San Francisco Classical Voice

Peter Grunberg

Pianist Peter Grunberg and colleagues from the San Francisco Opera orchestra presented an exemplary, well-conceived program of music by Schumann, Brahms, and Stravinsky Friday at Old First Church. The recital was fully alive with both ideas and sentiment.

The uniquely dark-toned, complex and ultra-subjective world of Schumann's Quintet for Piano and Strings, Op. 44, began a program filled with expressiveness. Violinists Heidi Wilcox and Virginia Price-Kvistad, violist Elizabeth Prior Runnicles, and cellist David Budd joined Grunberg for a vividly dramatic and unified performance. The opening Allegro was played on an epic scale followed by an other-worldly introspective Andante, especially in the opening funeral march section. The spirited scherzo, beaming with emotional confidence, was the most completely satisfying movement. The sound of the piano was almost too present, at least in the balcony at Old First. I was wanting a more subdued sonority, at times a more sultry murmur in the bass of the piano, and more vibrato from the strings. Nevertheless, this was a performance with refinement and instinct both fully present.

Written to be played with his son Soulima, Stravinsky's "Concerto for Two Solo Pianos" stretches both listeners and performers. As I imagined its premiere in 1935, Stravinsky came to mind as the "enfant terrible" then. This concerto can push the sense of ensemble to an uncomfortable point of no return for the pianists and, to a passive, "easy-listening" audience, can seem like an endless journey.

Pianist Bryndon Hassman joined Grunberg for a rare live performance of this fiendishly difficult piece, and with fabulous results. Both are superb technicians with an admirable range of color and clarity. Even the very best of music for two pianos, and that certainly includes the Stravinsky Concerty, can become texturally monotonous in the hands of lesser musicians. This performance was a pleasant surprise, thanks to Grunberg and Hassman.

The dramatic subtlety and extroverted quality of the opening "con moto" was striking because of confident personal projection by both pianists. The "Nocturno" was played with fastidious attention to pacing and movement. Their effervescent pianism lent real character and mesmerizing intensity. The performance made a good case for exploration of the further possibilities of this medium by the "post-Stravinsky" generation of composers.

After intermission came an affectingly and eloquently played Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34. The second movement, "Andante, un poco adagio," was especially touching and warm. The Allegro movement had a clear sense of direction and was generously sonorous. Veiled, sensitive playing from the strings in the sections without piano was captivating. Throughout the Brahlms and indeed throughout the entire evening, pianist Grunberg was consistenly thoughtful, playing with exuberance and solid integrity.

(John McCarthy is a pianist and teacher. He is Director of Preparatory and Extension Divisions at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.)

©1998 John McCarthy, all rights reserved