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CZERNY'S "FANTASIA" A WALK IN THE PARK
By Michael Zwiebach
San Francisco Classical Voice
February 20, 2010
The Bay Area is blessed with a cornucopia of chamber music series,
most of which seem to be invisible to all but the most serious
classical fans. Avedis Chamber Music, now in its 15th year at the
Florence Gould Auditorium in the San Francisco Legion of Honor,
is one of those little-known treasures.
Named after the late pianist Charles Avedis Hagopian, Avedis means
good news in Armenian. And the good news here is that Avedis regulars
constitute a set of first-rate musicians who perform a wide variety of
music, all of it grateful to the ears of an average concertgoer. And
the Saturday matinee timing is perfect for working people, as well
as retirees.
Avedis' artistic director, the flutist Alexandra Hawley, arranges
programs that include her instrument in most pieces, which takes
Avedis' repertory a little off the beaten path. She and cellist
Stephen Harrison, of the Ives Quartet, are both on the music faculty
at Stanford University, while pianist/violist Paul Hersh has been
a longtime member of the piano department at the San Francisco
Conservatory of Music. These teachers are probably getting a secret
kick out of putting Carl Czerny's Fantasia Concertante on the first
Avedis program this year, Feb. 20.
Czerny (1791-1857) was a famous pedagogue who taught both Liszt
and Liszt's rival Sigismund Thalberg, as well as a number of other
eminent pianists of the period. Yet most, if not all, serious piano
students know (and probably curse) his name because he was the author
of the The Art of Finger Dexterity and The School of Velocity, two
indispensible sets of etudes (studies) that earned their author a
large part of his fortune.
Czerny also gave the Vienna premiere of his friend Beethoven's
"Emperor" Piano Concerto, though he hated performing and made his
living from his teaching. Unfortunately, the composer Czerny suffered
from the performer Czerny's reticence, and later generations have
just assumed that, were his music worth anything, it would have
gotten out there. Well, now we come to discover that old Carl did
write some pretty fine music, though you won't hear it much in the
big-prestige venues.
Similarly, Albert Roussel (1868-1937) is a fine composer who is
overshadowed by his greater, better-known contemporaries Debussy
and Ravel. And Katherine Hoover (1937-), who is a flutist, is also
a well-respected, but less-often-played, composer with a pleasingly
eclectic style. And then there's this Haydn fellow who's reputed to
be a pretty good composer, too.
In sum, this is a nicely balanced program, with unusual but good music,
played by some of the best musicians in the area. And you can probably
grab a ticket at the door after having a nice walk through the Legion
park. Who wouldn't take advantage of that?
Michael Zwiebach holds a Ph.D. in music history from UC Berkeley.
By Michael Zwiebach
San Francisco Classical Voice
February 20, 2010
The Bay Area is blessed with a cornucopia of chamber music series,
most of which seem to be invisible to all but the most serious
classical fans. Avedis Chamber Music, now in its 15th year at the
Florence Gould Auditorium in the San Francisco Legion of Honor,
is one of those little-known treasures.
Named after the late pianist Charles Avedis Hagopian, Avedis means
good news in Armenian. And the good news here is that Avedis regulars
constitute a set of first-rate musicians who perform a wide variety of
music, all of it grateful to the ears of an average concertgoer. And
the Saturday matinee timing is perfect for working people, as well
as retirees.
Avedis' artistic director, the flutist Alexandra Hawley, arranges
programs that include her instrument in most pieces, which takes
Avedis' repertory a little off the beaten path. She and cellist
Stephen Harrison, of the Ives Quartet, are both on the music faculty
at Stanford University, while pianist/violist Paul Hersh has been
a longtime member of the piano department at the San Francisco
Conservatory of Music. These teachers are probably getting a secret
kick out of putting Carl Czerny's Fantasia Concertante on the first
Avedis program this year, Feb. 20.
Czerny (1791-1857) was a famous pedagogue who taught both Liszt
and Liszt's rival Sigismund Thalberg, as well as a number of other
eminent pianists of the period. Yet most, if not all, serious piano
students know (and probably curse) his name because he was the author
of the The Art of Finger Dexterity and The School of Velocity, two
indispensible sets of etudes (studies) that earned their author a
large part of his fortune.
Czerny also gave the Vienna premiere of his friend Beethoven's
"Emperor" Piano Concerto, though he hated performing and made his
living from his teaching. Unfortunately, the composer Czerny suffered
from the performer Czerny's reticence, and later generations have
just assumed that, were his music worth anything, it would have
gotten out there. Well, now we come to discover that old Carl did
write some pretty fine music, though you won't hear it much in the
big-prestige venues.
Similarly, Albert Roussel (1868-1937) is a fine composer who is
overshadowed by his greater, better-known contemporaries Debussy
and Ravel. And Katherine Hoover (1937-), who is a flutist, is also
a well-respected, but less-often-played, composer with a pleasingly
eclectic style. And then there's this Haydn fellow who's reputed to
be a pretty good composer, too.
In sum, this is a nicely balanced program, with unusual but good music,
played by some of the best musicians in the area. And you can probably
grab a ticket at the door after having a nice walk through the Legion
park. Who wouldn't take advantage of that?
Michael Zwiebach holds a Ph.D. in music history from UC Berkeley.