Word: beethovenian
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They are, too. The second half of the film elevates all the story elements to Beethovenian crescendo. Here is an epic with literature's depth and opera's splendor--and one that could be achieved only in movies. What could be more terrific...
Resisting the temptation for romantic indulgence, Pressler inaugurated the Schubert trio with Beethovenian stateliness, bringing out the authority of chords and arpeggios. But if the first movement felt somewhat restrained, the second movement, with its unforgettable, darksome melody, was played with less sense and more sensibility. In this famous movement, Schubert makes the most of few materials, building hundreds of bars on a single, two-note interval. The trio successfully differentiated every reiteration, varying their emotional colorings with exquisite care...
This concerto existed in a rougher, more Beethovenian perform before the Finnish composer excised some blocky, thorny passages from the first movement. There is still plenty of muscular music in the 1905 version we hear tonight, which makes greater demands on the soloist in terms of smoothness and tone. In rehearsal only the first two movements were heard, apparently because of Yannatos' temper, but two were enough to show Castelli at the top of her game. Awesome voicing, awesome dynamic range, and some Heifitzian melodrama suggest a Sibelius not to be missed. For those inclined to adduce parallels, note...
...second half of the concert opened with the only overtly familiar piece of the evening, Schumann's Arabeske, Op. 18. Goode, who has such a feel for all things grand and Beethovenian, seemed an unlikely choice to perform a piece written for young, dainty pianists, but the delicacy of his touch here surpassed even his sensitivity in the Brahms...
After 13 variations evoking in turn Bach, George Winston and Liszt, Rzewski plunged from a protracted Beethovenian trill into a truly staggering display of improvised fire-works for his cadenza. In a few minutes Rzewski demonstrated his command of Harlem stride bass, cartoonish sound effects, and Chopinesque fabric melody, while referring back to Beethoven just often enough to excuse his departures. The conclusion was a gradual rise from the lowest D-flat (tonic for the Beethoven) to the highest note on the keyboard, which was repeated more and more softly and less and less frequently until after a long rest...