SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Keys to the Future II: Amy Briggs Dissanayake, David Friend, Stephen Gosling and Joseph Rubenstein (pianists), Renee Weiler Concert Hall, New York City, 26.3.2008 (BH)

Chester Biscardi: Incitation to Desire (1984)
David Rakowski: Four Études (1997-2002)
Martin Kennedy: Theme and Variations (2004)
Charles Wuorinen: Bagatelle (1988)
Hans Otte: Book of Sounds #11 (1982)
William Bolcom: Graceful Ghost (1970)
John Musto: In Stride (1994)
Elena Kats-Chernin: Backstage Rag (1999)
John Halle: Rozology (2000)
Derek Bermel: Carnaval Noir (1997)


If there are still any shreds of doubt lingering about the wealth of compositional tools being assiduously mined by today's composers, an evening like this should dispel them entirely.  The second night of Keys to the Future began with Chester Biscardi's Incitation to Desire, a modern tango with the sensuality of a daydream.  Pianist David Friend (winner of the festival's first Young Artists Competition), after perhaps a slight bit of "yikes, I'm opening the concert" palpitations, ultimately handled its jazzy spirit with care, settling into Biscardi's burnt-orange universe of florid chords.

Piano etudes are still very much in vogue, and David Rakowski is now working on his ninth book of them.  (The final one listed on his website, No. 82, is "F This" in which he answers the challenge of writing an etude using a single note.)  Amy Briggs Dissanayake chose four, written from 1997 to 2002, with personalities as varied as their titles.  No. 40, "Strident," uses jazzy syncopations in the manner of early 20th century stride piano, whereas No. 13, "Plucking A," combines thuds and twangy work directly on the piano's strings.  No. 41, "Bop It," is a flood of hyperactivity, while "Martler," No. 14, is an edgy exercise in crossing hands, with a furious ending in the lower register.  Several of these were written for Ms. Dissanayake, who seemed completely unfazed by their sometimes amusingly frightful demands.

Charles Wuorinen, feared by some listeners who sense an impenetrable veneer, can be easy to like when handled by a virtuoso like Stephen Gosling.  Wuorinen's Bagatelle, which Gosling played with quiet implacability, only helped further dispel the idea that this composer may have been mischaracterized over the years.  Gosling was even more powerful in Martin Kennedy's extravagantly written Theme and Variations.  Kennedy begins with a lazy theme that quickly swells to Lisztian proportions, requiring heroic keyboard prowess.  Its quiet ending, dappled with the faint sounds of an ambulance passing by outside, made Gosling's sweat and blood feel all the more tangible.

Yet another style came from Hans Otte, who died in 2007.  His Book of Sounds is in twelve chapters, of which Joseph Rubenstein (the "Keys" creator) offered No. 11.  It is a gently rocking study, mostly pivoting on two chords and quietly orbiting in place.  Rubenstein found just the right tone for its austere sophistication.

With style and keen programming instincts, Ms. Dissanayake returned to close with five fascinating examples of modern ragtime, written between 1970 (William Bolcom's Graceful Ghost) and 2000 (John Halle's Rozology).  Bolcom and Halle both share a certain nostalgia: the former for a turn-of-the-century Joplin, and the latter for Halle's mother, whose 70th birthday inspired him.  In contrast John Musto's In Stride used an almost Ivesian clash of keys to make its brittle impact, followed by Elena Kats-Chernin's gentle, almost shy Backstage Rag.  Perhaps most striking was Derek Bermel's Carnaval Noir, part of a larger piano work called Turning.  Bermel describes it as "ragtime meets South American street fair," and its jumpy textures and unconventional structure, just on the edge of careening off a cliff, indicate a voice of considerable skill and imagination.

Bruce Hodges


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