Gabby is the real deal and if you don’t know of her, you should.  Sublime musical intelligence, warm personality, beautiful, huge sound with the added twist of being a skilled and natural improvisationist (is that a word?). This is improvisation in the classical sense, the ability to take a theme and spontaneously turn it into a polished performance. These were considered common skills for performers 100 (maybe 150) years ago but they have since disappeared from the scene. Properly done it is more than a parlor trick. There should be  all the structure of the sonata allegro form, including a development of the theme, often with variations as well as a recapitulation and coda. The idea is that the knowledge of musical structure and construction is so integrated in the performer that she can apply it at will.

Gaby speaks of her “gift” and takes little credit for being anything other than a channel, but we all know that there is more than that. It is hard for an audience to connect with improvisation in the true classical sense since the subtleties are beyond easy reach. She frequently works with themes called out from the audience that are more often than not pop or jazz related. While she does a good job here, I always long to hear her stay in the more serious area.  What she does then is truly amazing.

www.newportmusic.org

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Newport Venue

This year it takes place from July 10-26 and if you can possibly go, you should.

Here is a list of the pianists performing this year:

Augustin Anievas, Edward Auer, Junghwa Moon Auer, John Bayless, Bernadene Blaha, Gergely Boganyi, Jean-Phillipe Collard, Jens Elvekjaer, Michael Endres, Kevin Fitz-Gerald, Eduardus Halim, Alain Jacquon, Jakov Kakoulov, Pedja Muzijevic, Daniel del Pino, Igor Tkachenko and Grigorios Zamparas.

This does not include singers, cellists etc etc of real reknown.

The secret of most great experiences, whether its music, a festival or a piano, is the application of a distinct personality and the Newport Festival has the stamp of Mark Malkovich Senior all over it. For 30 some years Mark has sculpted a deliciously unique festival based on his deep love of music, his encyclopedic knowledge of the repertoire and his sense of humor in creating programs and assembling performers. The result is a combination of sublime standard repertoire and humorous, provoking and sometimes just downright perplexing choices of little known pieces by well known, and sometimes little known composers. While many of these pieces are not in the mainstream for a reason, many of them are delightful and often thrilling.

Frequently one of the reasons pieces are not well known is that they are fiendishly difficult.  One of the hallmarks of being in residence at Newport is that you (must) play a vast number of pieces, many of which are real bears that you will most likely not play again. But what comes out is a festival full of surprises, gems, delights and groaningly witty and sophisticated puns.

But make no mistake, Mark knows his stuff and the list of US debuts of major artists at Newport is legendary.

The great Sergio Fiorentino

During my time at Yamaha, I collaborated with Mark to present a series of recitals at Alice Tully Hall in New York. The goal was to show the Yamaha CFIIIS concert piano in mainstream professional settings and Mark had the connections with the artists. We presented the great Sergio Fiorentino twice and Dubravka Tomsic literally brought the house down. If you don’t know those names, you’re in for a treat. Maestro Fiorentino sadly died about 10 years ago but Tomsic is thriving in her native Ljubljana.

The festival is held inside the various Newport mansions and, I promise you, is a real treat.

Me and Dr. Mark P. Malkovich

To an orchestral music lover, this is a multi-course meal at a fabulous restaurant. One comes away content  on a number of levels, marveling at the display of mastery that one has just witnessed. And, ultimately, the only thing one takes away is a memory.

The Webern was the biggest surprise. A huge romantic tone poem from the master of modernist  miniatures. I will use this piece, in addition to Schoenberg’s Gurralieder and Transfigured Night as proof that one needs to have complete mastery of the current language before one can explore new worlds with any credibility.

The Ruckert Lieder is to me kind of an odd combination of songs but also is Mahler at his time-suspending best (and of reasonable length…see my earlier post about Mahler).

However, if you are thinking about getting  into classical music, is there any better vehicle than the 4th (last) movement of the Brahms first symphony? This is the response of the first composing genius after Beethoven, dealing with legacy of his predecessor.

Even if you don’t know anything about classical music, this music will move you. There is something so perfect about the chord progressions and that wonderful choral harmony. It just works. It’s kind of like water, you just know that you need it and that it is good for you.

It’s hard to not get choked up when an aging conductor, clearly moving slowly on his second curtain call, instead of turning to face the thunderous applause and standing ovation, pauses, with his back to the audience, beaming at the orchestra and making a subtle, sort of stiff gesture with his right hand. Only when he is certain that the message of  “it wasn’t just me, we did this as a team” is transmitted, does he turn and face his appreciative audience.

Andras and I used to be friendly a while ago (well, about 25 years ago) when I was a technician preparing a number of concert pianos for him.I got a chance to see up close his very individual approach to interpretation.  As are most musicians at this level, he was warm and funny as heck.

• “At the piano — a fine mellow-toned Bosendorfer instead of the usual Steinway — Valentina Lisitsa showed great interpretative sympathy and technical skill, not least in the demanding Brahms accompaniments.”

This was music making of the highest order, in the most wonderful, casual, engaging setting you can imagine.

So, imagine my surprise to see a shiny Yamaha CFIIIS on the stage. I’m rather partial to the CFIIIS, having managed the Yamaha US Artist Relations program for 10 years. Oh, and I also own one. I believe that the world needs more than one concert piano and Yamaha has worked very very hard to give the world one, with the resources to put it out where people can see (hear) it. You could call the world of concert pianos a zero sum game (any win for one is a loss for the others).  However, when faced with a monopoly, the game is somewhat different. If any instrument can fight it’s way onto the concert stage in a consistent and satisfying manner, then that instrument is good for all the ones fighting the same fight. The monopoly’s domain is slightly smaller and someone else has planted a stake.

This particular Yamaha was extremely satisfying. Plenty of power (remember, it’s Tchaik 1) with extraordinary tone and sustain in the soft lyrical parts. Yet, still with a sound of its own. Really nice piano…oh, and played by somebody pretty extraordinary herself!!