CD Review - Grad Keyboard Skills

The piece I have chosen to review is the Erlkonig, D. 328 by Schubert.

The first recording I chose was titled Great Artists of the Century – Schubert: 25 Lieder with artists Ian Bostridge and Julius Drake. In this recording from 2005, the running bass line is sometimes uneven at the beginning of the piece. As the piece continues it becomes more connected, flows better and is much less choppy. For much of the piece, however, it is still the choppiest of the three recordings. This pianist uses the greatest amount of dynamic contrast of the three. The moderate tempo falls somewhere between the tempo choices of the other recordings. This is, in my opinion, the most successful recording of the three because of the good balance between the voice and the piano as well as the greater dynamic range.

The second recording was Prima Voce: Legendary Voices with artist Alexander Kipnis. It was recorded in 1995 and is the oldest of the three recordings. The sound quality of this recording makes it sound older as well. One major difference in this recording is that it is in a different key than the original piece. Of the three recordings, this one has the fastest tempo and the running bass line is the most connected and even. However there is not as much dynamic contrast as there was in the first recording and the balance favors the voice instead of the piano. Even in the piano solo sections, the piano takes more of a backseat in this recording.

The third recording was found on a cd titled, oddly enough, Songs Without Words. The artist is Murray Perahia and it was recorded in 1999. As the title indicates, there is no singer. Something is lost when the piano player has to play both the melody and bass lines. Something has to go and it ends up being bits and pieces of the bass. This makes piece lose some of its driving motion. This recording also has less of the sense of urgency that is more present in other recordings. This may be due to the limitations of the piano, with its shorter, faster decaying tones, trying to imitate the longer, driving notes of the voice. It could also be due to the slower tempo, as this recording has the slowest tempo of the three.

Concert Review 1 (for Keyboard Skills 3)

Saturday, September 26th marked the annual Arts by George event at Mason. The purpose of Arts by George is to celebrate the arts at Mason to raise funds for scholarships and performances. Beginning at 5pm, guests were invited to enjoy a multitude of musical performances, including a vocal studies showcase, interactive jazz sessions with the GMU Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Professor Jim Carroll, and small chamber ensembles such as piano solos, flute trios, string quartets, and jazz combos. These musical performances were well complimented by dance, paintings, sculptures, and video, which were all on display throughout three floors of the performing arts building. One nifty feature which spanned the entire day was the use of a marimba and gong. A group of about four Mason percussion students took turns playing everything from Bach chorales to improvisation on the pentatonic scale on a Marimba that was positioned at the bottom of the stairs on the first floor. This served as background music as guests mingled and enjoyed hors d'œuvres and wine. Then, five minutes prior to each performance, a gong, positioned on the fourth floor, was struck to signal that a performance was about to begin and guests were directed to the various performance spaces.

The highlight of the festival, for me at least, was the inaugural performance of a new orchestra, the American Festival Pops Orchestra, under the direction of Mason’s own Professor Anthony Maiello. The orchestra, which included many Mason faculty members, and even some students, presented a fabulous display of musicianship and artistry. Following a brilliant opening overture-type piece composed by Mason graduate student Vincent Oppido, the orchestra accompanied the guest artist, Tony Award-winning Brian Stokes Mitchell. Mitchell’s Broadway credits include “Man of La Mancha,” “Kiss Me Kate,” and “Oh, Kay!” The audience, myself included, thoroughly enjoyed his full baritone voice on many Broadway and jazz favorites and standards such as George Gershwin’s "'S Wonderful,” “Take the A Train.” The evening closed with Mitchell’s second encore, “The Impossible Dream,” for which he is famous. His regular backing group also played with him and the orchestra and included a pianist, bassist, and a drummer. The pianist, in particular, impressed me with the way he altered his accompaniment style to fit with the orchestra. He also arranged one of the songs himself, which was performed without the orchestra. This gave the talented pianist a chance to show off more of his well-developed solo style. According to Mitchell’s on-stage commentary, he often plays with just these three musicians, and sometimes with just the pianist, whose name I unfortunately did not get. Watching Brian Stokes Mitchell in one of these different settings (without a full orchestra) is something I would like to see in the future.

un-boring church music

I attended a church service at which I’d assumed there would be piano. I was wrong. There was organ instead. Now, no matter how scary I think piano is, organ is much, much worse. Just making my hands move independently took me a while. Making my hands and feet...no, I don’t even want to go there.
This service was composed of both traditional Bach-like tunes and hymns by modern American composers like David Haas. Although the hymns were led by a rather sub-standard singer, the organist was an excellent player. One really good thing I noticed about his playing was his tempos. Although he did have the tendency to slow down as the verses progressed, he started the hymns at good, alive tempos (necessary to keep the choir from dying).
One cause of this slight tempo issue might be his unusual use of harmonies and ornamental runs. In the first verses of each song, the organist played the traditional harmonies and chord progressions. As every organist I have ever heard plays the same exact harmonies, this definitely gets boring. However, in the final verse of the hymns, this organist used new harmonies and strange chord progressions I had never heard before. These new harmonies were very interesting, though I didn’t always prefer them to the originals. He made no technical errors—I was just not very fond of some of his musical choices. For instance, in “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say,” which traditionally is played using the harmonization of Ralph Vaughan Williams, he played the third verse with almost completely new harmonization. I didn’t think that it had the same fulfilling qualities as Vaughan William’s version. But I am picky—and I doubt anyone else noticed at all. However, no new harmonization occurred in any of the modern pieces, such as David Haas’ “Here I Am, Lord.” But generally I prefer Haas’ music to be played on the piano rather than on the organ; I feel that the piano lends itself to gentler emotion, and more pliable rhythm, than the organ does.
Overall, the organist added a lot to the service—where would church music be without the organ? Also, I really appreciated the fact that he took the time to write new harmonies for some of the tunes. Even if there were a few strange chords, he showed a great care and interest in reviving this music, which is usually so boring that no one even notices which song they’re singing.

Concert Review

On Saturday night, September 12, 2009, I went to go see Mike Gordon at the State Theater in Falls Church, Virginia. Mike Gordon is a bassist and vocalist who is most noted for his work with the renowned rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, pianist, guitarist, percussionist and blues harpist. He has also had award winning success in documentary filmmaking. Though Mike Gordon is an efficient and talented pianist, he strictly played bass, guitar and lead vocals. The rest of his band consisted of guitarist, Scott Murawski, percussionist, Craig Myers, keyboardist, Tom Cleary and drummer, Todd Isler.
For the most part, Mike Gordon’s music is a psychedelic rock pop with shades of bluegrass and folk. The keyboardist, Tom Cleary, played mostly accompaniment for the whole show by playing behind the melodies of the guitar and bass. There were a couple of songs where the keyboards were prominent. For instance, they did a cover of “Aint Wastin Time No More” by the Allman Brothers which Cleary had a dominant role in. However, Cleary’s main role in the band was to play psychedelic tones to give the music the full acid rock effect. His psychedelic tones also gave full effect to the light show which was a pleasant addition to the music being played. During one of the songs in the middle of the set, Cleary had a keyboard solo which went on for about 2 or 3 minutes. At some point in the middle of the solo, Cleary stood up out of his chair and started to play more aggressively while building up the tempo. The music was at its height and so was the lighting effects and then finally, after a heavy dosage of keyboards, the band breaks back into the chorus and the crowd, as one would imagine, applauded enthusiastically.
The show went on for about 2 and half hours including 2 encore songs. Overall, I enjoyed myself while listening to Mike Gordon and his band mates, including Tom Cleary. What made this experience different was that I was strictly listening and watching the keyboardist which would be the first time I have ever done so at a rock concert. Usually, I just watch and listen to the guitarist so that I can pick up some things to play for myself. Focusing my attention more on the keyboardist has probably made me a better keyboardist or at least more knowledgeable about the instrument itself.

Concert Review

I attended one of the recitals from the Washington National Piano Festival at the Kennedy Center’s Millenium Stage, featuring Ivo Kaltchev and Milen Petrov. The duo performed four piano duets featuring composers Poulenc, Milhaud, Piazzolla, and Copeland.
Their first piece “Sonata for Two Pianos” by Poulenc had heavy dissonance, octaves up the piano and hand crossing. It had a hauntingly beautiful melody line that went from one pianist to the other. It had a somewhat minimal approach at the beginning, then a heavy rondo section to then go back to the “A” section of the piece. I enjoyed it and their body language throughout the entire piece was as if they were one with every note they played. They would lean into the keys, almost as if they wouldn’t get their message across unless they put their whole being into it.
Their second piece “Scaramouche” by Milhaud was a contrast from the first one. It began with playful rhythms and jazz flair every now and then. Again, they had relaxed posture and their hands seemed to glide across the keys with ease. They weren’t smiling, but they looked like they enjoyed being up there.
Their third piece “Grand Tango” by Piazzolla had a unique melody line with syncopated rhythms. The “B” section I really enjoyed, but then it started getting boring at the end.
Their last piece “Billy The Kid” by Copland had probably the most jazz of all the pieces and, of course, syncopation. Towards the end it started getting exciting and much more movement from the performers as they swayed with the music. They made a big finish with a glissando from both performers.
I really enjoyed this recital from two talented musicians who displayed love for the art through their musical passages and lines. I’m definitely glad I went.

Concert Review

The Faculty Concert, on September 11th, was not only an excellent way for students to see their professors perform, but a way for the professors to showcase their talent. In particular, Dr. Monson stole the show with her numerous performances, whether accompanying a colleague, or soloing, she really shined. I think Dr. Monson’s performance stood out because I don’t get to see her that often. Of course I’ve heard what a wonderful professor she is, but actually seeing her in her element was incredible.
Dr. Monson accompanied many of GMU’s esteemed staff, but she also debuted a piece that Dr. Glen Smith wrote for her. The piece was fantastic. It was obvious that she wasn’t just playing it, she was enjoying it. From her body movements, her facial expressions, and the overall expressiveness that she conveyed through her instrument was just wonderful.
The showstopper, however, was when Dr. Monson and Dr. Balakerskaia performed together. Interestingly, the pianos were placed so that they fit into one another – the stage crew put the rounded out part of one piano into the curve of the other. I’ve never seen a piano duet before, but my friend next to me (a piano student) said she had only seen it where the pianos are side-by-side. The two women, who appear to differ greatly in personality, performed fantastically together – down to their matching scarves. They performed two Latin style pieces that had the audience tapping their feet and bopping their heads, which didn’t seem odd since both women were doing the same thing on stage.
The talent of these two women is indescribable. They play the piano with such ease, but produce a sound that is simply out of this world. It is easy to see now why GMU’s piano students are so talented and so successful, as their teachers are clearly world class performers.



(Note - I tried to post this on the Keyboard skills 3 site, but it wouldn't let me)

hope I did this

Adding to the blog spot to practice blogging, I am not techno in the least.
I did practice today and am heading to the piano after I do this part for the up and down the piano inversion drill.
Isora