November 28, 2022
Morgan Hall, Bailey Performance Center
Kennesaw State Univesity
Kennesaw, GA
Robert Henry, piano.
Ryuichi SAKAMOTO: “Bolerish” from the film Femme Fatale (2002)
Dave GRUSIN: “On Golden Pond” from the film On Golden Pond (1981)
Franz Joseph HAYDN: Variations in F Minor, Hob.XVII:6
Frédéric François CHOPIN: Polonaise in C-sharp Minor, Op. 26, No. 1
Frédéric François CHOPIN: Ballade No. 3 in A♭, Op. 47
Franz LISZT: Soirées de Vienne, Valses caprices d’après Schubert
Johannes BRAHMS: Twenty-five Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24
Mark Gresham | 30 NOV 2022
On Monday evening, in Morgan Hall at Kennesaw State University’s Bailey Performance Center, pianist Robert Henry took to the stage in a recital of primarily traditional classical fare. However, he opened the program in a rather fresh manner with a pair of selections from contemporary film scores.
First up was Bolerish from the film Femme Fatale (2002) by Japanese composer, pianist, singer, and record producer Ryuichi Sakamoto (坂本 龍一). Bolerish is an unabashed re-working of Maurice Ravel’s Bolero that accompanies the film’s opening and closing sequences. Sakamoto’s serene adaptation turns the plodding march of Ravel’s original into a graceful saunter, capturing the mood of Erik Satie’s Gymnopédies and even briefly nodding at Gato Barbieri’s theme for Last Tango in Paris.
Mr. Henry followed it with the title theme from On Golden Pond (1981) by Dave Grusin, an American composer, arranger, producer, and pianist, with a filmography of nearly 100 titles to his credit, one Oscar, and three Grammy Awards. Like Bolerish, the character and slow pace of the On Golden Pond theme was relaxed, with a soul-touching quality that evokes a modern kind of sentimentality.
Although an unusual way to start a program, these pieces led surprisingly well into Henry’s performance of the Variations in F minor, Hob. XVII:6, by Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1839). Also known as Un piccolo divertimento, it’s among Haydn’s most popular and extended keyboard works: a set of double variations, with the first theme in F minor and the second in F major, followed by two variations of each and a coda.
The Variations showcased Henry’s capabilities with fluidity of melodic contour and ornamentation, letting the music sing and avoiding a feeling of stiffness while not trespassing the boundaries of Classicism into Romantic gesture. The latter would appropriately come next in two works by Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), the Polonaise in C♯ minor, Op. 26, No. 1, and the Ballade No. 3 in A♭ major, Op. 47, completing a convincing arc from start to intermission.
In the program’s second half, Henry’s playing took on a bit more body and weight of tone.
Like Sakamoto, Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was not hesitant to put other composers’ music to his own ends in his compositions. Soirées de Vienne (Valses-caprices d’après François Schubert), S.427, is a cycle of nine pieces based on music from six groups of waltzes that Schubert composed for piano between 1815 and 1923.
Liszt successfully preserved the Viennese character of Schubert’s music, adding just enough sonority to make them suitable for a concert hall. He juxtaposed the tunes to suit his needs as a performer without becoming heavy-handed about virtuosic display, concluding the cycle with an original set of variations on Schubert’s popular (but speciously named) Trauerwalzer.
The final work on the program was by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), the Twenty-five Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24, based on a theme from George Frideric Handel’s Harpsichord Suite No. 1 in B♭ major, HWV 434.
A half-hour in duration, the work gradually unfolds from the gallant little tune by Handel through a panoply of musical ideas that seamlessly transform into the quintessential voice of Brahms. It is an energetic work of massive scope, imagination, and variety that ultimately settles into a rather serious and substantial character when it reaches the climactic concluding fugue, of which Henry took good advantage.
Afterward, Henry returned to the stage for an encore, the Waltz in A♭ major, Op. 34, No. 1, which decidedly brightened the concert’s final moments. ■
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Robert Henry: georgianchamberplayers.org
Mark Gresham is publisher and principal writer of EarRelevant. he began writing as a music journalist over 30 years ago, but has been a composer of music much longer than that. He was the winner of an ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award for music journalism in 2003.
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