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Crescendo Ignace "Iggy" Jang |
Japanese musician
highlights cello’s
depth and powerTaking center stage at the Honolulu Symphony this week is renowned Japanese cellist Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi in a showcase of the cello's great depth and power. He will perform "The Rococo Variations," one of Tchaikovsky's most popular compositions and a wonderful gateway into the world of classical music.
Tsutsumi joined the Indiana University School of Music faculty as a professor of music when I was a student there, and many of us lined up to take his classes.
Cello showcase
Cellist Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi performs with the Honolulu Symphony:In concert: 8 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Sunday
Place: Blaisdell Concert Hall
Tickets: $16 to $59
Call: 792-2000, or Ticketmaster at (877) 750-4400
Brilliant elegance and romance describe "The Rococo Variations," and Russian-born Tchaikovsky was a Romantic in every sense of the word. Like many composers, he went through a long struggle before achieving a career in music. His family pushed him into studying law, then a career in civil service and a Russian government desk job.
Over the objections of his family, who assured him that total ruin would follow, he left for music school at the age of 23. While his career had its ups and downs, including a disastrous three-month marriage to a crazed fan, Tchaikovsky never looked back.
Tsutsumi will also perform Max Bruch's "Kol Nidrei," meaning "All My Vows." The work provides plenty of scope for Tsutsumi's sense of drama. Based on a traditional Jewish lament, its opening section begins with a melody evocative of a prayer sung on the eve of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and the most solemn holiday of the Jewish year.
The cello is perhaps the perfect instrument to express this depth of feeling. From the low range of a bass voice to the high reach of a soprano, the cello -- technically it's called the violoncello -- communicates a wide range of musical colors. It can rival the sweetness and brilliance typically associated with the violin and provides unmatched warmth with its profound tonal qualities.
The success of this work brought about the belief that Bruch was Jewish, but he wasn't; he simply had a fondness for using sophisticated themes to lend color to his music. He studied folk songs from all nations and appreciated their beautiful melodies.
During World War II, these musical influences created a stir. The cultural authorities of Nazi Germany never assumed that Bruch, a German-born Protestant, would compose music based on a Jewish prayer. "Kol Nidrei" became an embarrassment to the Nazis whose mission was to maintain the "Aryan purity" of the country's musical life.
IN THE SECOND HALF of our concert, maestro Samuel Wong will lead the orchestra in Shostakovich's powerful Ninth Symphony and Strauss' raucous "Don Juan." Based on the famous character, "Don Juan's" opening is amusing in its own way. It starts with a fast ascending theme, which according to scholars is symbolic of the male libido!
Shostakovich described his Ninth Symphony, written in 1945, as sunny and light, which is in stark contrast with much of his life. Throughout his career, Shostakovich played a deadly game of cat and mouse with Soviet authorities. Though his popularity was tremendous (he once appeared on the cover of Time magazine), his music was constantly at the mercy of criticism and censorship.
Stalin himself once expressed his outrage when he described Shostakovich's opera "Lady Macbeth," the story of a woman who murders her husband and father-in-law to marry her lover, as "coarse, primitive and vulgar."
What got Stalin so ticked off? One example could be the sound of trombone slides. Used to depict horseplay, this was perceived as an indulgence in the worst Western decadence.
Apparently, Soviet audiences couldn't get enough of Western decadence. "Lady Macbeth" packed the theater every night for more than two years. It continued its successful run until an unsigned article in Pravda threatened that Shostakovich "could end very badly." And, in the former Soviet Union, that could have meant a bullet in the back of the head. The opera closed.
Although he eventually redeemed himself in the eyes of the Soviet authorities, Shostakovich got into hot water at times, never wanting to compromise his artistic individuality. Audiences welcomed the Ninth Symphony with unrestrained enthusiasm, but once again Stalin was incensed. To him the music did not "sufficiently reflect the true spirit of the Soviet people," especially in light of the recent victory over Germany. Had free speech been permitted, Shostakovich might have advised him to loosen up.
The Ninth Symphony is filled with youthful energy. It reminds me of children running around during recess, now and then interrupted by the annoying and unpopular bully, played brilliantly by the trombones. The cheerful piccolo flute, haunting clarinet, rollicking bassoon, frenzied violins and stirring snare drum offer us great musical impressions of different types of playground characters.
Don't miss this chance to hear Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi in our only opportunity of the season to see the cello under the spotlight. His incredible artistry and charm will leave you spellbound.
Ignace "Iggy" Jang is the Honolulu Symphony's concertmaster. His column will appear on the Monday prior to each concert of the season to illuminate works to be performed. E-mail comments and questions to Jang at suggestions@honolulusymphony.com
