Notes From a Curious Listener

Which SummerFest concert am I most excited to hear? It is a tough question; but, beside Opening and Closing Nights, I choose Wednesday, August 25th, An Evening with Vladimir Feltsman. Being a child of the 60’s and 70’s, I’m fascinated by anyone that grew up behind the infamous “Iron Curtain”. Feltsman was a piano sensation in Moscow starting at age 11 when he debuted with the Moscow Philharmonic. In 1979 he applied for an exit visa and was, sadly, rewarded with, according to Feltsman himself, 8 years of "virtual musical exile". He was banned from playing in public and his recordings were suppressed.

He was finally allowed to leave eight years later. He is now an American citizen, and enjoys a career spanning the globe. He performed in Moscow in April 2008. How sad that politics cut short Feltsman’s artistic work; but it does show that eight years is, in the grand scheme of things, a short period of time. Feltsman’s life story provides me with perspective.

Back to the concert, I’m also excited about this particular performance because I listened to the Recommended Recordings suggested by LJMS.   They found a recording from 1994 of the second piece to be played at the Feltsman concert. It was written by Anton Stepanovich Arensky, a late 19th century Russian composer.

Delightfully, we will hear a re-creation of the recording using the same violinist, our own Cho-Liang Lin, Music Director, and the same cellist, Gary Hoffman, with Feltsman as the pianist. I wonder how different it will sound with a different pianist, played 16 years later. The CD is wonderful; but I am expecting the music to be even better live. What do you expect?