Page Eight-S
DAILY STREET ART FAIR SUPPLEMENT
Wednesday, July 21, 1971
Page Eight-S DAILY STREET ART FAIR SUPPLEMENT Wednesday, July2l, 1971
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Ohisson: Music on a special
afternoon at a special place
By DONALD SOSIN
Those who put down the con-
certgoing experience as irrele-
vant or a waste of time would
have had second thoughts if
they had been at Caramoor, in
Katonah, N.Y., on July 4th. The
serene atmosphere of the Span-
ish courtyard, the elegance of
the grounds, and the dynamic
pianist Garrick Ohlsson were the
component parts of a heady es-
thetic afternoon.
Ohisson, who won the Cho-
- --- --U
A broad selection of classical music
on records, open reel tapes, and
cassettes at the lowest regular prices
in town.
717 North University
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN
pin Comietition in Warsaw last
fall, and will be in Ann Arbor
July 28th in the Summer Piano
Series, offered a rare and many-
faceted program that revolved
around Spanish themes. There
were three examples of a repeat-
ed bassr ea ground, a passa-
caglia, and a chaconne-three
works that exist in other ver-
sions, and a number of pieces
that, although dealing with
Spanish material, were written
by Italians or Frenchmen.
The sky was cloudless, the
fountain stopped gurgling, and
Ohlsson could be seen standing
inside an upstairs window, sur-
veying the crowd like a Span-
ish don. Soon he came into the
courtyard, dressed in white, and
began A Sad Pavan for These
Distracted Times, written in 16-
49 by Thomas Tomkins. A
Ground by the same composer
followed. The simplicity of the
theme (only seven notes) con-
trasted sharply with the intri-
cate embroidery that went over-
under around and through; all
had a marvelous air of spontan-
eity.
Ohlsson, explaining that ° the
"distracted times" were caused
by the beheading of Charles I,
then rearranged his program to
invite comparison between the
blunt omnipresence of the prev-
ious theme and the subtle way
in which Frescobaldi hid the re-
peated motive of his Passacaglia.
Then came the charming
Pastorale, by Bernardo Pasqui-
ni, a 1647 work which Ohlsson
has made a habit of playing as
an encore. It was a pleasure to
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hear it again; it could have a
more delicate touch, though-
the sound was frequently too
brutal.
Last in the first group was
the Toccata VII of Michelan-
gelo Rossi, transcribed by Louis
Weingarden, an American com-
poser who has also written a
lengthy, formidably difficult
Triptych for Ohlsson. Weingar-
den did a superb job of recrea-
ting the colors of a majestic or-
gan, whil Ohlsson more than
met the work's demands, fre-
quently giving the impression
of three-handedness. This was
also the case in the gigantic
transcription of the Bach d mi-
nor Chaconne by Busoni. Run-
ning the gamut 'of emotions
from cold isolation to heroic
triumph, it became, in Ohls-
son's hands, a spiritual experi-
ence.
Between these two monster-
works came four Scarlatti so-
natas, impeccasbly played save
some hand-crossing problems. A
surprise followed the second so-
nata, when Ohlsson interjected
a little Neapolitan Christmas
carol, which had similar themes
to the sonata he played next.
Who stole from whom?
Isaac Albeniz' Iberia forms
the c o r e of impressionistic
Spanish piano literature; it was
repesented by three selections
-El Albaicin, Almeria, and
Fete-Die a Seville. The tunes
are nice, but Albeniz has a ten-
dency to be terribly longwinded,
and interest sagged after a
while. By contrast, Granados'
Second Spanish Dance was a
delight, as were three preludes
of Debussy. La Serenade Inter-
compue imitates a guitar, as do
Albeniz' pieces, but with infin-
itely more style and understate-
ment.
La Puerto del vino opened to
a taste of hot, mulled wine, and
Ohlsson's bow to the holiday
celebration, Feu d'artifice (fire-
works) was champagne. Some
of the sparkle was taken out
by the piano, which failed,
through humidity, to respond to
Ohlsson's touch.
Ohlsson summarized the con-
cert neatly when he described
it as "music, on a special after-
noon in a special place, that
one normally might not hear."
And not often as well played,
either.
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