Christopher O’Riley

CHRISTOPHER O’RILEY loves music. He loves performing. He loves teaching. And he excels at all three.

You know he loves teaching because of his wonderful radio show “From The Top” where he hosts, accompanies, and encourages young musicians from around the country. And if you attended his all-Schumann performance at the Sottile Theatre on Thursday night, you know what a superb concert pianist he is, which was especially evident in his rendition of the rarely performed, notoriously difficult Schumann Fantasie—a piece that clearly displayed Christopher’s musical passion.

But it was in his master class the following morning at the College of Charleston that we got to witness all three—passion, performing, and teaching—in perfect combination.

coaching Micah McLaurin

For an hour and a half he coached three promising young pianists: Maria Parrini (who played the Allegro Assai from Beethoven’s Sonata in F minor), Naomi Yoomi Causby (who played Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz No. 1), and Micah McLaurin (who played Liszt’s arrangement of Wagner’s Isolde’s Liebestod).

While each student played, Christopher sat nearby perusing the sheet music as he listened. When the pieces finished, he stood, walked to the piano, and began a detailed analysis, pointing out passages that could be improved and demonstrating techniques such as fingering, hand movements, and pedal control.

Using colorful analogies, he led each player through a visual explanation of how to approach the music more completely, by means of things like emphasizing the left hand more, bringing out the contrast between the left and right hands—treating them, he said, as two voices—and adding vital tension by creating more space between notes (without sacrificing tempo).

A few of his teaching nuggets included: “The louder it gets, the slower it has to be;” You must play the notes, “not by default, but by decision.” You don’t want to play “down on the keys, from the top,” but rather want to use your fingers “to draw the notes out of the keys.” And “the most important thing about playing the piano is being able to do this…” while rubbing his belly with one hand and patting his head with the other (as the audience laughed) to emphasize the need for always keeping the two hands unified in intent but separate in voice. As he pointed out, if the two hands—the two voices—are always in harmony, it is nice but not interesting. It becomes interesting when they complement, contrast, and even conflict with each other.

He quoted another teacher as having said, “We (pianists) essentially have only two jobs to do: to put our fingers down where they are supposed to be, and then pick them up.” Simple as this sounds, Christopher stressed that many pianists disregard the latter; that they don’t give enough care to the act of “picking up” after each note, and what a difference this can make to sound and expression.

There was no doubt that the three students took a lot away from their 30-minute sessions with Christopher who was warm and good-natured, yet direct and honest while giving of his tremendous insight and experience. And he always spoke with respect for them as fellow musicians, as though what he was pointing out they already knew and just had to rediscover.

Best thing of all, though, is how this gentleman, a recognized TV and radio personality, keeps such an unassuming profile, how he includes rather than excludes people, and how he clearly enjoys his busy, productive, rewarding life as a music lover, performer, and teacher.

Mr. O’Riley, please come to Charleston again.

(Coming soon: Lindsay Koob’s review of Christopher’s Sottile performance.)

Tenor Jonathan White, singing the role of Rinuccio, has a warm, full-bodied, and smooth voice that excels in a technically demanding role. He controls his loudness well, presenting his recitative parts clearly and in excellent Italian, while filling the room with power. As well as having a strong voice, Jonathan lends an authoritative air to the stage with his movement and acting skills.

In a conversation after the performance, he commented on the quality of the performance by cast and crew, noting the excellent direction and training by the faculty. Admitting that his voice still has a few years to reache maturity, he nonetheless looks forward to a career as a professional. If his performance in Gianni Schicchi is any indication, his future prospects in opera are promising indeed.

Soprano Carina Gerscovich, possessor of a clear, melodious voice, sings the role of Lauretta. She holds her own in the production and delivers a fine rendition of the opera’s most famous aria, O Mio Babbino Caro, which demands a soaring, mellifluous voice.

Baritone Daniel Lentz sings the title role, Gianni Schicchi. The stage direction of this production asks much of the character: singing from a bed, on the floor, and while moving around the stage. Given these demands, Daniel occasionally has some difficulty with his range and volume, but manages nevertheless to produce a solid performance.

Notable in this production is the piano as the only musical instrument. Over 50 minutes, Irina Pevzner guides the opera with a wonderfully controlled effort, displaying the full range of softness and power with nary a pause. It is worth noting that many productions of Gianni Schicchi include a full orchestra, and it is a credit to Irina that you hardly notice the absence of other instruments.

Aside from the quality of the voices, the difference between professional and amateur productions is often found in set design and stage direction. In this production, the College of Charleston Opera deserves high marks for its set, costumes, lighting, and direction. The stage is alive with movement, and the lighting and costumes combine to create a setting that, at times, reminds you of a Vermeer painting with its use of light, color, and shadows.

Gianni Schicchi is a worthy addition to the Piccolo Spoleto Special Events musical series. The College of Charleston Opera delivers a quality production that Puccini would be proud of, and that audiences will surely enjoy.

Click to buy tickets at www.spoletousa.org

But don’t let that fool you, because once again you’re in for a treat. A gold medal treat.

Hsing-Chwen Hsin is one of the most distinguished young pianists from Asia, as well as a winner of the prestigious Chappell Gold Medal from the Royal College of Music in London.

At age 13, after early musical training in Taiwan, she moved to England to attend the Yehudi Menuhin School and later the Royal College of Music. Hsing-Chwen now teaches at the Institute of Music at National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan where she chairs the graduate performance program, and where she founded the ChiaoTa Chamber Ensemble.

• Ballade No. 2, Op. 38 • Frederik Chopin

• Goyescas, Book I • E. Granados

• Kreisleriana, Op.16 • Robert Schumann

SAT May 22 • 8:00 PM
In the Great Room, north end of the second floor of the Cato Center for the Arts
(at the corner of Calhoun and St. Philip Street)
Free admission

Enrique Graf 2007 © Steve J. Sherman

AS PROMISED, below is part 2 of our interview with Enrique Graf, Artist in Residence at the College of Charleston, who will be performing next Tuesday night at the Sottile Theatre. The interview speaks for itself, but here are a few more interesting things you might want to know about Enrique’s background.

He was born in Montevideo, Uruguay where he started studying piano at the age of four. After winning all of the national competitions in Uruguay, he attended the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University to study with Leon Fleisher on a full scholarship.

In 1977, he and Katherine Jacobson won First Prize in the National Ensemble Two Piano Competition. The following year, Enrique was the First Prize winner in the William Kapell International Piano Competition. And in 1981 he won the East and West International Competition in New York City.

Enrique’s all Francis Poulenc CD with the Charleston Symphony was a pick of the month by the Sunday London Times and was awarded five stars in Classic CD. And Paul Hume of the Washington Post said of his debut recording (Enrique Graf plays Bach) that it was “an end to the discussion of whether of not Bach should be played on the piano.”

Just in case you missed it, you can see part 1 of the interview here.

Hartmut has been featured in concerts throughout Europe, Russia, and the United States. His competition prizes include the Jugend Musiziert Competition in Germany, the Anton G. Rubinstein International Piano Competition, and the Johannes Brahms International Piano Competition in Austria. He has alsoappeared in the Im Agricoli Festival in Poland, the Schubertiaden and Dreiklang festivals in Germany, and Piccolo Spoleto in Charleston.

Hartmut received his Artist Certificate from the College of Charleston where he studied with Enrique Graf. He is currently a faculty member at the Conservatory of Music in Dresden, Germany.

MONDAY • OCTOBER 26
Works by Schubert, Hoiby, and Chopin
8 PM • Sottile Theater • 44 George St

Franz Schubert: Moments Musicaux

Franz Schubert’s six Moments Musicaux remain among the most beloved of his many piano miniatures. Written mostly during the final two years of his tragically short life, they are full of the composer’s hallmark melodic charm and harmonic beauty. Some have characterized them as “songs without words.”

The opening piece (listen at left) is a kind of stylized minuet—one that was never meant to be danced to. Its upbeat outer sections stand in stark contrast to the wistful and lovely central section. The second is a gentle, five-section rondo of sorts, with tuneful, yet tragic interludes—and even a moment of helpless, “why-me?” outrage (he knew he didn’t have much longer to live). Next comes a delicate little eastern-flavored gem that sparkles, delights, and makes you want to dance.

The highly original fourth piece sounds almost like Bach, with staccato bass figures underlying its mesmerizing legato melodic flow—until the middle section’s placid, “rowing” theme appears. Marked contrast arrives with the fifth number: a robust, galloping piece with moments of subdued mystery. The final item—the longest of the lot—returns to the quasi-minuet form and mood of the opening number; offering soft, other-worldly appeal shot through with a desolate sense of emotional resignation.

Lee Hoiby: Toccata · Schubert’s Variations

Franz Schubert

American master Lee Hoiby has been called the “other Samuel Barber.” His Toccata, Op. 1 was written in 1951, while he was still a student—before he had found his mature voice. Its virtuosic nature reflects his ambition to become a concert pianist.

This experimental work is reminiscent of Debussy, and especially Prokofiev. It bounces back and forth between conventional harmony and atonality. Save for a chorale-like central passage, it’s a kinetic and hard-driving piece, with a tense and worried feel to it. Hartmut described it as “kind of crazy.”

Hoiby’s Schubert Variations, dating from 1979, are based on one of Franz Schubert’s many short waltzes for piano—specifically a “Ländler,” a kind of Austrian folk-dance. The piece, in somewhat altered form, also exists in a chamber version for nine strings and woodwinds. The music seems to progress ever-farther from the dark, minor-key theme, while retaining Schubert’s original bittersweet aura. The prevailing mood is subdued and lyrical, though there are some rapid and rhythmically vital passages. A gentle restatement of the opening theme brings the work to a pensive and lovely close.

Frederic Chopin: Sonata No. 3 in B minor

While the vast majority of Frederic Chopin’s output consists of shorter pieces, his final Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58 is a shining example of his skill and assurance in handling the more substantial sonata form.

Its opening movement presents a brief and stormy first theme, followed by a more extended second subject. The music alternates between stunning virtuosity and quieter lyrical passages, with deft use of counterpoint in its central development section. The following scherzo movement is a delightful and fleeting romp, temporarily interrupted by a serene and poignant trio section.

The soft and songful largo movement—the sonata’s heart (listen at left)—could well have been one of Chopin’s enchanting nocturnes. It begins with an exquisite aria, leading into a quietly rhapsodic central section. The swelling chords that begin the finale quickly give way to a headlong, often violent rondo that skillfully blends elements of its opening and middle sections as it drives to a blazing finish. •

Read Lindsay’s introductory article to this series.

As a sometime pianist and piano music devotee myself, I’ve been attending and writing about IPS for nearly a decade. I can attest that even most major metropolitan areas don’t offer as star-studded, diverse, or well-supported a piano series as this.

Previous series have brought us legendary keyboard greats like Leon Fleisher, Earl Wild, Abbey Simon, Ann Schein, and Jorge Luis Prats—plus notables like Anne-Marie McDermott, Andrew von Oeyen, Stephen Prutsman, Awadagin Pratt, and Sergey Schepkin, among others. Enrique, as one of the piano world’s most respected pedagogues, and a frequent judge at leading international competitions, has also seen to it that we have heard the cream of the world’s emerging young artists over the years, including a few of his own prize-winning students like Eunjoo Yun, William Villaverde, and Sean Kennard.

In the past, appearances by Enrique’s students were sprinkled among the established artists. But the upcoming season will, for the first time, be devoted entirely to his top protégés past and present. Young German keyboard wizard, Hartmut Sauer, studied with Enrique as recently as last year, and emerging Spanish virtuoso, Roberto Berrocal, was his star student nearly a decade ago. Perhaps the most remarkable recital you’ll hear this season will be from a bona fide prodigy: fourteen-year-old Charlestonian, Micah McLaurin. Micah has been studying with Enrique for nearly two years now, and this amazing young man has international superstar potential.

The 2009–2010 series will also include a choice program from Enrique himself, plus an extravaganza of Bach concertos for multiple pianos, performed by a bunch of Enrique’s finest students. We at CharlestonToday hope that the five sets of program notes which we will present here one week prior to each performance (and which will be published in the IPS season brochure) will enable regular attendees to learn about the music beforehand, thereby enhancing their understanding and enjoyment of the performances. Hopefully the notes will also inspire readers who are not among the series’ regular supporters to come see—and hear—for themselves what all the fuss is about.

Monday • OCTOBER 26
Hartmur Sauer plays Schubert, Hoiby, and Chopin

Tuesday • NOVEMBER 10
Roberto Berrocal plays Haydn, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, and de Falla

Tuesday • FEBRUARY 9
Micah McLaurin plays Bach, Chopin, Haydn, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev

Tuesday • MARCH 16
Enrique Graf plays Haydn, Rachmaninoff, Tosar, and Liszt

Tuesday • APRIL 27
Bach concertos for two, three, and four pianos and orchestra

All concerts • 8 PM • Sottile Theatre • 44 George St.

Five concerts for $80. Individually for $20. C of C students and those under 18 attend for free. Reservations and information at (843) 953-6575 or www.internationalpianoseries.org.

Enrique Graf is College of Charleston Artist-in-Residence. After winning all the national competitions in his native Uruguay, he attended the Peabody Conservatory to study with Leon Fleisher. He won first prize in the William Kapell International Competition, the National Ensemble Competition, and the East and West International Competition. And he has given recitals and has been a soloist with orchestras all over the world.
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Enrique’s all Poulenc CD with the Charleston Symphony was a pick of the month by the Sunday London Times. He has also made recognized recordings of Bach Suites, Mozart Sonatas, the Liszt Sonata, works by Mendelssohn and Mussorgsky, the Grieg Concerto, Edward Hart’s Tidal Concerto, Gershwin’s Concerto in F, and two Beethoven Concertos, which have been called “ideal performances” by Fanfare.