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Mitsuko Uchida’s Breadths and Breaths New York
Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall
11/12/2024 -
Győrgy Kurtág: Play with Infinity – Selections from Games and Messages: “Virág az ember, Mijakónak” (“You are a flower, for Miyako”), “Hommage à J.S.B.”, “Zeichen VI” & “Ligatura Y”
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 6 in E‑flat Major, Op. 70, No. 2;
obert Schumann: Piano Quartet in E‑flat Major, Op. 47
Stephanie Zyzak (Violin), Beth Guterman Chu (Viola), Oliver Herbert (Cello), Mitsuko Uchida (Pianist)
O. Herbert, M. Uchida, B. Guterman Chu, S. Zyzak (© Samuel A. Dog)
“I realized I should compose in the way that felt right to me, not to others, that I should seek the truth.”
Győrgy Kurtag
“I am interested in music as ecstasy, as something that transports you away from the every day to another place.”
Mitsuko Uchida
Like repeatedly walking down the same forest path, each Mitsuko Uchida performance is a singular experience. Yet her one essential quality is poetry. Not dreamy poetry, not lounging over the keys or giving excess pedal resonance. But the poetry of Greek literature: pointed, articulate, visual.
Again, like Pindar or Sophocles, with both appreciation and wonder at notes written centuries ago.
Last night, Ms. Uchida played only a single solo piece–less than two minutes long!–but her artistry permeated each of the seven works. Even those four tiny pieces where she wasn’t directly involved.
The three other participants were never overshadowed by the legendary pianist. But Ms. Uchida is not only Artistic Partner of the Marlboro Music Festival, but she works with Marlboro artists on their touring programs and their finest soloists.
Their fine work is described below. But Ms. Uchida frequently highlights the work of Hungarian composer Győrgy Kurtág, now in his 90’s yet working on new works every day.
Outside of a few longer works, Kurtág’s one–or two– minute Games could never be compared to Webern’s mathematical miniatures. Rather–like his friend and idol Győrgy Ligeti–he follows no path. Only traveling on instinct and homages to Bach and other composers and friends, he has produced...,well, not bagatelles. Not miniatures.
Rather, call them breaths, with tender titles which rarely summon up their descriptions. As if they needed to!
Each half of the program started with Kurtág. And each final Kurtág measure glided effortlessly into the Sostenutos of the approaching Beethoven or Schumann (no applause allowed).
Her first Kurtág piece was less a breath than an exhalation. And with that, Ms. Uchida’s fingers barely touched the keys. The notes were whispering over the whole keyboard, the voices fluid, clean...
And then it barely ended before the first notes of Beethoven’s Piano Trio started, with violinist Stephanie Zyzak and cellist Oliver Herbert sharing notes with Ms. Uchida.
The opening was like a continuation of Kurtág, but after that, the three artists became the representation of Beethoven’s so‑called “middle period.” Granted, the preceding Opus 70, the “Ghost” Trio is more famous. (That spooky appellation helps.) But this one is even more exuberant, more athletic, and was given all the necessary spirit.
After all, every movement was marked with variations of Allegro, none even approached the lachrymose, and the finale was so jaunty that these three seemed to smile at the composer’s own chipper (and un‑Beethoven‑ish) mood.
The four following Kurtág works were written for violin, viola and cello, with the three artists penning the notes coming close to the titles. “Homage to J.S.B.” had not a single Bachian note, yet these three, playing with contrapuntal motifs, gave an almost metaphysical picture of the composer.
“Signs VI” gave the only dissonant movement, a slashing loud‑quiet surprising set of moods. Finally the three artists approached Ligatura Y as if it was a full chamber orchestra. Somehow, Kurtág produced a dense slow work, giving solos to each instrument, and–as in the Kurtág-Beethoven segue–blending in with opening of the Schumann Piano Quartet.
How long were the four Kurtág works? Probably five minutes, give or take a few seconds. Like a haiku or koan, he sets up a musical riddle, gives the answer and moves on.
The Piano Quartet, with Ms. Uchida, was another compositional “middle period.” Or even, despite the opus number, a youthful exercise.
That opening, after the Kurtág was like a chthonic hymn, after which Schumann came quickly into the light. The quartet, with Ms. Uchida contrasting with the strings, went through that opening with muscular strength. The scherzo, though, showed the composer’s good sense. It tripped along like the lightest Mendelssohn, then finished course without a single superfluous note.
The middle section of the pro forma slow movement is very beautiful indeed, Mr. Herbert’s low strings forming a languorous drone.
The finale of the Schumann was the finale of the evening, its complexities made simple by the group.
Yet the fascination of the evening was more than Ms. Uchida, more than the artistry of the Marlboro musicians. Rather, it was the unlikely inevitability between the two 19th Century ofttimes prolix composers and the 21st Century Hungarian, who axiomatically said what he had to say, said it with elegance and went for a metaphorical walk through his own private garden.
Harry Rolnick
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