In the annals of classical music, the prodigy
is the most amazing of stories; we all know about Mozart, who
composed three full-length operas before he was 12. The extraordinary
talent of violinist Fritz Kreisler also manifested itself at
an early age: he began studying the instrument with his father
at the age of 4, and entered the Vienna Conservatory at 7. By
his death in 1962 at age 87, the Austrian-born Kreisler was among
the most celebrated violinists of all time.
Such a musical master deserves just the sort of recognition that
Bargemusic is giving him over the next two weekends, according
to violist Paul Neubauer, who also coordinated the series. "I’ve
always been a huge fan of both his playing and his music,"
Neubauer told The Brooklyn Papers in an exclusive interview.
Neubauer was principal violist of the New York Philharmonic for
six years and is on the faculty of the Juilliard School.
His admiration for Kreisler’s brilliance is unabated. "I
don’t feel there could ever be enough attention paid to Kreisler.
He’s my favorite violinist, for one thing," Neubauer admits.
"Certainly, not many people remember his playing, since
he stopped performing 50 years ago. I’m jealous of anybody who
got the chance to hear him play live."
Though beloved as a virtuoso instrumentalist, Neubauer believes
Kreisler’s original compositions have suffered by an unjust comparison.
"His music is much like his playing was – it’s charming,
it’s very beautiful, and of course it has that Viennese flair.
And all of his pieces are small gems that seem light and engaging,
but are actually quite complex."
Kreisler also penned several small pieces to play during his
recitals, according to Neubauer, but he ascribed them to earlier
masters like Vivaldi and Couperin in order to avoid seeming self-important.
"He said he found the manuscripts of those pieces in a monastery,
but he actually wrote them himself," Neubauer continues.
"He didn’t want his name on the programs as the lone composer,
but many years later – to the consternation of many critics –
it came out that he was indeed the composer."
The four-program series that Neubauer put together showcases
Kreisler as both player and composer.
"I thought it would be nice to play his quartet at Bargemusic
– it’s the biggest piece that he wrote [in 1919] – and decided
to expand it still further, into a full series," Neubauer
says. Each program consists of at least one Kreisler composition
and all but one include arrangements by Kreisler of other composers’
works, mostly transcribed to showcase his violin technique.
"For the transcriptions he made of numerous composers’ works,
he’d put his own special touch on them with his own arrangements,"
Neubauer explains. At the Bargemusic concerts, his transcriptions
of music by Beethoven, Georges Bizet and Antonio Corelli, among
others, will be played.
For the Bargemusic series, Neubauer has placed Kreisler’s works
alongside such recognized masterpieces as Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet,
Dvorak’s "Dumky" Piano Trio and Brahms’ Piano Quintet,
and even a daunting 20th-century work, Benjamin Britten’s Solo
Cello Suite No. 3. He makes it quite clear that there’s nothing
behind such choices aside from their sheer entertainment value.
"You always want to make a well-rounded program," he
notes, "one with variety that sustains interest for an audience."
When pressed, Neubauer concedes, "Certainly, you could say
that Kreisler played works by all these composers (who also include
Beethoven and Haydn), but that’s about the only connection."
No one who plays at or attends a Bargemusic concert ever runs
out of superlatives to describe this most distinctive place to
hear classical music in New York City, and Neubauer is no exception.
"I first played here as a student at Juilliard quite a few
years ago, and I’ve since played countless times in this wonderful
space," he says. "It is undoubtedly one of the most
special places to play chamber music anywhere because of its
size, its ambience and its audience – some people go there once
or twice a week, they’re so in love with the setting.
"It’s simply a unique listening experience. Since you’re
so close to the musicians, you become part of the process of
music making, as it were. And that really is how chamber music
is meant to be heard."
The Fritz Kreisler Concerts are May
24-26, May 31 and June 1-2 at 7:30 pm and May 27 and June 3 at
4 pm. Bargemusic is located at Fulton Ferry Landing in Brooklyn
Heights, just south of the Brooklyn Bridge. For tickets, call
(718) 624-2083. Tickets are $27, $25 seniors 65 and older and
$15 students. For information about each day’s program, visit
their Web site at www.bargemusic.org.
