Pieces (1951), while rooted in the Romantic past, does however attempt some modernisms. The final Perpetuum Mobile is a forerunner to Ligeti’s kinetically-charged Etudes. Finally, his Pastorale (Hungarian Christmas Song) and transcription of Delibes’s Coppelia Waltz are elegance personified. Warmly recommended.   

ARGERICH. KREMER. MAISKY

Complete Duo Recordings

Deutsche Grammophon 477 9524 (13CDs) / *****

This very substantial box-set is the fifth part of a retrospective documenting Argentine pianist Martha Argerich’s prodigious recorded output on the German yellow label over the decades. Among her favourite partners in chamber music are violinist Gidon Kremer and cellist Mischa Maisky, both originally from Latvia, with whom she has recorded the complete Beethoven duo sonatas. Kremer’s rather dry and wiry tone is an acquired taste, which you either love or loathe, but his approach works well for the two discs of 20^th century music – sonatas by Prokofiev, Janacek and Bartok. The Hungarian’s First Violin Sonata receives the most blistering, hell-for-leather performance thought possible.

Maisky is more congenial, and his contributions include J.S.Bach (sonatas originally for viola da gamba and harpsichord), Beethoven’s sets of Variations, Schumann (including the Cello Concerto sans Argerich) and two love concerts in Romantic (Chopin and Franck) and 20^th century Russian (Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich) repertoire. Argerich’s role is pivotal to the success of these collaborations. More than mere accompanist, she is the livewire that sparks her partners like never before and perhaps after. The original sleeve art has been reproduced for all 13 discs, and this budget-priced release retails for $79.90 at HMV. This is, in reality, a steal.  

Symphony Chat with Mischa Maisky

Post-concert Symphony Chat

with MISCHA MAISKY

Besides hearing Mischa Maisky perform, the Singapore audience also wanted to hear him speak. So a larger than usual-sized throng stayed back post-concert to attend the Symphony Chat with SSO Music Director Lan Shui, hosted by Anthony Brice. What did MM talk about?

Childhood
I was a really terrible child. I am sure that my older sister would have wanted to kill me sometime! At 8 years old, I did two important things. I quit smoking forever, and picked up the cello!

Mother Russia
I was born in Latvia, which happened at that time to be part of the Soviet Union. Although I love Russian music, literature and culture, I never felt at home in Russia. I never felt I belonged. Studying at the Moscow Conservatory was an important part, but I also spend time in prison, labour camp (shoveling cement and “building Communism”, obviously unsuccessfully!), mental hospital (in order to escape military service), before leaving for Israel. Thirty-eight years after leaving Russia, I have never felt homesick.

Concert apparel
I do not wear traditional “penguin” outfits while performing. This is not a fashion statement as concerts are not fashion shows. Maybe that’s my way of protesting against classical music being too conservative. Individuality and personality should come before uniforms and uniformity. What is important is the music, and I wear whatever makes me comfortable to make music. Ladies can wear whatever they want, so why not men?

Mstislav Rostropovich
My father died (he smoked too much) just before I became a student of Rostropovich, and so he became a second father to me. He was much more than just a teacher. As he and his wife had daughters but no son, I became like a son to him.

Martha Argerich
Argerich is like life itself -- not easy. She can be unpredictable, sometimes annoying, a pain in the back (and certain other places), but she is a most beautiful thing in music. It is a great privilege and joy to work with her.

A world citizen
You can say I am a citizen of the world. I play on an Italian cello, use French or German bows and wear Indian jewellery. My first wife is American (“Nobody’s perfect.”) and second wife is Italian (but has a Sri Lankan father), and my four children were born in four different countries. I performed tonight in Singapore, two nights ago in Taiwan and tomorrow in Hong Kong. I feel at home wherever there are people who love and appreciate music. So I feel at home in Singapore tonight!

SSO Concert: Mischa Maisky Gala / Review

GALA: MISCHA MAISKY
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Esplanade Concert Hall
Friday (1 October 2010)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 4 October 2010.

It has been 24 years since the legendary Latvian-born cellist Mischa Maisky last appeared on a Singapore stage. When he performed Saint-Saens’ compact First Cello Concerto with the SSO at Victoria Concert Hall in 1986, the only regret was that not more cello music was heard.

At this SSO Gala Concert bearing Maisky’s name, restitution was afforded with one concerto, two concertante works, an encore and a lively post-concert interview. Much like the photos that adorn his Deutsche Grammophon recordings, Maisky appeared larger than life. Sporting a shock of silver mane, neck jewellery nestling within a loose fitting black shirt (which became bright blue after the interval), he resembled a swami fresh from some Indian ashram.

All ears were on him and his 1720 Domenico Montagnana cello when they poured heart and soul into Fauré’s Elegie, supply shifted from whispering lament to full-throated cry. His tone was warm and gorgeously projected, as one would have expected. In Lensky’s Aria from Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin, the tenor voice morphed into mellow baritone in Maisky’s transcription, but the poignancy of impending death was ever-present.

The main work on show was Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, his only cello concerto by default. The SSO under Music Director Shui Lan provided discreet support in its lightly textured orchestration, and The Maisky Show was truly on. Taking every liberty possible, he spun a freewheeling yarn around the simple dance-like tune. From coaxing a loving cantabile to dizzying flights of fancy in the 5th variation’s cadenza, this was what the full-house audience came for.

There were the odd missed note or squeak dropped in the heat of the moment, but that did little to detract from the real essence of the music making. True artistry occurs when one momentarily forgets about issues of right or wrong notes, or the world’s woes. Time stood still for the encore, the pensive Sarabande from Bach’s Fifth Cello Suite. Has Bach ever sounded this modern?

For the record, the orchestra also performed Zhou Long’s The Rhyme of Taigu and Debussy’s La Mer, the latter accompanied by SSO first violinist William Tan’s stunning marine photography projected on a screen. More to come about the orchestra’s European tour showpieces in another review. This evening belonged to the genius of Mischa Maisky.

Mischa Maisky's Masterclass @ YST Conservatory

A to Z from MM
MISCHA MAISKY Masterclass
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall
Wednesday (29 September 2010)

A sizeable audience turned up at the Conservatory for a cello masterclass by the Latvian-born Mischa Maisky, and for two and a half hours, were entertained by his ideas and thoughts. It was emphatically not a didactic or pedagogical session where two young players were put through the motion on their instruments and their flaws clinically corrected. Instead, it was more like a conversation with a long-lost uncle from some distant land who regales with tales of legends and escapades.

Maisky speaks English very well (his first wife was American, “Nobody’s perfect” he conceded) and expressed his thoughts very clearly and with much humour. He talks too much, he admitted, but that was the reason why people turned up in the first place. Here are some of his random thoughts:

Authenticity is expressed in the emotions, rather than playing in a dogmatic way. If music comes from the heart, it is authentic.

Bach’s music may be interpreted in many different ways. Trying to second-guess what he did during his lifetime is futile as we are living in our time. To refer to him as a Baroque composer is insulting, as his visions are is beyond time and place. He only lived during the period of Baroque music. To say he played Bach romantically would be a compliment, because all music is romantic (quoting Horowitz). About playing Bach without vibrato, his retort is “20 children, but no vibrato???”

Casals heard him play in 1973 just two months before his death. He said something like, “Young man… what you have played has nothing to do with Bach. However you seemed to be so convinced, so it sounds convincing.”

MM demonstrates a point on
YST student Lu Bingxia's cello.

Danger today is for young musicians to strive for the wrong priorities, to practise to perfection in order to use music to show off oneself. Great musicians love and respect music, and their audience more than themselves.

Expression is paramount, and that is conveyed through colours and intensity in the music. Music is led by a pulse and heartbeat, but that varies and has flexibility, not like a metronome. The level of communication separates a great artist from merely a good musician.

Formula: 2 + 2 = 4, sometimes 4.5 or even 5, but never 7. Although music is free for personal expression, it should never be exaggerated. Play what is written in the score, but do read in between the lines.

Great music scares him to death. Sometimes that is why some pieces are not performed as often as he likes.

Hearing his own playing once shocked him. He was in an audio shop when he heard a Bach gavotte played like a caricature of himself. But that was him! This prompted a second recording on Deutsche Grammophon of the Bach Cello Suites. Nothing in life is repeated, and a different attitude should be adopted when doing something for the second time.

“I am the luckiest cellist in the world!” having studied with Mstislav Rostropovich and Gregor Piatigorsky.

Joy. If there is neither joy nor passion expressed in music, then you ask “Why?” and “What for?”

Klemperer’s joke, on the question of interpreting Bach. Once one singer said, “I dreamt about Bach, and he told me that was how it is performed.” Maestro Otto’s reply, “I dreamt that I saw Bach, and he said he did not know who you were!” Or something to that effect.

Love is all you need (quoting a Beatles song). Strangely or not so strangely, Murray Perahia also said the same thing at his YST masterclass.

Wu Daidai plays Brahms for MM.

Masterclasses are for students who are already masters. Here you learn to become artists, by transforming mere good playing into something else.

Nobody needs a copy of Rostropovich, or a copy of Maisky for that matter. Everyone is unique, and there are thousands of different ways to do the same thing. So develop your own identity.

Ordinary people. He does not play for connoisseurs, but for ordinary people who want to be touched by music.

Practise music all the time, with your mind if not with your instrument. Always have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. The end result is what that matters most, how to get there is irrelevant.

A final thought: The greatest teacher is one who helps students to become their own teachers.

Mischa Maisky has the most generous autograph of them all. He joked, "When people want more than one autograph of mine, its probably because they want to exchange three Maiskys for one Yo-Yo Ma!"

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, January 2010)

HAYDN Piano Sonatas Vol.2
MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN, Piano
Hyperion 67710 (2 CDs)

*****

This recording has unusually received the most diametrically polarised of reviews, raving praise in Gramophone but panned in International Piano. But which is right? Firstly, the French-Canadian pianist Hamelin is better known in technically complex repertoire but he does not regard Haydn as anything less. Even the “facile” Sonata No.35 in C major, bane of children learning the piano, is never academic fodder in his hands. Here it sounds like fun.

Next, there is no pretence to scholarship or so-called authenticity; instead he goes to the heart of the music. Haydn’s skittish humour is ever present and the slow movements display a lovely singing tone. Two of Haydn’s great late sonatas, No.48 (C major) and No.49 (E flat major) get the regal readings they deserve. In addition to the 9 sonatas, Haydn’s masterly Variations in F minor and Fantasia are also included. Hamelin shows how and why Haydn should never be neglected.

TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Trio
RACHMANINOV Trio Elegiaque No.1
VADIM REPIN, Violin

MISCHA MAISKY, Cello

LANG LANG, Piano

Deutsche Grammophon 477 8099
*****

The big news is Lang Lang’s recorded début as a chamber musician, and there is no more appropriate repertoire than this. The Rachmaninov is an early single-movement work, heavily influenced by Tchaikovsky, not to be mistaken for his second and better known trio. The Tchaikovsky has been recorded many times, with a wonderful set of variations as its middle movement.

The potent mix of Slavic melancholy and digital virtuosity inherent both scores are eminently suited for Lang’s temperament. He is well matched by violinist Vadim Repin and cellist Mischa Maisky, old hands in chamber repertoire. For their big techniques and egos, there is never a sense of one-upmanship, instead they forge a common ground to make these overwrought works sound fresh and relevant. Like the legendary “Million Dollar Trios” of the last century peopled by the likes of Rubinstein, Horowitz, Heifetz and Piatigorsky, this threesome is destined for greatness.

SZYMANOWSKI Violin Works
ALINA IBRAGIMOVA, Violin
CEDRIC TIBERGHIEN, Piano
Hyperion 67703

****1/2

The violin works of Polish composer Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937) are finally getting the attention they deserve. Most celebrated are the three Mythes, based on Greek mythology, which blend achingly beautiful melodies and perfumed harmonies with impressionistic hues. The shimmering textures in Fountain of Arethuse and eroticism of Narcissus are musical ambrosia, culminating with the ecstatic dance of Dryades and Pan. Even earthier is the Nocturne and Tarantella, alternating mystery with an exuberance bordering on violence.

The Sonata in D minor is more conventional but no less enjoyable. As a curiosity, three of Paganini’s Caprices are treated to Szymanowski’s quite ingenious piano accompaniment. The young Russian violinist Alina Ibragimova coaxes a beautiful ethereal sound for most part, possessing the full measure of this music’s overt sensuality and subtle nuances. French pianist Cedric Tiberghien – well known for his Debussy – is a most perceptive partner. Heartily recommended.

THE ART OF AUTOGRAPHS (Part 1)

This article was first published in the 

July 2008 issue of BraviSSimO!,

the newsletter of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

Autograph sessions with visiting soloists and artists are now a norm at SSO concerts. Why do concertgoers take the trouble of waiting in line? What exactly are the musicians’ scribbles on paper worth? Which artists give the best autographs?

Mischa Maisky's autograph 

is as big as his cello sound.

“Touched” by greatness

Ever yearned for an autograph from David Beckham, Robert de Niro, Tiger Woods or Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew? Yes, the thought can be quite a tantalising one, especially when the subject concerned is a celebrity. Owning a “part” of someone famous – even something infinitesimally insignificant – can be seen as one way we ordinary mortals aspire to “rub shoulders” with greatness.

Now that sounds preposterous, but that’s how the world works. Why else did we get Lisztomania, Beatlemania or Wrestlemania? 19th century ladies swooning before divine artistry, screaming groupies falling for the Fab Four, and rabid fans baying for Vince McMahon’s blood represent one end on the spectrum of idol worship. Autograph collecting is merely a more dignified way of expressing admiration and sometimes adulation.

Leila does everything in one stroke

SSO’s collaborations with international artists bring many of classical music’s luminaries to Singapore, within reach of fans. Prior to these well-organised queues, minded by Esplanade’s people-in-black and sometimes the police, autograph collecting meant waiting outside musty stage doors, dressing chambers and green rooms. The assembly-line efficiency of today has also replaced the more friendly banter that takes place between artist and audience member. “Thank you for the music” or “we loved your Beethoven” is always music to the ears of performers, and the autograph - an imprint of an icon – is a just reward for the appreciation shown.

Evelyn Glennie has visited 

Singapore many times,

hence many opportunities 

for autographs.

Of sentimental value

How much is an autograph worth? Some years ago, I noticed at the New York Philharmonic’s gift shop a CD autographed by Kurt Masur selling at USD 20. The un-autographed copy went for USD 16. So is the great German maestro’s signing worth only four dollars? In actual fact, such autographs are probably worth much less than that. However, the memories that come with getting the autograph are priceless; the setting, the circumstances and the short words exchanged – all these have some personal sentimental value, even if it means nothing to everybody else. This is why one should always try to get an autograph personally, rather than by proxy.

In 1994, the great Russian pianist Shura Cherkassky (above) autographed for me a book about pianists, on the page which bore a photograph of himself and fellow students with their teacher Josef Hofmann. He took a pause while scrutinising that pic and then sighed, “They’re all dead now. I’m the only one left.” One year later, he was to be united with the class. The Hungarian György Sandor – with his larger-than-life autograph that got smaller as the years went by – shared with me how as a young pianist, he was approached to give the world premiere of Bartok’s Third Piano Concerto. Another Hungarian, Bela Siki – who prints his name very simply and modestly – recounted how electric fans installed on the stage of a 1960s Victoria Memorial Hall kept flying insects from interfering with his performance of Liszt’s Sonata in B minor!

Carlo's Curls

Mutter knows best

Barry Tuckwell's lovely cursive