Notes from a Curious Listener

 Does the conductor matter? What more is required except good baton technique to keep the musicians together? While researching Nicholas McGegan, one of SummerFest's conductors, I have discovered great performances require a great conductor. A conductor must have his own interpretation of the music which thrills us, even though we have heard it many times. And, to motivate all 80 or so musicians to embrace his interpretation requires skillful leadership. The minute the conductor loses the respect of the orchestra, the concert and conductor are doomed to mediocrity.

So how do they gain the musicians' respect? McGegan uses a deep, deep, (did I say deep?) knowledge of early music, coupled with humility, humor and a mutual respect for the musicians. Being a flautist and harpsichordist gives him the musician's perspective. This quote from Eddie Geoghegan's website taken from the Irish Times, gives some understanding of McGegan's approach:

"Musicians are trying to get something right that's just difficult to do. Being a little martinet maestro does not help. Because everybody really is doing their best. And, some pieces are just very difficult. Having been on the other side of it all, I'm a little bit more sympathetic than some. Well, a lot more, I hope. One of the things I do work at very hard is trying to organize rehearsals so that you don't waste any time. And remembering that such and such a piece does have a triangle player in it, so that you don't keep him sitting around for three hours and then say, 'Oh we didn't quite get to your bit', because you can guess what his assessment's going to be."

The message that comes through most clearly from four-time Grammy® Award winner, Dianne Reeves, is to nurture your own unique talent. She says it in  many different ways; and I understand why it is so important to her - as important as making the critics happy or selling a million records.

She believes, as I do, that ordinary, not extraordinary, people effect change. Ms. Reeves articulates this in an interview on Dec. 18, 2008 with Guerrilla Journalism at 1:37, "The most important thing that a person can do to effect change is to love themselves....We are each given something different to do specifically....If you are strong in knowing that you are essential ... and you do the things that you are supposed to be in charge of doing in this world, those things can effect change. You don't have to go global, you can start right in your own family and local." What an empowering message!

It was Sarah Vaughan, whose songs Ms. Reeves will be singing on Friday night, that showed her the possibilities of the voice. Ms. Vaughan had an amazing range from "true female baritone lows to mezzo-soprano highs" according to Wikipedia. Ms. Reeves also has an amazing voice with "superhuman control over tone and pitch", according to Hugo Kugiya of the Seattle Times.

André Watts is a well-known name, but why? It's because he has been playing for so very long. He, like Joyce Yang, is a child prodigy; but he is now 65 years old. He was 26 when, in 1972, he received an honorary degree from Yale University, the youngest person ever to do so. He was also the first soloist to be broadcast on nationwide television in prime time. This was on Live from Lincoln Center, a Sunday afternoon show by PBS. Watts was 30 years old and well-known at Lincoln Center, having played there almost every year since he was 16.

The first time he played at Lincoln Center was with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein. What did he play? Liszt - the same composer featured in his recital here in San Diego on Friday, March 18th. 

Watts began playing Liszt early. His Hungarian mother encouraged him to practice by holding up Liszt as a role model. Wikipedia says, "Watts found inspiration in Liszt, adopting his theatrical playing style." I found a video showing that "theatrical playing style" which enriches the music with a quick fling of an arm here and  a whip of the fingers there. Also, his facial expressions, which perfectly fit the music, are - well - expressive! Watts clearly forgets himself when playing, focusing only on the music.  In an interview by Lucy Kraus, André Watts confirms this when talking about playing for a live audience, "My thing with my audience is that I come out, say "Hello, glad you're here. I'm going to sit down and you must all be voyeurs because you're going to hear everything I know, think, feel about this piece of music without my hiding or posturing."

Today we bury a good man, my father-in-law. For 24 years, half my life, this man never failed to smile when he saw me.

There is so much more that I could say: about his wonderful wife, my mother-in-law, and how they took care of each other and set such a good example for their son and I. How important family, friends, church, and country were to him. Not in a loud, are-you-wearing-a-flag-pin sort of way, but a shovel-the-snow-for-the-neighbors way.

He will be missed by many people. The church was full. And despite the bitter cold, (fitting because he loved hockey after all) we gathered on the porch, listened to Taps, and watched as four Army veterans smartly folded the American flag to honor Dad's service in Germany in 1952. I looked up the words. They seem comforting somehow:

Curious Listener: Rob Bookstein wrote a pithy email describing Melvyn Tan's concert to his friend and La Jolla Music Society Board member, Katherine Kennedy. It morphed into this post. Thank you, Rob!

Rob Bookstein: I decided to go to the Dec. 10th concert mostly because of Sonata No. 3. I think this is one of the most incredible piano pieces ever written. It is viciously difficult, and you don't hear it often. Afterwards I checked iTunes and realized I didn't have a recording there; nor did I have one on a CD. But I did remember owning two different vinyl recordings dating from some 30 years ago. I hadn't played a record in many years; an old 1990s era black plastic component audio system, with a turntable, a CD player, a dubbing cassette tape deck (!) and a "graphic equalizer", has been an ignored, dust-catching relic for almost a decade. The speakers were gone, so I patched the output into a small tabletop CD player. I played both versions, and preferred the one dating from 1962 by a Polish pianist named Malcuzynski. The flip side (I almost forgot that records had two sides) was Sonata No. 2. I used to be able to play the first movement myself, but it is so distant that it might as well have been done by a different person. The third movement is the Funeral March, which is quite easy.

Melvyn Tan was technically spectacular and engaging, and of course I loved hearing the piece, but I realized why he sounded different than others: he deliberately exposed all the technical nuts and bolts of the music rather than keeping them cloaked inside a musical surface or skin... sort of like the Pompidou Center in Paris with all the A/C ductwork on the outside. I guess I like the surfaced method better. But the concert was still great and the 3rd Sonata was the perfect piece to end Chopin's bicentennial year.

Rob's short bio:
Rob Bookstein spent his early childhood and formative years learning classical piano and building motorized toy vehicles. Eventually reason prevailed and he trained in biological sciences and medicine. He has worked in cancer genetics research for most of the last 24 years and is currently advising on biotechnology venture investment with Biogen Idec in San Diego.