Renowned pianist Ursula Oppens has stood as a pivotal figure in the realm of contemporary American music for the past half-century. Over this period, she has not only commissioned and premiered works from approximately two dozen composers but has also quietly imparted her knowledge to successive generations of budding musicians. Marking her 80th birthday this past Friday, Oppens orchestrated a public celebration on Saturday afternoon at Merkin Hall, offering a concentrated showcase of her enduring legacy.
In an eclectic ensemble, Oppens, accompanied by seven fellow pianists, including her longstanding four-hands piano collaborator Jerome Lowenthal, presented compositions from eight distinct American creators. The pieces, exclusively crafted for Oppens, featured pianists who were either current or former students or artistic compatriots. The concert, characterized by its diversity in concepts and styles, unfolded as a succession of delightful moments.
The nucleus of Oppens’ repertoire lies within the American modernist tradition, evident in the opening performance of Tobias Picker’s “Old and Lost Rivers.” Following this, Carl Patrick Bolleia took the stage to interpret Charles Wuorinen’s “The Blue Bamboula,” and later, Steven Beck delivered Elliott Carter’s “Two Diversions.”
Oppens’ vitality and technical prowess at the piano showed no signs of yielding to the passage of time. Her performance exuded a welcoming joy, and the tender lyricism of “Old and Lost Rivers,” portraying a juxtaposition of regret and tranquility, resonated with a crystalline simplicity. Bolleia, a former protégé of Oppens, masterfully navigated Wuorinen’s intricate, gnarled, and often bombastic composition, striking a balance between precision and power. Despite Wuorinen’s tendency to delve into the intricacies of his own concepts, including fractal geometry and polyrhythms devoid of a clear beat, Bolleia’s rendition was remarkable in both technical prowess and dedication to the music’s intended expression.
The brilliant young pianist Han Chen introduced a captivating contrast with Conlon Nancarrow’s “Two Canons for Ursula.” The polyrhythmic and polytempo nature of the composition found harmony in Chen’s performance, with clear accents in all the right places, creating an engaging pulse. Nancarrow’s composition resides at the captivating juncture of comprehensibility, and experiencing it live, with such precision and energy, proved mind-boggling.
Matthew Griswold tackled John Corigliano’s “Winging It,” a composition initially born from the composer’s improvisations, transcribed and edited into notation. Griswold’s mastery conveyed a sense of spontaneity and surprise akin to a real-time improvisation, making it a pinnacle of the afternoon.
Beck, esteemed as one of the finest pianists in the current New York music scene, presented a scintillating rendition of “Two Diversions.” His command went beyond mere note-handling, demonstrating a profound understanding of the piece’s essence and purpose. Ice Wang, a current student of Oppens, played Joan Tower’s “Or Like an Engine,” a short, physically demanding sprint across the keyboard, making it sound deceptively effortless.
The penultimate performance featured Tania León’s “Mistica,” skillfully interpreted by Natasha Gwirceman. As intricate as Wuorinen but more emotionally expressive, León’s composition encapsulates Afro-Cuban rhythms and high modernist phrasings. Gwirceman deftly melded the long, propulsive lines with the stabbing points and chords, showcasing both agility and intellectual acuity.
Oppens returned, joined by Lowenthal for Michael Stephen Brown’s “12 Blocks,” the most recent and unconventional piece in the program. Noteworthy for being a piano four-hands composition, interspersed with brief spoken word passages, it encapsulated Lowenthal’s daily pandemic routine of walking the 12 blocks to Oppens’ apartment, all while reciting poetry. Despite seemingly awkward hand and arm maneuvers, the duo played with the relaxed charm and genuine pleasure indicative of their enduring friendship and musical partnership.
