We think of suspending disbelief as something that happens in a theatre, or when watching a movie or reading a book. It happens in music, too when we are asked to appreciate something familiar in an unfamiliar way — like hearing Mozart on a fortepiano.
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
It’s hard to imagine anyone making the act of suspending disbelief any easier than Kristian Bezuidenhout, a specialist at the fortepiano who made his concert premiere with Tafelmusik at its Jeanne Lamon Hall home on Thursday night. Performances of the Mozart-heavy programme continue until Sunday afternoon.
The fortepiano is much smaller, has a thinner, purer sound and in general has a substantially less imposing presence on a concert stage. It has small, leather-covered hammers to hit the strings rather than a concert grand’s bigger, felt-wrapped hammers, making for a slightly more percussive initial sound.
In short, hearing Mozart on the instrument he would have been composing on, in the company of an orchestra also wielding period instruments, is a completely different experience from the modern symphony orchestra and Steinway grand most people have grown up with. It could — and often is — and alienating experience, too.
Not here, though.
Few fortepianists are as persuasive as Bezuidenhout, who made his instrument sing and sparkle beautifully from beginning to end. Aside from a deceptively fluid technique that made every run of notes and flurry of arpeggios sound like child’s play, Bezuidenhout brought to the concert a lyrical conversation, narrative and the master storyteller’s clever variations in dynamics and pacing.
The fortepianist, who led the orchestra from his keyboard bench, also did everything he could to integrate himself into the larger group rather than try to stand out as the featured soloist — again a substantial difference in attitude between the 18th and 21st centuries.
Although the programme and the model for the fortepiano came to us from the latter half of the 18th century, Bezuidenhout and his willing collaborators delivered the energy and spontaneity of something freshly-minted.
The evening began with two sons of J.S. Bach who had an influence over Mozart’s music: Johann Christian (1735-1782), who contributed a charming G Major Symphony with a sublime slow movement; and Carl Philipp Emanuel (1714-1788), who was represented by an odd Symphony for Strings whose strongest elements were the brash and dramatically-charged opening and closing movements.
Both works featured the fortepiano as an integral part of the orchestra rather than as a solo instrument — and Bezuidenhout made sure it didn’t stand out.
But then the keyboard came into its own in two Mozart concertos — Nos 9 and 11 — as well as a C Major Prelude and Fugue for the fortepiano all by itself, with Bezuidenhout leading the musicmaking with uncommon grace as well as verve.
This was music that spoke with powerful clarity, while also treating us to a variety of orchestral colour paired with affecting melody.
Of course, there was less sound and volume than we would get with modern instruments — but what we lost in decibels, we gained in sheer musical allure.
In short, this was the sort of concert that makes converts of skeptics and hooks people on classical music for the rest of their lives. It would be a shame to miss the pleasure.
You can find details on the remaining concerts here.
John Terauds
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
