Saturday Matinee

Found on a bulleting board in the orchestra lounge of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA.
© Saturday Matinee – http://saturdaymatinee.wordpress.com

There was an interesting article in the NY Times about piano playing and mannerisms, in an article titled, “When Histrionics Undermine the Music and the Pianist“. It was an article about how watching a piano player in the rapt throes of his/her own music can often detract from the music that is being played if the player is overly demonstrative. The poster child for this “Dionysian” playing (as opposed to “Apollonian”) is Lang Lang – a very expressive piano player known for his showmanship in addition to his technical wildfire playing. For this, he has received a lot of criticism with adjectives such as “self-indulgent”, usually accompanied by a begrudging acknowledgment that he plays a lot of the right notes. A review in the London Telegraph called him a “pianist who camouflages his interpretative immaturity by displays of blatant showmanship and a compendium of party tricks”, with a musing that perhaps he practices in front of a mirror. There are also websites dedicated to hating him for his individual flamboyant style and “bastardization” of music that is used to be playing a certain way.

In my mind, the bigger question is more about what classical music should be like, in order for it to be taken seriously. The NY Times article asks, “At the end of the day, whom do we take more seriously, Rubinstein or Lang Lang?”

I saw Lang Lang play a recital last year. If you take him for what he is, it was a good concert. Not a lot of it was memorable or sensational, but I remember one encore where his playing was so fast that I found that my jaw had dropped without me consciously noticing. If you don’t expect Martha Argerich when he plays, he is a fine piano player, and a great ambassador for younger generations. He won’t be the end all and the be all of classical music, but still a wonder to watch.

With this intro, I’m going to let my friend (the same person who took that photo above) take over the conversation with a series of random musings in a back and forth email banter that spawned from this NY Times article.

“Interesting article. I wonder how Lang Lang would do with a fellow Dionysian conductor? Would it be too much? That article got me thinking about pianists all day.

I get a digest from a Yahoo groups devoted to classical pianists and they constantly rag on Lang Lang. I read some of their reviews and it can be so subjective and arbitrary. What’s good Schumann? Is there such a thing? What constitutes a good interpretation? Who determines the standard? Is mere technical proficiency adequate? Is musical proficiency without emotion even detectable?

Maybe that what all the posturing and facial expressions is about? Trying to convey emotion into a song. I remember a documentary where Cordot told someone not every note played is emotionally significant. Who is he to say? Would you rather play the perfect notes or capture perfect feeling or timing? Some pianists are known for playing globs of wrong notes but conveying the proper feeling of the song. What the hell does that mean?

There was a documentary about Glenn Gould where he describes a futuristic audio technology which would play the some songs to match your feelings or preferences. If you wanted something more dramatic or pensive, all you had to do was flip the switch. Which hints at the idea that music itself is objective, but our ideas are not. Much as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, music is in the ear of the listener. In that sense, all are right and all are wrong. Music is music, and music well played is just that. Is one interpretation better an another? No, but a reviewer might have a better argument why it is.

There’s the argument of Apollonian and Dionysian playing, and there’s the posturing of an Apollonian or Dionysian performer.

I think a Dionysian performer gets credited for being moved by the music, or giving a more lush or emotional performance, and an Apollonian performer gets credited for a cerebral interpretation of the music, and giving a more harsh and analytical performance.

Can you separate out a person posing as Dionysian or Apollonian just by their motions. What if an Apollonian has sloppy peddling? If he was Dionysian, they would say he was trying to convey a dreamy mystical aura? Or what if an Dionysian plays a series of trills perfectly balanced and articulated? Then the critics would say that the performance was trite and he played without fire?

I still think a good performance is a good performance. There are only a few ways you can vary from perfection. But to distinguish yourself from other people who can play equally well is to offer a different look, or play into the audiences impression or stereotypes of the performer. It’s almost comical how they generalize.

For example:

Independent brave open……Grimaud…..Beethoven Piano Concertos
Sensitive shy reclusive……Kissin……Chopin, Schumann
Grandiose proud……Lang Lang…..Liszt
Cerebral sensitive……Yundi Li…..Chopin Scherzo

I think a lot of what people generalize as great playing is when the performer matches up with our impressions of them. If you look like a nerd, you better be Apollonian. If you have long hair, you better be Dionysian. Any piano player from South America is automatically going to be considered Dionysian. Because the audience believes all South Americans are spicy and passionate, and they can’t be intellectual or analytical.

Sometimes it gets a bit more complex: if you’re hot or good looking, you better be Dionysian. But if you’re hot and good looking and German, you better be Apollonian, because there’s no such thing as a passionate German according to audience perception. Or think about that muscle bound pianist Gen (video below, check out those chaps!). Not only is he Asian, but he’s buff. Pianists can’t be buff, and he shouldn’t be playing the pieces he’s playing, so he’s wrong on so many levels. If Uchida or Brendel recorded Rachmaninov, their CD’s won’t sell. The thought of Richter playing the Chopin Preludes, or Gould playing the Beethoven Sonatas is frightening. Not because they can’t, but because it conflicts with what we think of them and what they should play.”

“When I envision a great performance of a Bach Fugue, the person playing the piano is usually wearing pants and a shirt. What’s the headband for? Is he working at the sushi bar? His appoggiatura are as well defined as his delts, but his acciaccatura are as saggy as his triceps.”