Music Review: Jennifer Gall
Photographs: By Kind Permission of Peter Hislop
In A Social History of the Piano, Dieter
Hildebrandt affectionately describes the piano as ‘a cross between an expensive
piece of furniture, a lavish plant stand and an unmanageable sculpture’, but
also as the most orderly and democratic of instruments and ‘the most inviting’.
Edward and Stephanie Neeman brought the very appealing Stein and Graph pianos
from the ANU’s historic keyboard museum to life, performing 18th and
early 19th century piano music in an intimate concert with both musicians and audience seated on the stage of the Llewellyn Hall. ANU Vice
Chancellor Brian Schmidt and his partner Jennifer Gordon were guests of honour
to welcome Edward Neeman back to the School of Music where he studied with
Professor Larry Sitsky prior to pursuing his career in the USA.
Neeman opened the concert with Mozart’s
Sonata in C major, K.279 (1775) playing the replica fortepiano by Johann
Andreas Stein originally crafted in Augsberg, 1788. How intriguing to hear this
instrument with the fresh, dry sound emanating from a design lacking reverberating
cross-stringing of 19th century pianos. The physical relationship of
the pianist to the keyboard is vastly different to the way in which concert
pianists must address a Steinway concert grand piano. Elbows are kept closer to
the body and the dynamism and strength comes mainly from the wrist and fingers
rather than the back, shoulders and arms. The sound world is more confined and
delicate than the widely expressive realms of modern concert piano music. Neeman
was not afraid to make the works on the program his own, extemporizing with
personalized ornamentation in keeping with the tradition of the era in which
the works were composed.
Haydn’s Variations in F minor/major, Hob.
XVII:6 on the Stein piano revealed the elegant subtleties Haydn was able to
find in weaving his delicate contrasting explorations in the minor and major
keys – subtleties that are often less audible on a modern instrument.
After intermission, Stephanie and Edward
performed a charming version of Schubert’s Fantasia in F minor, D.940 for four
hands; an interpretation evocative of the romantic era of keyboard music
wherein physical gestures developed to influence phrasing and maintain the
sustained melodic line. The four pedals provided a diverse array of
possibilities for dynamic control and variation in the sound quality of the
instrument.
The final work was Mendelssohn’s Fantasia
in F Sharp minor, Op. 28 - piano solo by Edward Neeman. This was an exceptional
performance, not least for the final Presto,
which surely must have broken several records for speed and clarity of
articulation! Neeman’s pedaling created the clever illusions required to evoke
Mendelssohn’s imagined Scottish landscape and brought the memorable evening to a close.
