Carlo Gesualdo was a prince and landholder in Venosa in southeastern Italy. Around 1588 his wife began an affair with a gentleman in the vicinity. In 1590 Gesualdo, found the pair in bed together, stabbed them both, and hung their corpses in front of his castle for all to see. The story was retold repeatedly by poets of the day in a sixteenth-century equivalent of headline news. Was Gesualdo really a renegade as well as a murderer? Was he even a “modernist” of his time?
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When Julia Fischer had to cancel her US tour because of family concerns, UMS was delighted to learn that Jennifer Koh was available with largely the same program — two of the Bach Partitas, alongside four short contemporary pieces.
Please tell us what you thought of the concert.
Categories: Classical Music, Music, People Are Talking!
Carlo Gesualdo was a prince and landholder in Venosa in southeastern Italy. Around 1588 his wife began an affair with a gentleman in the vicinity. In 1590 Gesualdo, found the pair in bed together, stabbed them both, and hung their corpses in front of his castle for all to see. The story was retold repeatedly by poets of the day in a sixteenth-century equivalent of headline news. Was Gesualdo really a renegade as well as a murderer? Was he even a “modernist” of his time?
Leslie Stainton covers the first night of UMS Night School, where she learned the meaning of “maverick.” VIDEO interview with UMS Head Usher Dennis Carter as he prepares to usher at the Einstein on the Beach preview performances.
Editor’s Note: UMS will present “A Night in Treme:The Musical Majesty of New Orleans,” a night of New Orleans jazz featuring the Rebirth Brass Band, this Friday, November 11 at Hill Auditorium. The following note …
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Congratulations to UMS for putting together such a great program over the past two evenings — very fitting for the original concept and interesting and rewarding in its own right as well. Let's get more recitalists who can put together an enlightening program and back it up with the musical chops as well. Great job.
Yes, Fearless is a good word to describe Ms. Koh. I thought she was very strong as a player and as a women. I really liked her presentation. I would like to hear her again.
Her video was extremely interesting and fun as well.
I enjoyed the whole evening.
Ruth Tabler
I thought the video was so cool! I must say, it wasn't something that I expected to like…but I was immediately amazed by the discovery of a way that I have never related to music–visually. Of course, I read notes on a score, or witness artists perform, but I've never felt that I could actually SEE music until last night. Really interesting. What did others think?
I appreciated the video, too, partly because I wasn't expecting it–it's clear she's moving in a variety of directions–but also because it's nice to see how others "hear" film and "look at" music. That was an mesmerizing performance. I appreciate her professionalism and dedication to educating the audience.
After the appearance of the astonishing Pieter Wispelwey the previous evening, it seemed reasonable to hope that Jennifer Kohl would also be a worthy replacement for the canceled Ms. Fischer.
Indeed, we were treated to some fireworks in the pieces by Ysaye, Sarah, Carter, and Salonen. Ms. Kohl played with conviction and obviously loves these works. One could be confident that she played all the notes and non-notes. What's a non-note? A couple of times, she played either on the bridge (sul Monticello) or on the fingerboard (sul taste) — I'm afraid to ask how she did it — in the Saariaho memorial to Lutoslawski, to produce a grating, raucous sound that bad boys and girls studying the violin are warned against. But, then again, let’s bear in mind that Lutoslawski broke a few rules himself in his day. So, I suppose, it was all right. Still, I mused idly: Would either his or Roger Sessions' survivors, when presented with memorials by Carter and Saariaho, have cried, “oh, yes, yes, this strain here reminds me vividly of dad; it brings out his very essence?” I have no idea. Neither piece meant much to me.
The Salonen work had possibilities. But they were quashed by the visual accompaniment. My feeling is that this pairing shortchanged modes, the aural and the visual. I kept wondering about the relation between them and tended to withhold sufficient attention from either in its own right, whatever that right may be. The visual mode seemed to be an afterthoght, a kind of diagram of the music. Music usually doesn't need that.
An unfortunate feature of the evening was that Ms. Hoh seems reluctant to wait for a response from the audience – applause or other. If a performer does mark the end of a composition clearly, as opposed to moving from one into the other as though they were movements in a single work – that s what Ms. Koh did at least twice during the evening — s/he provides a clear frame: here is where the piece begins, and here is where it ends. Especially for a new work, this is important, if people are to get a clear picture of its overall shape.
The lack of such a frame was especially regrettable when she segued with nary a pause from the last movement of the Bach Partita in E Major into the Ysaye Sonata – no doubt because the latter quotes Bach’s opening measures of the partita we just heard at the beginning of his own sonata, then stops abruptly and continues with his own composition. I heard uneasy whispers around me. Was Ms. Koh seized by a fit of madness or did she just make a mistake, catch it, and quickly cover the mistake with an improvisation of her own? Et cetera, et cetera. The segue seems to me a bad idea. It would have been more effective if she had started the Ysaye after signaling to the unwary that the Bach was done and over and finished, and we were now going on to something new that would turn out, however, not to be entirely new!
As to the Bach Partitas themselves, they are hard to do justice to. Duh, you say? Here’s what I mean: The great Nathan Milstein – you remember the great Nathan Milstein, right? — did not record these until he was in his 70s. Asked about this delay, he said he did not feel ready for it sooner; he felt one needed the insight that comes with full maturity. Well, today you can hear gifted high school students saw their way through the formidable Chaconne in d minor. Here’s what I heard last evening. In the E major practically all the notes were there; but the playing lacked character – voice! In the d minor Partita, there was, you might say, a tad too much character. The Chaconne was played partly arioso and partly rhapsodic. Too romantic for Bach!
I’m in awe of anyone who can play these pieces at all, and they certainly posed no technical challenge to MS. Koh. So, what’s just enough character to please you, Music Lover? I can only say what puts me off – uncooked music and overcooked music. Al dente is good. How you know when to turn off the flame, that is the performer’s job; mine is to listen and enjoy. To prescribe exactly would rob the performance of spontaneity, perhaps the most important ingredient of all.
But, as I say, greedy me, I was hoping for something more.
She was a real, sincere artist. And she was fearless. Throughout the concert, I felt a sense of unity between music and player. She gave us no bonus pieces against a recent trend of soloists. I took it for granted that no encore after Bach's Chaconne. It's like nobody expect any spoiler after Mahler 2.
Thank you UMS for this great concert.
I'll never trust spellcheck again. Those weren't MY bloopers. Here's what I had in mind:
After the appearance of the astonishing Pieter Wispelwey the previous evening, it seemed reasonable to hope that Jennifer Koh would also be a worthy replacement for the canceled Ms. Fischer.
Indeed, we were treated to some fireworks in the pieces by Ysaye, Saariaho, Carter, and Salonen. Ms. Kohl played with conviction and obviously loves these works. One could be confident that she played all the notes and non-notes. What's a non-note? A couple of times, she played either on the bridge (sul ponticello) or on the fingerboard (sul taste) — I'm afraid to ask how she did it — in the Saariaho memorial to Lutoslawski, to produce a grating, raucous sound that bad boys and girls studying the violin are warned against. But, then again, let’s bear in mind that Lutoslawski broke a few rules himself in his day. So, I suppose, it was all right. Still, I mused idly: Would either his or Roger Sessions' survivors, when presented with memorials by Carter and Saariaho, have cried, “oh, yes, yes, this strain here reminds me vividly of dad; it brings out his very essence?” I have no idea. Neither piece meant much to me.
The Salonen work had possibilities. But they were quashed by the visual accompaniment. My feeling is that this pairing shortchanged both modes, the aural and the visual. I kept wondering about the relation between them and tended to withhold sufficient attention from either in its own right, whatever that right may be. The visual mode seemed to be an afterthoght, a kind of diagram of the music. Music usually doesn't need that.
An unfortunate feature of the evening was that Ms. Koh seems reluctant to wait for a response from the audience – applause or other. If a performer does mark the end of a composition clearly, as opposed to moving from one into the other as though they were movements in a single work – that is what Ms. Koh did at least twice during the evening — s/he provides a clear frame: here is where the piece begins, and here is where it ends. Especially for a new work, this is important, if people are to get a clear picture of its overall shape.
The lack of such a frame was especially regrettable when she segued with nary a pause from the last movement of the Bach Partita in E Major into the Ysaye Sonata – no doubt because the latter quotes Bach’s opening measures of the partita we just heard at the beginning of his own sonata, then stops abruptly and continues with his own composition. I heard uneasy whispers around me. Was Ms. Koh seized by a fit of madness or did she just make a mistake, catch it, and quickly cover the mistake with an improvisation of her own? Et cetera, et cetera. The segue seems to me a bad idea. It would have been more effective if she had started the Ysaye after signaling to the unwary that the Bach was done and over and finished, and we were now going on to something new that would turn out, however, not to be entirely new!
As to the Bach Partitas themselves, they are hard to do justice to. Duh, you say? Here’s what I mean: The great Nathan Milstein – you remember the great Nathan Milstein, right? — did not record these until he was in his 70s. Asked about this delay, he said he did not feel ready for it sooner; he felt one needed the insight that comes with full maturity. Well, today you can hear gifted high school students saw their way through the formidable Chaconne in d minor. Here’s what I heard last evening. In the E major practically all the notes were there; but the playing lacked character – voice! In the d minor Partita, there was, you might say, a tad too much character. The Chaconne was played partly arioso and partly rhapsodic.
I’m in awe of anyone who can play these pieces at all, and they certainly posed no technical challenge to MS. Koh. So, what’s just enough character to please you, Music Lover? I can only say what puts me off – uncooked music and overcooked music. Al dente is good. How you know when to turn off the flame, that is the performer’s job; mine is to listen and enjoy. To prescribe exactly would rob the performance of spontaneity, perhaps the most important ingredient of all.
But, as I say, greedy me, I was hoping for something more.
Jennifer Koh!
Accomplished, passionate, creative music-making!
Moving to Ysaye directly after Bach was a telling reminder that the compositions are living organisms whose connection needs only to be revealed.
Telling use of touches of vibrato and luftpausen. One can play by rote — or bring a piece to life.
Bring Ms. Koh back — please, UMS!