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Yale School of Music
(Yale School of Music Website)
Yale in New York
(Yale in NY Website)
Prokofiev Society of America
(Prokofiev Bio)
Present:
Prokofiev Rediscovered
Valery Gergiev, Honorary Co-Chair
Viktor Vexelberg, Honorary Co-Chair
At
Zankel Hall
At Carnegie Hall
www.carnegiehall.org
Press: Aleba Gartner Associates
Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower
February 9, 2010
Program:
Franz Schubert: “Waltzes”, transcribed for two pianos by Sergei Prokofiev. Robert Blocket, Piano, Boris Berman, Piano.
Sergei Prokofiev: “Trapeze” (1924) NY Premiere. Stephen Taylor, Oboe, Emil Khudyev, Clarinet, Marc Daniel Van Bieman, Violin, Ettore Causa, Viola, Aleksey Klyushnik, Double Bass.
Prokofiev: “Music for Athletic Exercises” (1939) NY Premiere. Boris Berman, Piano. Original choreography by Adam Hendrickson, World Premiere. Dancers, Adam Hendrickson Dance Project: Elysia Dawn, Colby Damon, Matthew Renko.
Prokofiev: “Distant Seas” (fragment, unfinished opera, 1948) World Premiere. Elizabeth De Trejo, Soprano, Dann Coakwell, Tenor, Rolando Sanz, Tenor, John Hancock, Baritone, Boris Berman, Piano.
The Prokofiev Society of America, Yale School of Music, and Yale in New York treated tonight’s Zankel Hall audience to a program of Prokofiev pieces, either rare or premieres, creating a very exciting event for Prokofiev enthusiasts. One work even included original choreographed dance and three performers, while the evening featured two pianists, a five piece chamber ensemble, and five opera vocalists.
The Schubert “Waltzes” were presented by two pianists on two pianos, both virtuosic artists. Boris Berman, piano professor at Yale and music director of the Horowitz Piano Series, performs around the globe with orchestras and in recital. Robert Blocker, Henry and Lucy Moses Dean of Music at Yale, performs around the globe on piano, and serves as pianist and commentator on television and radio. The repetitive refrains in the seamlessly played “Waltzes” were filled with drama and gorgeous refrains. The melodies were rhapsodic and quiet, romantic and meandering. They set the mood of warmth and reverence that filled the Hall throughout the evening. Prokofiev’s “Trapeze” had hints of his “Cinderella” and “Petrushka” ballet scores, with pizzicato strings and tight ensemble timing. Sumptuous harmonies were mixed with melancholy, dark passages, and the student-faculty chamber ensemble was quite impressive. Emil Khudyev, clarinetist, and Ettore Causa, violist, particularly caught my ear.
The “Music for Athletic Exercises”, with Adam Hendrickson’s choreography, was buoyant, energized, and refreshing. Dancers wore sneakers and casual attire, and they performed with engaging gestures. They used stretching of limbs, large swirling motions, and push-pulls with and against the rhythm, for a firmly centered, captivating dynamic. Ms. Dawn smiled broadly, while Mr. Renko showed muscular skill. Mr. Damon added hints of marching, military motion. Prokofiev’s music had been commissioned for an athletic pageant in 1939 for 30,000 athletes. The piano score had survived and was prepared by Simon Morrison for Boris Berman’s piano performance. This score is replete with Prokofiev’s familiar marching motifs, and Mr. Berman played with accomplished aplomb.
For the operatic “Distant Seas”, in its world premiere, Boris Berman performed this lost fragment of Prokofiev’s late opera about romance, taking place in a Leningrad university dormitory. There’s flirtation, wit, and inebriation. The vocalists were quite talented and interacted with each other to move the dialogue along. This is not an opera I would have wished to see, however, a subject generic and dry, but in extracted concert form it was intriguing and persuasive. Mr. Berman once again proved himself a master of Prokofiev’s oeuvres. Kudos to all of tonight’s artists, and kudos to Prokofiev.
Boris Berman and Robert Blocker
on Piano for Schubert Waltzes
Courtesy of Vincent Oneppo,
Yale School of Music
Marc Daniel Van Bieman on Violin,
Ettore Causa on Viola,
Aleksey Klyushnik on Double Bass,
Emil Khudyev on Clarinet,
Stephen Taylor on Oboe,
Play Prokofiev's Trapeze
Courtesy of Vincent Oneppo,
Yale School of Music
Colby Damon, Elysia Dawn,
Matthew Renko in Prokofiev's
Music for Athletic Exercises
Courtesy of Vincent Oneppo,
Yale School of Music
Colby Damon, Elysia Dawn, Matthew Renko
in Adam Hendrickson's
Choreography for Prokofiev's
Music for Athletic Exercises
Courtesy of Vincent Oneppo,
Yale School of Music
Colby Damon, Elysia Dawn,
Matthew Renko in Adam Hendrickson's
Choreography for Prokofiev's
Music for Athletic Exercises
Courtesy of Vincent Oneppo,
Yale School of Music
Colby Damon, Elysia Dawn,
Matthew Renko, in Adam Hendrickson's
Choreography for Prokofiev's
Music for Athletic Exercises
Courtesy of Vincent Oneppo,
Yale School of Music
Elizabeth De Trejo, Dann Coakwell,
Rolando Sanz, John Hancock,
Sing Distant Seas from
Prokofiev's Unfinished Opera
Courtesy of Vincent Oneppo,
Yale School of Music
Dann Coakwell, Rolando Sanz,
John Hancock,
Sing Distant Seas from
Prokofiev's Unfinished Opera
Courtesy of Vincent Oneppo,
Yale School of Music
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