Chopin and His Europe Festival 2017
Sunday 27th August, 8pm
Filharmonia Naradowa, Warszawa
Sebastian Bach: Harpsichord Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052
Sebastian Bach: Harpsichord Concerto in D major, BWV 1054
Kristian Bezuidenhout (Harpsichord)
Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century directed by Grzegorz Nowak
I'll jump straight in by saying that one word sums up tonight's concert: delicacy!
My meaning in this case is mostly that the musical offerings were delicate and delicately played, although it was also an auditory delicacy.
The term "Harpsichord Concerto" is used fairly loosely for these compositions by Bach, in that at the time of composition, the harpsichord was at its height in terms of advanced mechanism and fullness of sound, the piano was in its infancy, having been introduced in 1725 by the Italian maker Christofori, although examples of hammer action keyboard instruments do exist prior to that date. And finally, the clavichord was always present - a small and compact keyboard instrument with a very delicate sound, and sometimes regarded more as a convenient practice instrument in a home, rather than for actual performance, but it was certainly used and still is today in performance in a tiny, intimate setting.
So, what does all this mean? Very simply, the term is usually "Keyboard Concerto" and then the performers can attribute whatever specific term they like depending on the instrument at hand for performance. Bach himself annotates that these concertos can be played on any of the three types of instruments, harpsichord, clavichord or pianoforte. Bach favoured the pianos made by Silberman.
The harpsichord used in tonight's performance was a replica of an 18th century French Double and an example of the most advanced design, using two keyboard manuals, which means that the player can engage or disengage the upper keyboard which operates a separate set of strings and quills, thus giving a change in volume and richness. In every other respect though, the harpsichord is a single volume instrument. This presents a problem, in that the ability to attribute dynamics to the performance are very limited. Luckily, the presence of the chamber orchestra delivers that essential part of the sound.
The D minor concerto is a great example of the beginnings of the transition from the old style Baroque formula of Concerto Grosso into the classical style of the solo concerto. The first movement is much more closely aligned with Concerto Grosso form, in that the harpsichord part is very much a continuo with only occasional melodic solo parts. Even those are usually played in unison with the orchestra. Not until the slow movement and the third movement do we hear examples of the harpsichord as a melodic entity in its own right, with the orchestra in a much more accompanying role. Bach's sons Johan Christian, Carl Phillip Emanual and William Freidman were all to take this new form much further, paving the way for Haydn and Mozart.
The interpretation of Sebastian Bach's keyboard concertos is perhaps one of the most hotly contested and debated in the history of Western classical music. On the one hand, you have a performance like tonight's, where the orchestra has to balance with the delicate and monotone volume of the harpsichord, without drowning it out, but at the same time delivering the listener a range of dynamics that enhance and compliment the harpsichord, adding variety of tonal colour. Everything was light, crisp, unified, but also quite breezy and flowing.
The most contrasting style of performance I can think of is Leonard Bernstein's offering from the late 1960s, with a cut-down version of the New York Philharmonic and a young Glenn Gould at a modern Steinway concert grand. Grandiose in style and arguably stodgy in places, this non-the-less is still a valid interpretation and played with great skill and passion. The Bach purists hate this kind of performance however. Certainly the concert tonight here in Poland was much more stylistically accurate and akin to what 18th century audiences would have enjoyed.
There have also been numerous examples over the years of people who claim to be able to "channel" Bach, or who claim to have some kind of God-given innate insight into what he really wanted and intended. Two notable examples are the Polish harpsichord specialist Wanda Landowska and the English medium Rosemary Brown.
Landowska created controversy when in an interview in the 1950s, she claimed that her ten fingers had been possessed by the spirit of Bach and that her rendition of the concertos and indeed all of his keyboard music was being directed by Bach himself. Previously, when asked about how stylistically different she was to other performers, she announced "...they can play Bach their way. I play Bach his way". And with that, the interview came to an abrupt end. In the interests of balance however, Landowska was and still is regarded as a supreme interpreter of the keyboard music of Bach and highly regarded as a major musical force of the 20th century, having also been on the keyboard faculty of the Curtis Institute, amongst other distinguished appointments.
Rosemary Brown created an intense media frenzy in the 1970s when she claimed that Bach had transmitted new compositions to her in a trance, which she wrote down and could then perform, miraculously, as she also claimed at first that she had never actually learned to play the piano, something she later retracted. The BBC invited her on several programs to demonstrate the pieces before a live studio audience and experts were called in to evaluate. Most argued that Brown was a moderately competent pianist who had a certain knack for imitation and that was all. Later on she claimed to channel Claude Debussy, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms and a host of other great composers. By then the public had lost interest and her star faded.
I haven't mentioned the D major concerto yet, but suffice to say that it too was a masterpiece of delicacy, lightness, precision and joyfullness. Music that is so perfectly balanced both as composition and is this case, performance, that it is hard to separate the two, which is the essence of a great piece of music played by the most intelligent and insightful musicians.
On a final note, I should mention that at all the concerts here in Warsaw I have attended, I estimate that about 40 percent of the audience are aged under 30. The rest of the audience are spread roughly evenly over all other age groups. The Polish people are devoted to music, particularly their beloved Chopin and Paderweski, who besides being a great pianist and composer, was also Prime Minister of Poland. Nearly every facet of life here, whether it be shopping, eating, travelling, relaxing in the park or socialising with friends is in some way connected to music, particularly Chopin. Young children, teenagers, the average shop-keeper, even the homeless and derelict wandering the streets, several of whom I have spoken with, are fully aware and knowledgeable about his music and his importance to Polish cultural life.
More to follow over the next few days.
Antoni Magee
