Tag: piano

REVIEW: Maxim Vengerov with Polina Osetinskaya

Sappy Leave a comment

Sunday, November 26th, violinist Maxim Vengerov and pianist Polina Osetinskaya graced Hill Auditorium. It was a full house with a diverse audience, as both of them are world-renowned musicians in high demand. Maxim Vengerov is a Grammy award winner who began his career as a solo violinist when he was just five years old, also the age Polina Osetinskaya began her piano career. With repertoire from four different composers, the music expressed all kinds of emotion, a fitting ambiance for Sunday being the first day of snow and the last day of break.

They opened with Clara Schumann’s Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22, a bittersweet melody that the piano weaved together and the violin brought to life with a strong vibrato on every note. Vengerov and Osetinskaya balanced each other well by taking turns crescendoing or decrescendoing, neither ever overwhelming the other: it was literally the dynamic of a tug-of-war in love.

The next few pieces, in contrast, were striking and sprightful. Whenever there was pizzicato, a technique where the player strums the strings with their fingers, Vengerov would use his whole arm with flare. With every musical line, he played with a full bow that led to a few passionately broken bow hairs. In general, I was enamored by the skill he handles his bow. A lot of the pieces have spiccato, which is a technique where the bow bounces off of the string, and Vengerov transitions seamlessly between the spiccato and legato. The piano creates a similar dialogue by interchanging staccato (a technique of playing notes short but is fundamentally different from spiccato) and legato too.

Since it was only the two playing, the usually cramped stage looked bizarrely empty. People often talk about stage presence when it comes to dancers and singers, but this pair’s stage presence was enough to fill up the whole space. It’s always exciting whenever famous musicians come to town, and this was my second time seeing Vengerov at Hill Auditorium.

This was their concert program:

Clara Schumann
Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22

Johannes Brahms
F-A-E Sonata (Scherzo excerpt)

Robert Schumann
Violin Sonata No. 3 in a minor, WoO27

Sergei Prokofiev
Five Melodies for Violin and Piano, Op. 35bis
Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Major, Op. 94bis

 In addition, they included three encore pieces. 

It was a wonderful show and definitely something I recommend classical music lovers attend!

REVIEW: Candlelight Concert

sophiascribbles 1 Comment

One perk of living on campus that I’ve often taken for granted is its sheer proximity to so many great music events. As a freshman living in the dorms, this proximity was made especially apparent when I was able to simply hop over next door to the Michigan Union last Saturday evening to check out the Candelight Concert—which to me, felt like a nice personal win. 

The concert featured 15 SMTD undergraduate piano students in what was a charming blend between a professional studio recital and a laid-back show-and-tell among friends. Each piece was prefaced with a quick blurb by the performer, introducing themselves with a hand-held mic and highlighting what bits of contextualization they felt were most pertinent to experiencing the music. To add to this casual intimacy, candles piled on top of the grand piano cast a warm glow on the performers’ faces as they played while even more candles lined the rows of chairs. Warm lighting typically helps to shrink the size of a room, but in combination with the extra tall ceilings of the Rogel Ballroom, created a stripped-back bubble of space. There was also a sizeable turnout—the majority of which was notably fellow students (something you don’t often see at classical concerts), which added to the welcoming atmosphere.

The program itself was designed to feel accessible to the general public, showcasing iconic classical pieces while mixing in a few less familiar ones. From a musician’s perspective, playing these widely recognized pieces is definitely a double-edged sword—they are much easier to scrutinize, and so many interpretations already exist that it is a daunting task to bring something new up to the table. However, I was pleasantly delighted by the performances of the night. Lesley Sung’s Moonlight Sonata opening was thoughtful and breathtaking, keeping the right hand triplets solid but not overpowering and leaning into the phrasing of the top melody line. Additionally, Aleks Shameti’s Chopin Nocturne Op. 9 no 2 exuded a graceful effortlessness—his dynamic control allowed for a pillow-soft left hand and a beautiful push and pull throughout the piece. Jacob Wang’s Tchaikovsky Andante Maestoso was complex and majestic, concluding the concert with huge waves of sound. 

Out of the pieces I wasn’t already familiar with, I truly enjoyed Sua Lee’s Schumann-Liszt Widmung. Her playing was bold and emotional with audible breaths between phrases, distinctly echoing the snippet of her personality I got through her introduction to the piece. Moving over to the jazz pieces, I felt that Eric Yu’s The Man I Love fit nicely into the atmosphere with rolling chords that filled the room like a warm bubble. I also loved Robert Yan’s Somewhere Over the Rainbow arrangement, which incorporated wispy, delicate Debussy-esque passages.

Overall, I thought the concert was a lovely experience. I’d like to congratulate all the performers and thank them for sharing their music!

PREVIEW: Candlelight Concert

sophiascribbles Leave a comment

As the weather continues to treat us with frigid temperatures and icy gray slush, warm yourself up at the Candlelight Concert this Saturday at 8:00 PM in the Michigan Union Rogel Ballroom!

An entirely student-led event, the concert will feature 15 undergraduate pianists performing iconic classical and jazz music. According to organizer Jacob Wang, they have amassed around 750 LED candles that will decorate the piano and aisles to bring guests a cozy visual experience. Additionally, any extra profits from the event will go towards the piano department for scholarships, maintenance, and projects.

With a special focus on making the concert accessible to students and the general public, the program will incorporate a variety of genres and well-known pieces. I always get excited when I see Romantic composers on the list, but I also look forward to hearing Gershwin’s The Man I Love and I’ve Got a Crush on You, as well as Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Plus, tickets are free for UM students! What are you waiting for?

Event info: https://events.umich.edu/event/91755

REVIEW: Viola Senior Recital by Kirsten Riggs with Pianist Naki Kripfgans

Himaja 1 Comment

Before we dive in, a disclaimer: I played the cello in an orchestra in high school and therefore am hopelessly biased toward the superiority of that instrument.

HOWEVER! I am here today to begin to build an appreciation for the thousands of other instruments out there, starting with….the viola.

The viola gets made fun of a lot. Often mistaken for a violin, it’s actually slightly larger with a deeper sound and often plays the “inner voices” in a symphony. They’re crucial for harmonies in music composition but their voices are harder for the ear to pick out when playing in a symphony in between the deeper voices of the cello and bass and the melody voice of the violin. Over six year of playing in an orchestra, I can remember playing exactly one piece where the violas had either a melody or a solo part. They were very under-appreciated by music composers until the 20th century when more viola soloists came to prominence and people realized they should really write better music for this beautiful instrument!

PROGRAM
Suite No. 4 – Johann Sebastian Bach: https://youtu.be/70hcPBdzD1c

Sonata for Piano and Viola in E flat major op. 5 no. 3 – Johann Nepomuk Hummel: https://youtu.be/cFZyCna2vQA

Sonata for Viola and Piano op. 11/4 – Paul Hindemith: https://youtu.be/NxN2vrDeFjk

The performance venue was the McIntosh Theatre in the Earl V. Moore music building. The recital hall had a lot of seating and was acoustically resonant. Kirsten Riggs, the violist, had a great stage presence and seemed completely absorbed by the music. A stand with sheet music was set up in front of her but she hardly seemed to need it and often closed her eyes while playing. Something I noticed was that she would sometimes breathe in the pauses between phrases or at the very beginning of a piece before she played the next note. I thought it was interesting because it’s the same thing I was taught to do as a cellist when I played in an ensemble to help with keeping rhythm and synchronizing with the other players.

My favorite was the very last piece by Hindemith. It was so INTERESTING and dark and twisty, with a mood and tone that seemed to gain new dimensions every minute. Give the part from 10:25 to 11:30 in the video linked above to see what I mean. The piano part played by Naki Kripfgans paired gorgeously with the viola, and both musicians coaxed such a variety of moods out of their instruments. I loved their interpretation of the emotions.

I’ll be honest and say I don’t understand some of the stage mannerisms for classical music performances. For example, between each piece the performers would walk off the stage to a side room. Then a different person would walk out, remove the sheet music from the stand, and walk back. Then after a minute the performers would walk back on stage, set up their new sheet music, and resume their positions to start the next piece. It seemed like a lot of unnecessary walking to me! If there’s some important history behind this ritual and I have offended every classical soloist on Earth, please educate me so that I too can be in on the secret.

Tune in next time for when Himaja appreciates even more non-cello instruments! Up next….harp? tuba? kazoo? You decide!

REVIEW: Lisa Hilton

Kianna Marquez Leave a comment

The cold, rainy Saturday that we experienced just as spring was beginning to grow left many of us disappointed with the mood that the weather brought that day. Even so, I was lucky enough to attend a performance by Lisa Hilton at the Kerrytown Concert House that day, an event that warmed my spirits as it sheltered us from the cold outdoors. As expected, a large proportion of the people who attended this event were older and only a few of us were younger adults. However, I came to realize how much this disparity didn’t matter because of how Lisa Hilton was able to connect to us with music that was universal.

As the show began, the back half of the concert house was almost completely full. The lights in the main room dimmed and the lights projecting onto the stage became more bright in contrast. Lisa Hilton walked onto the stage as we applauded her entrance and she stood by her piano to give an introduction. While she normally brought along a few bandmates to play the drums and the bass during her performances, she stood up there alone with only her Steinway piano that day. From this, I immediately felt excited about how intimate and stripped down this performance would be because I felt that we would be able to see into her personality the most with a solo performance

During her conversations with the audience, Lisa Hilton spoke very politely and gave her commentaries in an organized manner. In other words, she was able to articulate the exact motives behind each of her pieces very well and I believe this helped us recognize the importance of the messages of each piece. In the minutes during which she would play, you could tell that she was passionate about her performance and her compositions. She would sway on the piano bench, look up at the ceiling and back down at her hands, and look to smile at the audience while playing her pieces. As I noticed this, I thought about just how many hours she had dedicated to this moment: to be able to play a full-length piece that she wrote and to perform this piece without making mistakes undoubtedly took numerous hours of the majority of the days in a year to master. With this, I develop a large appreciation for musicians like her who dedicate so much of their time to perfect their craft.

In terms of the style of her compositions, I was very pleased to hear something unique yet simple. During one of her commentaries, she explained to the audience that she wanted to be able to inject emotion into her pieces; she could do so much to master an exceptionally difficult classical piece but even that may not be able to truly convey her feelings, and so she took to writing from the heart in every circumstance. As she demonstrated her mastery of the technical aspects of the piano, she made evident throughout her performance her mastery of musicianship, creating a modern style with abstract melodies and filling these melodies with jazz-like rhythms.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the caliber and soul of Lisa Hilton’s performance. She was able to convey her emotions through her pieces by using a unique style with universal moods. After attending this performance, I left the venue glad that I was able to de-stress with an event showcasing the impressive and beautiful work on the piano.

PREVIEW: Lisa Hilton

Kianna Marquez Leave a comment

Hailing from the coast of central California, critically acclaimed jazz pianist and composer, Lisa Hilton, is a performer whose work has transcended among the sounds of various genres and time periods in history. Her work consists of both modern and classical flavors and her ability ranges from orchestral melodies to the vibrant sounds of jazz. Having completed an art degree in college, she describes her work as compositions painted by harmonies and sculpted by textural and rhythmic elements. Hilton has worked with many notable composers and musicians, including George Gershwin and Horace Silver, who all have influenced the emotion and the energy apparent in her pieces.

This Saturday, she will be taking the stage at the Kerrytown Concert House performing songs from her newest album, OASIS, and more. I am beyond excited to attend this performance because I will be able to experience someone perform music of their own that could resemble compositions performed by other high-caliber musicians and orchestras.

As a note, this event is available to all students for no cost through the Passport to the Arts offered by the Arts at Michigan program from the University of Michigan. Without further ado, I hope to see you there!