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RECITAL REVIEW
William
August 23, 2006
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Something Missing By Heuwell Tircuit
Commenting on the dangers of being a performer, Horowitz once said: “The terrible thing is knowing that at exactly 4 o’clock next Sunday you have to be at your very best.” That quote came to mind on Wednesday, when the reliable William Corbett-Jones presented a demanding piano program for Noontime Concerts at St. Patrick’s Church. The playing was “good,” but not up to his highest standards. He began with Liszt’s transcription of Bach’s organ Prelude and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 543, known as the “Great A Minor.” That was followed by Schubert’s Impromptu No. 2 in E-flat Major, D. 899, and Beethoven’s Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111.
Bach was in his early 30s when he wrote the "Greatest" of his A-minor forays into the form. It is a remarkable composition by any comparison, and as dramatic and virtuosic as the more famous D-Minor Toccata and Fugue. The originality of textures and use of dissonance are a bit overshadowed by the sheer propulsive energy of the score. In truth, it owes a bit to the standards set by the Danish organist-composer Dietrich Buxtuhude — arguably the greatest organ composer prior to Bach.
Liszt approached his piano transcription of Bach with grave respect, producing something as powerful as anything by Beethoven and as dramatic as anything by Wagner. He neither changed nor added anything to the original. After all, it hardly needs brushing or combing. His motive was to enable more people to experience the work, since organists didn’t, and by and large still don’t, program it. (In the contemporary world, organists seem mesmerized by French Romantic doss — those bloated, god-awful organ sonatas that the French like to title symphonies.) At any rate, I have not heard a live organ performance of the Great A-Minor Prelude and Fugue in 40 years.
Corbett-Jones took a conservative approach, somewhat along the lines of the set-it-and-forget-it school of organ registration. He played all the notes well, but within a limited dynamic range. The implicit thunder and tempest in the climaxes simply wasn't there. Of course, there are purists who feel that kind of drama in Bach is too romantic, but I disagree. Rhythmically it should be straightforward, but dynamic variety seems essential for the full effect, which is underlined by the dramatic character of the score. The performance struck me as good, but a tad bland.
Corbett-Jones’ interpretation was far better in Beethoven’s last sonata. Among Beethoven’s six two-movement piano sonatas, the Op. 111 is singular in that each movement is completely different in character. The first movement has a varied form. At once a classical introduction and sonata allegro, it is also a prelude and fugue highlighting Beethoven’s late interest in Baroque music, and the work of Handel in particular. The first movement opened with the jagged snapping of the Baroque overture, followed by that angry fugue, which Corbett-Jones tore into with all the passion of the Ninth Symphony’s first movement. Here was Beethoven as Dionysus. The piece shifts into an Apollonian mode in the second movement. Here the variations open with one of the most beautiful, hymnlike themes in all of Beethoven. Gentle and quite elegant variations follow, largely in soft dynamics, ending with a soft sheen of glitter that’s a feast for the ear but hell on the fingers. It takes tremendous muscular control to manage it, power that emanates largely from the shoulders and back muscles, not just the fingers, which need to be relaxed or the sound is too hard. I doubt that many people notice, but most of the great virtuoso pianists — Rubinstein, Richter, Serkin, et al — all had shoulders like professional linebackers. Corbett-Jones, clearly no gym rat, reached the peak of his recital in the second movement. The playing was beautifully expressive, elegant, and full of emotional depth. He deserved his ovation. The Schubert went well enough, but lacked quite enough of the liquid smoothness Jon Nakamatsu brought the piece the week before at St. Patrick’s (see review). There’s no disgrace in that, for no other pianist in my experience tops what Nakamatsu accomplished with it. Corbett-Jones is clearly a serious pianist, and an artistic one at that, but no musician can live up to his highest standards 100 percent of the time. After his long, taxing program, Corbett-Jones offered no encore.
(Heuwell Tircuit is a composer, performer, and writer who was chief writer for Gramophone Japan and for 21 years a music reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle. He wrote previously for Chicago's American and the Asahi Evening News.)
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