News Scrapbook 1980
READER
the retards and pause! are. are matters de- p~ndent on the intelligence, taste, and mu- s1ca) ~ndersta nding of each indiv idual musician. Indeed, the intuitive apph of these devices is such an individual mat- ter, vary(ng enormously from artist to art- ist, that II often constitutes an unmistak- able P_ersonal signature: we can recognize a Rubinstein or a Horowitz by the way they phrase. In this respect, Father Reveles 's signa- tu re is a particularly bold one. There is scarcely a phrase wi thout a noticeable re- tard, and the mi nute pauses between phrases are frequent and insistent. This ~tyl_e ~as many positive consequences. The mdlVldualtty of the phrase - its shape, wholeness, and resemblance to an inde- penden t organi sm - is exceptionally stnkrng; these phrases are alive. The re- !ards and pauses also result in a great clar- '.ty of strucmre (something quite valuable m a work hke the Schuben Sonata, which may otherwise seem to ramble). We are clearly told where each phrase or section beg1_ns and ends, an~ how important any part1c_ular pornt of articulation may be; the phrasing lets us know exactly what point we have gotten to in our traversal of the ~us1cal architecture. Finally, these de- vices create an ever-renewed series of small dramas· the holding back the h. •_ . . , C~I talion, the instant of silent tension, the new plunge: Drama is the fundamental quality of T?usic f:om the Classical and Romantic periods; 11 is essential, above all, in Schubert; a_nd Father Reveles 's technique of Ro~ant1c phrasing mirrors the larger dramatic contrasts and tension. in the con- tmually unfolding texture of the music. On the n~gativc side, the repeated proc- ess of slowing d_own and starting up again, h?wever much It may illuminate the indi- vi~ual phrases, has a tendency to interfer with the onward-moving rhythmic impulse of th_e whole. Within the phrase there is a ~elltfl~ous singing line, soaring, bloom- ~ng, ummpeded in its forward motion (this is one of the most treasurable characteris- tics of Father Reveles 's playing); but then, ~t th e end of the phrase, there is that inten- tional windi ng down and suspension of movement, with ~n effect of just the oppo- site son. Occasmnally, there is also a suggestion - perhaps an illusory one_ th at the use of the phrasing devices has beco~e a mannerism, that it sometimes funcllons as a mechanical habit of the fin - gers rat_he~ than as a means of explaining and e~nchmg the music. For example, the prominent retards and pauses in the phrases beginning at measure forty-nine of the first movement (where the key changes to F minor) seem to me to be out of place for they thwart the triplet movement tha; ought to be pressing forward toward the general speeding up of the musical pulse in the following section. The identical thing happens when the passage returns in the recapitulation. . I bring up this technical quibble because 1• relates to a general problem of musical criti i er a nllc i~ nothing more than an experienced lis- tener who writes) comes to any perform- ance of a familiar piece with a set of pre- conceptions based on past encounters with the work and on innate personal prefer- ences . There is therefore a natural inclina- tion to measure the performance against one's own ideas about what the music should sound like - to praise the anist for pl ay ing the work the way you yourself play it (or imagine it) and to condemn him for doing otherwise. Preconceptions (within a broad range) about what good playing is are of course indispensable; without them, the critic would have no grounds for de- ciding whether a performance was good, mediocre, or rotten. On the basis of previ- ous knowledge , an experienced listener usually has no difficulty in recognizing an authentically bad performance, or an au- thentically good one of a familiar stamp . But a real critical problem arises when you encounter an artist who in all other respects seems a master of his an and yet who makes certain crucial interpretive choices that run contrary to your own firmly held notions of how the music should be played. This is my problem in speaking about An exp rience
template each phrase in rapt meditation to dtsce'.11 within it the full shape of a li~ed emotion, and to outline the shape in rich ethereal sound, before moving on to the next s_tep of the ascent. Especially in the more inwardly turned passages of the first and sec_ond movements, this per~ormance was quintessentially Schubertian; and in the final two movements, Father Reveles 's playing had all the buoyancy, drama, and g_ossamer delicacy of spirit one could pos- sibly have wished for. The lavish shapeliness of the pianist, phra_smg is worth considering in greater detail, for 11 presents certain critical prob- fems. Father Reveles is quite the opposite of the cool, ultramodern precisionist who a tempts to play the notes on the page with perfect accuracy without adding or sub- tracting anything. Rather, he belongs to t~e old-fashioned, Romantic school of prnno playing, in which it is perceived that some of the chief interpretive elements _ r yt m, phrasing, dynamic shading- are poorly represented in the score itself and ~ust_be supplied to a great degree by the rn~agmation of the performer. Pianists of th~s school do an enormous number of '' t h h
guid~d by the implications inherent in the mu. ic, the tacit language of interpretation that th_e composer has omitted on the as- sumption that idiomatic performers would kno_w w_hat he meant without his explicitly stating 11. .One set of such implications has to do wi th phrasing. The Romantic pianist will s~ape a phrase by (among many other de- vices) slowing up very slightly toward its last notes, and pausing very slightly, as th?ugh to take a breath (the Germans call this Luftpause), before beginning the next phras~. The degree of retardation and the prominence of the Lufrpause will vary ac- cording to the musical structure and the emoti~nal intensity at any given moment. Som_etlmes they will be barely perceptible; ?t climaxes, or at points of great structural· importance (the return of the initial mate- nal, for example, after a long development sec_t1on) • ther~ may be an extremely noticeable s[owmg up and a big intake of b~ea!h · If you listen to the great Romantic piamSts playing Classical and Romantic ~rks - Rubinstein, Horowitz Rachmaninoff, Arrau, Cortot, Solomo~ - you will hear these devices of phrasing constantly deployed. Yet exactly where and how they are used and how prominent
JO~ATHAN SAVILLE
Four o'clock on a Sunday afternoon is perhaps not the mmt convenient time for a conc~rt; the wooden pews in USO ·s Camino Hall are surely a minatory ~retastc o Hell; and during Father Nicolas Reveles 's piano recital, the distant .ar arisms of rock music kept drifting in like a flock of midges, especially during the most mystically hushed passages. Yet Father Revele. 's play ing of Schubert and Schumann was so ravishing that one could have endured far greater discomfort for its f f b b . M_ost immediately impressive was the piani st s uscious, limpid, floating tone which ~as enhanced by the magnificcn; Bechstetn he was performing on. The tone Itse lf seemed already to reveal the heart of Schubert's great 8-flat Major Sonata, a ~ork_strangely unattached to the world in e1sur,; y Journey into the Empyrean. r ~ar~::,: 0 s:n~t1f~:~~~a:~~~:i~~dt~~ t~d1v1dual luminous arches being progres- integrated into larger. longer- brc:athcd, and equally well-shaped struc- tures. Father Reveles seemed to con- , 1 t 1 1 I _s Ea h I f h . s1vely ake.
thmgs for which the score gives no literal ~--~~---------,:__~ ::__warrant. They allow thi:mselvcs to be
pianist's penchant for highly flexible rhythms, along with his command of tone colors, stood him in good stead everywhere: I have not heard the mercurial prancings of Arlequin played with more fantastic humor, and the impassioned effu- sions of Florestan had all the spontaneity and improvisational quality of Schumann's own impulsive nature. This was a performance continually dramatized, kindled, pointed up; each moment of whimsy, or ardor, or tender longing was painted with the brightest contrasts and in the most vivid hues; and every element of the pianist's excellent technique was put in the service of expressing the vagaries of sentiment and character that give this music its unique flavor. There are other legitimate ways to play Carnaval: more classically, with a stronger emphasis on formal structures - or in impressionistic half-tints rather than powerful contrasts, and with subtle atmos- pheric suggestiveness rather than incisive delineations of individuals . Other ways, yes, but none inherently superior to the way Father Reveles played this work , and none , certainly . more profoundly in har- mony with the Romantic spirit that ani- mates it. •
eventually share - and even enhance - its charm. I felt myself on the brink of a great discovery: Was this in fact the way Schubert 's B-flat Sonata had to be played? But just as I thought I was beginning to understand , the music came to an end. What I needed at that point - and what I need right now - is to hear Father Reveles play this magical work again. Once more through and I might be convinced that I have learned something of immense value about the Schubert Sonata and about the Romantic style of pianism in general. As it is, I still retain the impression - throuah admittedly a weakened one - of a certain quirkiness . But whereas quirkiness may constitute a problem in performances of Schubert, it is just what is needed for Schumann's Carnaval, the chief Romantic monument to the eccentric, the unpredict- able, the spontaneous, the quirky. The second half of Father Reveles 's program was devoted to this wonderful set of chara~ter pieces, and the pianist brought its Pierrots and Colombines, its butterflies and dancing letters, its portraits of Chopin and Paganini, so thoroughly to life that they seemed to have bounded with all their singularities out of the pages of E.T.A. Hoffmann or the etchings of Callot . The
Father Reveles. Here, quite evidently, is a musiciah of outstanding gifts. The tone, the singing line, the sensitivity , the pas- sion, tt!r dramatic flair , the sense of style, the inwardness of identification with the compo~r. the impeccable finger work - all these indicate the presence in our midst (Father Reveles is on the music faculty of USD) of a very fine pianist indeed . If I found a certain number of his retards and pauses in the Schubert to be exaggerated, if I sometimes found them irritating my sensibilities the way the extraneous noises from outside the hall were irritating them , the fault may be mine rather than Father Reveles 's. The proper way to listen to an artist of this caliber is to assume , provi- sionally, that what he does has validity, and to try to allow his musical imagination to mold yours, rather than the other way · around. The beauty of this playing was so compelling that toward · the end of the Schubert , Father Reveles 's style had begun to strike me as the natural, inevita- ble, flawless voice of the music itself. The retards and pauses had begun to justify themselves, not so much through the inner logic of the music, but rather in the way the idiosyncratic features of a beloved face become so familiar a part of it that they
SAN DIEGO UNION OCT -1
USD Aims To Extend Win Streak At Oxy
carry) and Mark Garibaldi (90 yards, 3.9 average). On defense, USD's Chuck Pillon, Bruce Ognibene and Chris Levine have contrib- uted three interceptions. Sophomore linebacker Don Niklas, also having an ex- cellent season, had 14 tac- kles and two fumble reco- veries against Pomona. Occidental (1-2) is coming off a miserable outing against Azusa-Pacific. The Tigers lost 16-14, finished with a negative 132 yards rushing and were the vic- tims of 17 quarterback sacks. Quarterback Greg Mose- ly, who bas thrown for 570 yards while completing 46 of 94 attempts, will be joined in the backfield by halfback Kevin Hounman (149 yards in 19 carries).
The University of San Diego, which-won its first football game of the season last weekend against Pomo- na-Pitzer (17-7), will meet Occidental College in a 7:30 contest tonight at the Tigers' stadium. USO quarterback Tim Call has apparently re- gained the starting job after battling newcomer Steve Loomis during the early weeks of the season. Against Pomona last week, Call completed 11 of 22 passes for 120 yards (54 per- cent). The \-3 Toreros' rushing attack is led by Joe Henry (203 yards, 3.8 average per
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker