Where else but Brooklyn would audiences
get to hear a 30-minute composition for speaking pianist or a
short piece for string quintet by a 9-year-old prodigy?
The pianist who will be speaking – and singing and shrieking
– is Doris Stevenson when she performs "De Profundis"
by Frederic Rzewski (along with works by Chopin and Liszt) at
Bargemusic on Feb. 3 and 4.
And the Jupiter String Quartet, with special guest cellist Jessica
Constant, performs "Hoedown" by (the now 10-year-old)
Conrad Tao, on Feb. 6 at the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church.
Also on their program are works by Haydn, Schubert and Ruth Crawford
Seeger.
Rzewski’s "De Profundis" may be one of the most intimidating
piano pieces ever written. The 66-year-old composer from Massachusetts
wrote it in 1995 as what he calls "an oratorio in eight
sections," and its setting of excerpts from Oscar Wilde’s
final prose work (the letter he wrote but never sent to his male
lover from prison) is startling in the way he has the pianist
actually declaim the text while playing the piano, rather than
using the standard singer.
Stevenson, who has performed many times at Bargemusic ("It’s
wonderful because you’re up close to the audience," she
says), thinks that Rzewski’s unconventional work is "really
a masterpiece. You use your whole body, you use your breath,
you have to sing," she explains. "You even use your
own body as a percussion instrument, Bobby McFerrin-style. You
use so much of yourself while performing it, and since [Rzewski]’s
also a virtuoso pianist himself, it’s wonderfully and imaginatively
written for that instrument as well."
Stevenson is a veteran of "De Profundis," having performed
it a number of times since she saw the composer himself play
it shortly after its premiere. In fact, she was the first woman
to perform the work, although Australian pianist Lisa Moore has
since recorded it.
As if "De Profundis" was not enough, Stevenson will
also play Franz Liszt’s B-minor sonata, which has sent chills
down the spines of musicians (for its difficulty) and listeners
(for its profundity) since it was written in 1853. Stevenson
opens the program with Chopin’s G-minor Ballade, which, in this
context, is a mere warm-up.
"I guess I wanted to torture myself," she says, laughing
in response to a question about playing both Rzewski and Liszt.
"I actually think it’s a nice pairing. They’re similar –
same length, similar form, both have fugues – and are masterpieces
which reach sublime heights.
"Maybe I just wanted to play my two favorite pieces on one
program."
Jupiter’s child
The Jupiter String Quartet – violinists Nelson Lee and Meg Freivogel,
violist Liz Freivogel and cellist Daniel McDonough – isn’t taking
it easy with their Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music (BFCM) recital;
in addition to Haydn, Schubert and Tao’s "Hoedown,"
they’re playing Seeger’s string quartet from 1931, a 12-tone
work as astonishing for its difficulty as for its accessibility.
"It’s a new piece for us," says Freivogel. "I
came across it in a music class at the New England Conservatory
and was blown away by it. Since it was written in 12-tone [a
composing style utilizing all 12 tones of the scale, with no
tone used again until the others have been], she was pretty much
ahead of her time.
"It’s a really challenging piece," she continues. "We
haven’t done that much 12-tone music as a group, so it will be
a change of pace. I think it will open people’s ears to this
type of music, [since the quartet] is quite varied – one movement
is rhythmic, another pulsates with no rhythm, still another is
virtuosic, like a conversation between the violin and the other
instruments."
As far as Tao’s "Hoedown" is concerned – a work that
was brought to them by Wanda Fleck, founder of BFCM – Freivogel
notes that the quartet is approaching it as they do every work
that they tackle for the first time.
"We’re really excited about it and we are looking forward
to playing it," she says. "It should be fun!"
Fleck told GO Brooklyn that there are many talented young composers
featured every year at the ASCAP Awards.
"There are kids writing entire symphonies, and believe me,
they know what they are doing," says Fleck. "Their
music is sophisticated, well-crafted and disciplined – yet highly
individual."
"The reason I chose Conrad’s piece is not because he wrote
’Hoedown’ when he was 9, but because I liked the piece. And the
instrumentation would work best in our plans."
Immediately following "Hoedown," the Jupiters end their
recital with one of Schubert’s most haunting and popular works,
his "Death and the Maiden" quartet. Freivogel likes
the idea that it follows the jaunty "Hoedown."
"The [Schubert quartet] is such an intense piece, but we
feel it will pair nicely with ’Hoedown’ in contrast," she
says. "It’s just an amazing piece to play and hear."
It’s heartening to hear that fortune came the Jupiters’ way on
their recent trip to New York: the twenty-somethings won first
prize in the Young Concert Artists’ International Auditions on
Jan. 15. "This was our third year entering the auditions,"
says the violinist. "We decided to give it one last try
and we were lucky to win this year."
Pianist Doris Stevenson performs Chopin, Liszt and Rzewski on
Feb. 3 and Feb. 4 at 7:30 pm at Bargemusic (Fulton Ferry Landing
at the end of Old Fulton Street in DUMBO). Tickets are $35, $30
for seniors and $25 for students; for more information, visit
www.bargemusic.org or
call (718) 624-2083.
The Jupiter String Quartet performs Tao (with cellist Jessica
Constant), Schubert, Haydn and Seeger on Feb. 6 at 3 pm at the
Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church (Lafayette Avenue at South
Oxford Street in Fort Greene). Tickets are $15. For more information,
call (718) 855-3053 or visit www.brooklynfriendsofchambermusic.org.
