What an unusual concert did Pierre-Laurent Aimard give yesterday afternoon in Chicago! I’m a big fan of his but the first half of the concert was rather disappointing. He started with Gesänge der Frühe, the last piece written by Schumann, who was quite mad by that time and unfortunately not capable of writing anything on par with his old self. It’s not clear why Aimard decided to play it, but it’s pretty obvious why it’s performed so rarely. He then played Chopin’s Berceuse, which turned out sleep-inducing in a very literal sense, and then (all of it, by the way, without a break) Suite bergamasque. As we all know, it’s a wonderful piece, luxurious, rich and multicolored (it’s not Debussy’s fault that Clair de lune became so abused). Aimard played it with in what could only be called “good taste,” and very restrained. You could hear every note; the structural clarity was there but all the fun was gone. I’m afraid that he lost more than he gained. What worked for Brendel playing Liszt didn’t seem to work here.
But the second half totally compensated for any shortcomings of the first hour. Messiaen’s L’alouette lulu was absolutely precise and perfect. Carter’s Night Fantasies is probably too long for a piece that doesn’t have a melodic glue to keep all 25 minutes of it together, but still it was fascinating. And Bartók’s Out of Doors was played with drive and precision; don’t remember it being played any better.
Now if somebody could just explain why he needs scores while playing Chopin or Debussy? And that other Richter-esque idiosyncrasy, the darkened hall?
What an unusual concert did Pierre-Laurent Aimard give yesterday afternoon in Chicago! I’m a big fan of his but the first half of the concert was rather disappointing. He started with Gesänge der Frühe, the last piece written by Schumann, who was quite mad by that time and unfortunately not capable of writing anything on par with his old self. It’s not clear why Aimard decided to play it, but it’s pretty obvious why it’s performed so rarely. He then played Chopin’s Berceuse, which turned out sleep-inducing in a very literal sense, and then (all of it, by the way, without a break) Suite bergamasque. As we all know, it’s a wonderful piece, luxurious, rich and multicolored (it’s not Debussy’s fault that Clair de lune became so abused). Aimard played it with in what could only be called “good taste,” and very restrained. You could hear every note; the structural clarity was there but all the fun was gone. I’m afraid that he lost more than he gained. What worked for Brendel playing Liszt didn’t seem to work here.
But the second half totally compensated for any shortcomings of the first hour. Messiaen’s L’alouette lulu was absolutely precise and perfect. Carter’s Night Fantasies is probably too long for a piece that doesn’t have a melodic glue to keep all 25 minutes of it together, but still it was fascinating. And Bartók’s Out of Doors was played with drive and precision; don’t remember it being played any better.
Now if somebody could just explain why he needs scores while playing Chopin or Debussy? And that other Richter-esque idiosyncrasy, the darkened hall?
Well, John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune seems to have liked the first half of the concert much better than I did: www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/chi-0210-aimard-ovnfeb10,0,50...
Thanks for the helpful post.
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