By Julian Duncan
The music of Franz Schubert is so particularly fascinating because it appeared on the musical horizon at an evolutionary point in the timeline of the western canon. Composing shortly after Beethoven forever changed cultural conceptions of music, Schubert’s compositions combine passionate performance and reverence for music as high art while maintaining a sense of classical elegance.
I was, for this reason, somewhat won over in advance by pianist Shai Wosner’s choice to perform an entirely Schubert-inspired program on the evening of March 10 at Shorter’s Brooke’s Chapel.
Wosner, recently flown in from New York and to there from London, performed with a brilliance and energy that betrayed no travel weariness. Dr. Jerico Vasquez, an assistant professor of piano, was enthusiastic about the performance.
“I thought the performance was quite stunning,” said Vasquez.
Speaking specifically of the Andante movement of the Sonata No. 13 in A Major, Vasquez explains why it stood out to him.
“It wasn’t so overdone,” said Vasquez. “Many pianists tend to overdo and sentimentalize it. It was simple, yet effective and expressive.”
Particularly of note was the program selection of a set called Idyll and Abyss (Six Schubert Reminiscences), composed by Jörg Widman. These short pieces combine 20th-century atonal harmony with themes modeled after Schubert’s style to create a somewhat haunting, dreamlike whole. Though this practice had grown old after the third or fourth installment, the incorporation of the cycle was strikingly interesting and initially quite enthralling.
In one of his few criticisms, Vasquez felt that Wosner’s performance of the Molto Moderato movement of the Sonata No. 21 in B-flat should have been performed more lyrically.
“It’s a lot like [Vladimir] Horowitz,” said Vasquez. “Surprising and eccentric, but I don’t think it really worked for this piece.”
Thorough, authentic and exciting, Wosner gives the kind of performance that inspires other musicians, and there may also be something to be said for a performance that receives little criticism more severe than a comparison to Vladimir Horowitz.
