San Francisco Classical Voice

In the all-Mozart program offered by Midsummer Mozart Wednesday night at the Florence Gould Theater in the Legion of Honor, the approach by both conductor and soloist was serious, dark and meditative. Shunning outward, theatrical effect, conductor George Cleve and pianist Claude Frank portrayed a somber vision of the Piano Concerto #24 in C minor, K. 491. Tempi were deliberate and the tonal palette subdued. From the piano's first entrance the listener was ushered into a world of angst. Mr. Frank's sense of timing is excellent. His rhythmic control enables him to extend the musical line while successfully holding long phrases together.

Missing from the performance, however, was clarity of articulation (particularly in the last movement) and the bright spirit and animation inherent in the music. While much of this work is indeed profound and brooding, it is also full of contrasting moments of whimsy and charm, with the occasional poignant ray of sunlight shining through its melancholic vision. In this reading, seriousness was not only in the music, it was imposed upon the music by the performer.

The orchestra provided fine support throughout, and the wind playing, especially in the extended and elaborate passage work of the second and third movements, was outstanding.

The four musicians who joined Claude Frank in the Quintet for Piano and Winds, K. 452--Roger Wiesmeyer, oboe, Mark Brandenberg, clarinet, Carla Wilson, bassoon, and Paul Avril, horn--contributed hugely to its success. The playing was convincing in its lyricism and rhythmic poise. The sheer beauty of tone from all performers was a delight. The serious and understated qualities in the piano seemed effectively balanced by the brighter elements in the music. The winds brought a spontaneity and elan to their parts that enhanced the piano's sensitive, restrained interludes.

Mozart, as is well known, had a special affection for this quintet. He wrote his father,"I myself consider it to be the best work I have ever composed. How I wish you could have heard it!" The Quintet is neither a long nor an elaborately stated piece. Nor is it tempestuous or highly dramatic. Yet every note seems almost divinely chosen, its delicacy and humor heaven-sent. This performance did genuine justice to a sublime masterpiece.

The Symphony in G major,Linz, K. 425, which opened the program, began promisingly with an energetic reading of the exposition of the first movement. By the second movement, Poco Adagio however, the momentum was lost. The effort to draw out the line, coupled with a somewhat rigid tempo, instead seemed to weigh the music down, and ensemble and intonation were not up to the highest standard.

Artur Schnabel, one of Frank's teachers, once remarked that the performer's task is like that of a travel guide: to lead the listener to the view, and then to stand aside so that it may be enjoyed. This was a concert where the view was revealed, but with the guide's own dark shadow cast upon it. Nevertheless, it is an important, and unfortunately, all too rare event when the music is taken this seriously, and that is to be respected and cherished.

(Paul Hersh is a pianist and violist, and, since 1972, the James D. Robertson Professor of Piano at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music)

©1999 Paul Hersh, all rights reserved