Recording Review #28: Glowing Glass

Glass: Études for Piano (selection). Feico Deutekom, pianist. Orange Mountain Music OMM 1067. 

I'm going to start by opining a bit freely. Having spent more time on Twitter (X) than I would care to admit, I've come away with some conclusions about the classical community there and at large. One of them is this: Philip Glass is a composer you can trash without paying much social consequence. I'm reminded of the scene in the film The Departed, where mobster Mr. French (played by Ray Winstone) pulls aside the new Costello gang recruit, undercover agent Billy Costigan (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), and advises him on who he can physically assault with impunity: "Now, that's not quite a guy you can't hit, but it's almost a guy you can't hit." You see, especially among the critical class Philip Glass is a metaphorical "guy you can hit," as opposed to guys you can't hit...like Beethoven and Schoenberg. (The latter's veneration among the academically trained is almost Deity-Level. This contrasts sharply with frequent distaste for his atonal music among everyone else.) 

What does Glass do that's so wrong? Plainly put, he courts popularity with abandon. He writes post-minimalist works that, while often subtly complex, feature stark repetition, catchy tunes, and infectious rhythms derived from rock and non-Western musics. His harmonies, while not always "simple," are usually soft on the ears, and his forms are loose by integrationist standards. His detractors say things like, "it's always just a bunch of bare, arpeggiated chords repeated over and over for 5 minutes!" This is a very difficult thing to overcome for many of the Geeks I'm talking about. They've had it instilled in them from early on that Good Music reflects little else besides desired technique and form...often the more recondite the better. In their minds, prioritizing direct emotional communication is for intellectual Plebeians. You see it all the time in academic scholarship that seeks to rescue or defend early-20th-century "tonal" composers from longstanding charges that they aren't "modern" or "symphonic" enough. It's not the accessible beauty of their music that really counts; it's all of the architecture and daring that we didn't properly notice before (maybe because it's not actually there!). For them, the best music exists to be analyzed and supported with Egghead credentials. Little else matters. When a composition simply won't cooperate with this agenda, they let you know. Thus can Lionel Pike trash the glorious secondary theme in the finale of Sibelius's First Symphony because it doesn't fit his analytical priors: "The slow second subject is no more than a good tune—it contributes nothing of any value to the argument and thus forms a gigantic 'symphonic pause': the listener merely immerses himself in the gorgeous sounds, since the argument in no way compels attention." (Quoted from Beethoven, Sibelius and 'the Profound Logic': Studies in Symphonic Analysis, The Athlone Press, 1978, pg. 178.) 

"Merely." Smh...

Somebody who can't enjoy a great melody for what it is won't find much to admire in Glass's music. I don't have a formula for why so many of his piano études are the moving and memorable pieces that they are (some of them will NOT leave your head!). But they are. Likewise, if I claim that my prediction for their firm place in posterity is more than a gut feeling, I'd mostly be lying. But that's my prediction, and I think these pieces (and other pieces by Glass) will endure better than much that critics presently love. In short, there's an IT Factor here, call it "spark," that Glass has in boats-full, and this is worth far more than most of the things The Expert Class tends to think are important.  

Maybe we're already seeing this play out. According to the composer's website, the études in his two books (20 pieces in total) were composed from 1994 to 2012. Already there are quite a few recordings of the complete set, with numerous compilation releases containing selections. (A search for "Glass etudes" on prestomusic.com pulls up over 40 results.) Just from hearsay, these études appear to crop up frequently on piano recitals. In other words, it kinda seems like they've already "caught on." 

At least the more popular ones have. And that's what Dutch pianist Feico Deutekom offers on his new release: an assortment of 14 études, including several of the most performed. Many are from a larger, earlier group dating from 1994. The recording's press release makes much out of the fact that they're presented "out of order" – they go 2, 12, 17, 16, 4, etc. etc. I guess I'm indifferent to this "feature" and don't care so much in which sequence I hear them. I'm far more interested in the performances themselves. And for the most part, I think they're superb! Deutekom plays with a softer, richer tone compared to other pianists in this repertoire. But occasionally a loss of energy results. The most regrettable such victim is the famous 6th étude, which comes off here with too little drive for my taste. (Recently, I criticized Yuja Wang for playing this with too much energy. I guess there needs to be a happy medium.) On the other hand, Deutekom does bring the right amount of flair to Nos. 9 and 3, the latter of which is a standout point in the recording. In many of the slower numbers, he's simply wonderful. I don't think I've heard better Nos. 2, 5, 12, or 16. 

When I listen to Glass's piano études, I hear the spiritual pulse of our epoch. I perceive feelings that are restless, anxious, exhausted, reflective, exuberant, lonely, crowded, bouyant, and a lot else I can't properly put into words. I used to be one of the Philip Glass mockers discussed here at the outset. But as my attitude toward music history – and what is musically great, poor, and everything in between – gradually evolved to what it is today, I gave myself permission to enjoy his works for what they are. I came to realize that the exact mixture/criteria of what makes a piece really effective is, in the end, elusive. When I lowered my pretensions, Glass's genius came into better view. I yielded to the spell of his art, and my life is the richer for it. 

Enthusiastically Recommended

Recording Review #22: Worthy Wang

 

Various Composers and Works. The Vienna Recital. Yuja Wang, pianist. Deutsche Grammophon 486 4567. 

Yuja Wang is a brilliant pianist. But she's a brilliant pianist with a definite range. She tends to be most effective in frenetic or heady stuff that provides an outlet for her limitless exuberance. In too much else she sounds undistinguished at best and mismatched at worst. Happily, this Vienna Recital recording mostly contains music that plays to her strengths. It undeniably shows her to be one of the finest in the business...at what she does best. 

We'll start with the stuff she knocks out of the park. First up are the Kapustin Jazz Preludes (Op. 53, Nos. 10-11) and Ligeti Études (Book 2, Nos. 6 and 13). Frankly, I don't think you're likely to hear better performances of these pieces. In the Kapustin she plays with such disarming verve and technical perfection as to forestall any possible objection. This extremely likable music makes its most powerful impression in the hands of pianists who can convincingly bring off its many technical challenges in a way that makes it all sound snappy and fun. Wang has absolutely no problem here. Likewise, she is every bit equal to the steep demands of the Ligeti études. These are harder on most ears than the Kapustin, but rewarding for those receptive to the timbral effects they explore. It is difficult to think of a more apt advocate than Wang, whose super-charged pianism deftly exploits this music's core qualities. 

I am every bit as impressed with this recital's Albeniz Iberia selections and Scriabin Third Piano Sonata. In the former (Málaga and Lavapiés) Wang plays with breathtaking ebullience and atmosphere, while once more dispatching some fearsome technical difficulties with enviable ease. Again, this is music well suited to her gifts. Wang's Scriabin Third Sonata is tremendous, and here we face another significant feature of her playing: in certain kinds of slow passages, she's just as good as in the quicker stuff. Which kinds? The kinds that radiate a palpable intensity in spite of diminished speed. This describes much of Scriabin's slower music to a T, and explains why the energetic Wang is so good in it. Moreover, she is sensitive to the sonata's many intricate lines and perfume-ish sonorities that make its composer's music so irresistible to fans like me.  

Beyond fine accounts of the Gluck-Sgambati Mellodie dell'Orfeo, and an arrangement the popular Danzón No. 2 by Arturo Márquez, the remaining performances reach lower heights. The obvious place to point here is Wang's interpretation of Beethoven's Op. 31/3 Sonata (No. 18 of 32). She brings plenty of good intention to the task. But despite her suitable cheer and vigor, she has too little temperamental restraint. Op. 31/3 sits at the end of Beethoven's First Creative Period (yes, I capitalized all of that on purpose). It's still a classically-rooted sonata that requires a certain respect for balance and proportion. In the quicker parts especially, Wang just bursts too much at the seams. Her speed and powerful gestures give the impression of a dam barely holding back a flood that threatens to overrun everything. It's not a bad performance, just one that lacks the much better judged wit and sparkle of a Brendel or Kovacevich interpretation (for example). 

The solitary Brahms Intermezzo (Op. 117/3) fares a little bit better than the Beethoven. Here Wang is suitably restrained and even reflective. But I find her tone color to be artificially muted, almost as if she's consciously trying too hard to simmer things down. This miniature should shine with an inner glow that I don't think she's quite mastered yet despite her world-beating technique and élan.

I left the lone Glass étude (No. 6) for last. I absolutely love this piece, along with Glass's other piano études. I also note with pleasure that Wang seems intent on promoting accessible yet highly individual piano music by Glass and Kapustin as the core contemporary literature it deserves to be. This is definitely Yuja Wang using her considerable powers for good! 😀 BUT, I think she plays this particular piece too quickly and forcefully. It has energy, but there are also some little emotions that get lost in the tsunami. I suggest the alternative of Jeroen van Veen (Brilliant Classics 95563). 

All in all, though, this is an impressive album. Fans of the pianist will definitely want to purchase it, and there's also enough interest for nearly everyone else. I've been hard on Yuja Wang in the past. (See my Classical Candor review of her Rachmaninoff concerti here.) But while I still can't give her the highest marks for overall depth and artistic maturity in everything she plays, I'm glad to concede her pre-eminence in other aspects. 

Recommended