At some point during tonight’s performance of Sinfonia (1998), I found myself asking: how is a frail, diminutive, 99-year-old capable of such fierce, overpowering sounds? And, how is it that every time you look over at his box next to the stage, he’s just sitting there quietly, resting on his cane? I guess if Yoda can raise Luke’s ship from the swamp using only his mind, Elliott Carter can blow you back in your seat using just a pen.
30 thoughts on “Who’s Counting?”
Comments are closed.
Well, a pen and an orchestra… and multiple instances of the letter F.
Sorry, just being a smartass. 😉
Well, a pen and an orchestra… and multiple instances of the letter F.
Sorry, just being a smartass. 😉
Well, a pen and an orchestra… and multiple instances of the letter F.
Sorry, just being a smartass. 😉
Well, a pen and an orchestra… and multiple instances of the letter F.
Sorry, just being a smartass. 😉
Well, a pen and an orchestra… and multiple instances of the letter F.
Sorry, just being a smartass. 😉
Well, a pen and an orchestra… and multiple instances of the letter F.
Sorry, just being a smartass. 😉
I appreciate the Yoda swamp/Carter pen thing
I appreciate the Yoda swamp/Carter pen thing
I appreciate the Yoda swamp/Carter pen thing
I appreciate the Yoda swamp/Carter pen thing
I appreciate the Yoda swamp/Carter pen thing
I appreciate the Yoda swamp/Carter pen thing
Please help spread the word about Daniel Abrams’ “Opera For Piano” concert Thank you. Nia K
DANIEL ABRAMS, who has been hailed throughout Europe and the Americas (Alan Rich wrote of his Town Hall debut in 1957: he must henceforth be taken into account when lists of pianists most likely to succeed are being compiled) will be presenting a concert of music from his “Opera For Piano” series in New York City on Wednesday, Oct. 15th. Included will be the American premier of his Musical Portraits from Wagner’s ’Ring’ (a 45-minute work). He feels that in his lifetime of music making, this is his most important contribution to music, and that “Opera For Piano” (please see Abrams’ statement below) will be a great addition to the performing pianist’s repertoire. Marta Argerich recently heard some of Abrams’ music performed in Europe and requested its inclusion in her Lugano Piano Festival.
To give you some idea of Abrams‘ rare abilities as a musician and pianist, the following is from a review he received from “The NY Herald Tribune” when he presented the complete cycle of Mozart piano sonatas at the Kaufman Y:
Mr. Abrams, as has been noted before, is born to the piano; he cannot help but make beautiful sounds and he brings to whatever he tackles not only musicianship, technique and interpretative prowess, but a very special kind of intellectual radiance that quite sets him apart. In short, the five sonatas heard contained a veritable galaxy of refinements — indeed, the sort of refinements that seem slowly to be creeping out of contemporary piano playing.
The concert, at the Mannes College of Music, 150 West 85th St (between Columbus & Amsterdam Avenues) is on Wednesday, October 15th at 8 pm. There is no charge and seating begins at 7:30 pm.
It promises to be a glorious evening of music making and the re-discovery of a truly great pianist!
More about Abrams: http://www.Daniel-Abrams.com
The following is by Daniel Abrams about “Opera For Piano”:
All the music in the series “Opera For Piano” was written because I love opera and wanted to play some of this wonderful music on the piano. It is written in the styles of the various composers to preserve the passions and styles of the operas, perhaps as if the music had been written for the piano, but not as virtuoso pieces as was Liszt’s goal.
In the first three works – variations on arias – the story is not of paramount importance. However, in the “Portraits on Wagner’s ‘Ring,’” because Wagner used musical motifs for each character and dramatic “happening,” some knowledge of the storyline of this nearly sixteen hour series of four operas is certainly helpful, but not essential in listening to the music on its own.
Please help spread the word about Daniel Abrams’ “Opera For Piano” concert Thank you. Nia K
DANIEL ABRAMS, who has been hailed throughout Europe and the Americas (Alan Rich wrote of his Town Hall debut in 1957: he must henceforth be taken into account when lists of pianists most likely to succeed are being compiled) will be presenting a concert of music from his “Opera For Piano” series in New York City on Wednesday, Oct. 15th. Included will be the American premier of his Musical Portraits from Wagner’s ’Ring’ (a 45-minute work). He feels that in his lifetime of music making, this is his most important contribution to music, and that “Opera For Piano” (please see Abrams’ statement below) will be a great addition to the performing pianist’s repertoire. Marta Argerich recently heard some of Abrams’ music performed in Europe and requested its inclusion in her Lugano Piano Festival.
To give you some idea of Abrams‘ rare abilities as a musician and pianist, the following is from a review he received from “The NY Herald Tribune” when he presented the complete cycle of Mozart piano sonatas at the Kaufman Y:
Mr. Abrams, as has been noted before, is born to the piano; he cannot help but make beautiful sounds and he brings to whatever he tackles not only musicianship, technique and interpretative prowess, but a very special kind of intellectual radiance that quite sets him apart. In short, the five sonatas heard contained a veritable galaxy of refinements — indeed, the sort of refinements that seem slowly to be creeping out of contemporary piano playing.
The concert, at the Mannes College of Music, 150 West 85th St (between Columbus & Amsterdam Avenues) is on Wednesday, October 15th at 8 pm. There is no charge and seating begins at 7:30 pm.
It promises to be a glorious evening of music making and the re-discovery of a truly great pianist!
More about Abrams: http://www.Daniel-Abrams.com
The following is by Daniel Abrams about “Opera For Piano”:
All the music in the series “Opera For Piano” was written because I love opera and wanted to play some of this wonderful music on the piano. It is written in the styles of the various composers to preserve the passions and styles of the operas, perhaps as if the music had been written for the piano, but not as virtuoso pieces as was Liszt’s goal.
In the first three works – variations on arias – the story is not of paramount importance. However, in the “Portraits on Wagner’s ‘Ring,’” because Wagner used musical motifs for each character and dramatic “happening,” some knowledge of the storyline of this nearly sixteen hour series of four operas is certainly helpful, but not essential in listening to the music on its own.
Please help spread the word about Daniel Abrams’ “Opera For Piano” concert Thank you. Nia K
DANIEL ABRAMS, who has been hailed throughout Europe and the Americas (Alan Rich wrote of his Town Hall debut in 1957: he must henceforth be taken into account when lists of pianists most likely to succeed are being compiled) will be presenting a concert of music from his “Opera For Piano” series in New York City on Wednesday, Oct. 15th. Included will be the American premier of his Musical Portraits from Wagner’s ’Ring’ (a 45-minute work). He feels that in his lifetime of music making, this is his most important contribution to music, and that “Opera For Piano” (please see Abrams’ statement below) will be a great addition to the performing pianist’s repertoire. Marta Argerich recently heard some of Abrams’ music performed in Europe and requested its inclusion in her Lugano Piano Festival.
To give you some idea of Abrams‘ rare abilities as a musician and pianist, the following is from a review he received from “The NY Herald Tribune” when he presented the complete cycle of Mozart piano sonatas at the Kaufman Y:
Mr. Abrams, as has been noted before, is born to the piano; he cannot help but make beautiful sounds and he brings to whatever he tackles not only musicianship, technique and interpretative prowess, but a very special kind of intellectual radiance that quite sets him apart. In short, the five sonatas heard contained a veritable galaxy of refinements — indeed, the sort of refinements that seem slowly to be creeping out of contemporary piano playing.
The concert, at the Mannes College of Music, 150 West 85th St (between Columbus & Amsterdam Avenues) is on Wednesday, October 15th at 8 pm. There is no charge and seating begins at 7:30 pm.
It promises to be a glorious evening of music making and the re-discovery of a truly great pianist!
More about Abrams: http://www.Daniel-Abrams.com
The following is by Daniel Abrams about “Opera For Piano”:
All the music in the series “Opera For Piano” was written because I love opera and wanted to play some of this wonderful music on the piano. It is written in the styles of the various composers to preserve the passions and styles of the operas, perhaps as if the music had been written for the piano, but not as virtuoso pieces as was Liszt’s goal.
In the first three works – variations on arias – the story is not of paramount importance. However, in the “Portraits on Wagner’s ‘Ring,’” because Wagner used musical motifs for each character and dramatic “happening,” some knowledge of the storyline of this nearly sixteen hour series of four operas is certainly helpful, but not essential in listening to the music on its own.
Please help spread the word about Daniel Abrams’ “Opera For Piano” concert Thank you. Nia K
DANIEL ABRAMS, who has been hailed throughout Europe and the Americas (Alan Rich wrote of his Town Hall debut in 1957: he must henceforth be taken into account when lists of pianists most likely to succeed are being compiled) will be presenting a concert of music from his “Opera For Piano” series in New York City on Wednesday, Oct. 15th. Included will be the American premier of his Musical Portraits from Wagner’s ’Ring’ (a 45-minute work). He feels that in his lifetime of music making, this is his most important contribution to music, and that “Opera For Piano” (please see Abrams’ statement below) will be a great addition to the performing pianist’s repertoire. Marta Argerich recently heard some of Abrams’ music performed in Europe and requested its inclusion in her Lugano Piano Festival.
To give you some idea of Abrams‘ rare abilities as a musician and pianist, the following is from a review he received from “The NY Herald Tribune” when he presented the complete cycle of Mozart piano sonatas at the Kaufman Y:
Mr. Abrams, as has been noted before, is born to the piano; he cannot help but make beautiful sounds and he brings to whatever he tackles not only musicianship, technique and interpretative prowess, but a very special kind of intellectual radiance that quite sets him apart. In short, the five sonatas heard contained a veritable galaxy of refinements — indeed, the sort of refinements that seem slowly to be creeping out of contemporary piano playing.
The concert, at the Mannes College of Music, 150 West 85th St (between Columbus & Amsterdam Avenues) is on Wednesday, October 15th at 8 pm. There is no charge and seating begins at 7:30 pm.
It promises to be a glorious evening of music making and the re-discovery of a truly great pianist!
More about Abrams: http://www.Daniel-Abrams.com
The following is by Daniel Abrams about “Opera For Piano”:
All the music in the series “Opera For Piano” was written because I love opera and wanted to play some of this wonderful music on the piano. It is written in the styles of the various composers to preserve the passions and styles of the operas, perhaps as if the music had been written for the piano, but not as virtuoso pieces as was Liszt’s goal.
In the first three works – variations on arias – the story is not of paramount importance. However, in the “Portraits on Wagner’s ‘Ring,’” because Wagner used musical motifs for each character and dramatic “happening,” some knowledge of the storyline of this nearly sixteen hour series of four operas is certainly helpful, but not essential in listening to the music on its own.
Please help spread the word about Daniel Abrams’ “Opera For Piano” concert Thank you. Nia K
DANIEL ABRAMS, who has been hailed throughout Europe and the Americas (Alan Rich wrote of his Town Hall debut in 1957: he must henceforth be taken into account when lists of pianists most likely to succeed are being compiled) will be presenting a concert of music from his “Opera For Piano” series in New York City on Wednesday, Oct. 15th. Included will be the American premier of his Musical Portraits from Wagner’s ’Ring’ (a 45-minute work). He feels that in his lifetime of music making, this is his most important contribution to music, and that “Opera For Piano” (please see Abrams’ statement below) will be a great addition to the performing pianist’s repertoire. Marta Argerich recently heard some of Abrams’ music performed in Europe and requested its inclusion in her Lugano Piano Festival.
To give you some idea of Abrams‘ rare abilities as a musician and pianist, the following is from a review he received from “The NY Herald Tribune” when he presented the complete cycle of Mozart piano sonatas at the Kaufman Y:
Mr. Abrams, as has been noted before, is born to the piano; he cannot help but make beautiful sounds and he brings to whatever he tackles not only musicianship, technique and interpretative prowess, but a very special kind of intellectual radiance that quite sets him apart. In short, the five sonatas heard contained a veritable galaxy of refinements — indeed, the sort of refinements that seem slowly to be creeping out of contemporary piano playing.
The concert, at the Mannes College of Music, 150 West 85th St (between Columbus & Amsterdam Avenues) is on Wednesday, October 15th at 8 pm. There is no charge and seating begins at 7:30 pm.
It promises to be a glorious evening of music making and the re-discovery of a truly great pianist!
More about Abrams: http://www.Daniel-Abrams.com
The following is by Daniel Abrams about “Opera For Piano”:
All the music in the series “Opera For Piano” was written because I love opera and wanted to play some of this wonderful music on the piano. It is written in the styles of the various composers to preserve the passions and styles of the operas, perhaps as if the music had been written for the piano, but not as virtuoso pieces as was Liszt’s goal.
In the first three works – variations on arias – the story is not of paramount importance. However, in the “Portraits on Wagner’s ‘Ring,’” because Wagner used musical motifs for each character and dramatic “happening,” some knowledge of the storyline of this nearly sixteen hour series of four operas is certainly helpful, but not essential in listening to the music on its own.
Please help spread the word about Daniel Abrams’ “Opera For Piano” concert Thank you. Nia K
DANIEL ABRAMS, who has been hailed throughout Europe and the Americas (Alan Rich wrote of his Town Hall debut in 1957: he must henceforth be taken into account when lists of pianists most likely to succeed are being compiled) will be presenting a concert of music from his “Opera For Piano” series in New York City on Wednesday, Oct. 15th. Included will be the American premier of his Musical Portraits from Wagner’s ’Ring’ (a 45-minute work). He feels that in his lifetime of music making, this is his most important contribution to music, and that “Opera For Piano” (please see Abrams’ statement below) will be a great addition to the performing pianist’s repertoire. Marta Argerich recently heard some of Abrams’ music performed in Europe and requested its inclusion in her Lugano Piano Festival.
To give you some idea of Abrams‘ rare abilities as a musician and pianist, the following is from a review he received from “The NY Herald Tribune” when he presented the complete cycle of Mozart piano sonatas at the Kaufman Y:
Mr. Abrams, as has been noted before, is born to the piano; he cannot help but make beautiful sounds and he brings to whatever he tackles not only musicianship, technique and interpretative prowess, but a very special kind of intellectual radiance that quite sets him apart. In short, the five sonatas heard contained a veritable galaxy of refinements — indeed, the sort of refinements that seem slowly to be creeping out of contemporary piano playing.
The concert, at the Mannes College of Music, 150 West 85th St (between Columbus & Amsterdam Avenues) is on Wednesday, October 15th at 8 pm. There is no charge and seating begins at 7:30 pm.
It promises to be a glorious evening of music making and the re-discovery of a truly great pianist!
More about Abrams: http://www.Daniel-Abrams.com
The following is by Daniel Abrams about “Opera For Piano”:
All the music in the series “Opera For Piano” was written because I love opera and wanted to play some of this wonderful music on the piano. It is written in the styles of the various composers to preserve the passions and styles of the operas, perhaps as if the music had been written for the piano, but not as virtuoso pieces as was Liszt’s goal.
In the first three works – variations on arias – the story is not of paramount importance. However, in the “Portraits on Wagner’s ‘Ring,’” because Wagner used musical motifs for each character and dramatic “happening,” some knowledge of the storyline of this nearly sixteen hour series of four operas is certainly helpful, but not essential in listening to the music on its own.
Reminder aboutpianist/composer DANIEL ABRAMS’ “Opera For Piano” concert Wednesday, Oct 15th at Mannes College of Music, 150 West 85th St., NYC No charge: eating begins at 7:30 pm
Reminder aboutpianist/composer DANIEL ABRAMS’ “Opera For Piano” concert Wednesday, Oct 15th at Mannes College of Music, 150 West 85th St., NYC No charge: eating begins at 7:30 pm
Reminder aboutpianist/composer DANIEL ABRAMS’ “Opera For Piano” concert Wednesday, Oct 15th at Mannes College of Music, 150 West 85th St., NYC No charge: eating begins at 7:30 pm
Reminder aboutpianist/composer DANIEL ABRAMS’ “Opera For Piano” concert Wednesday, Oct 15th at Mannes College of Music, 150 West 85th St., NYC No charge: eating begins at 7:30 pm
Reminder aboutpianist/composer DANIEL ABRAMS’ “Opera For Piano” concert Wednesday, Oct 15th at Mannes College of Music, 150 West 85th St., NYC No charge: eating begins at 7:30 pm
Reminder aboutpianist/composer DANIEL ABRAMS’ “Opera For Piano” concert Wednesday, Oct 15th at Mannes College of Music, 150 West 85th St., NYC No charge: eating begins at 7:30 pm
Please note that Daniel Abrams’ “Musical Portraits from Wagner’s ‘Ring'” will be broadcast on “Performance Today” (awaiting exact date). Sonia Sudak
Raymond J. Steiner, Editor • Cornelia Seckel, Publisher
(845) 246-6944 · info@ArtTimesJournal.com
Art Times HomePage
Read other Music essays
Daniel Abrams (photo: Joy Moore)
If Only the Muse Loved Me as I Love Music
By FRANK BEHRENS
ART TIMES December 2008
I recall, as I suppose can many, the days when all recorded music was on 78 rpm discs and most of my favorite tunes were either hard to find or too expensive to purchase. So most of us sang our favorite songs or hummed our favorite opera arias or melodic themes from concertos and symphonies. How pleasant.
Except for one brick wall: I could not sing and even my humming was in the skeleton key—it fit every piece of music I essayed (and assailed). I began to envy musicians, who could simply sit down at the keyboard and dash off anything from a Bach triple fugue to “Take the A train” with no apparent effort.
I did not even dream of the ideal situation that existed for some people like Daniel Abrams. I had never heard of Mr. Abrams until recently, when a resident of Woodstock, NY and reader of Art Times Journal sent me an e-mail that pointed me towards the gentleman. When I responded, she sent me what amounted to a press kit about this pianist.
A New York Times review of a concert he gave in April 1957 calls him “an uncommonly good technician and it goes on to praise his playing of Brahms’ “Handel” Variations as being “not that of technical slickness but of musical expressiveness.” Having been awarded a two-year Fulbright Grant, he studied in London and gave concerts in at least five other European countries, garnering praise as he went along. As he gained more concert experience, he went on to more praise from critics in Canada and the United States.
Abrams’ association with the Woodstock region alone should earn him an essay in this Journal; but that is not really my purpose. My point is that I now have another kind of person whom I can envy!
When the pianoforte was improved to what we are now used to, composers like Franz Liszt made the great melodies from opera accessible to the public by creating transcriptions of many arias for the keyboard. Naturally, he first played them himself at concerts and was admired for “making the piano sing,” as he put it. The melodies were certainly true to what their original composers set onto paper, but more than just a little of Liszt’s genius found its way into the transcribed versions. Now someone like Abrams can carry that concept one step further. In an age when some of the most obscure operas can be found on at least one recording, he has followed his love for certain works to the point where he writes his own arrangements (not quite the same thing as transcriptions) so that his feelings about the piece as well as the original melodic flow can be transmitted to the audience.
My correspondent kindly sent me a CD, now out of print, that Abrams made in 2000. It is called “Fantasie Variations on Tales of Love” and holds three selections: “Fantasie Variations on Richard Wagner’s ‘Tristan und Isolde’,” “Chaconne on Dido’s Lament from Henry Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas’,” and “Fantasia on Carl Maria von Weber’s ‘Der Freischutz’.”
Now there are many symphonic versions of music from “Tristan,” but they usually follow the score note for note, assigning the vocal lines to certain instruments, and do little to interpret Wagner’s music. Listening to Abrams’ 19-minute rendition of his favorite sections from the long score, I can see where he is coming from. This is music he loves, and he wants to let his listeners know how and why he loves it.
His choosing “Freischutz” is taking something of a chance, because few operagoers have ever seen a production of that groundbreaking work, and recordings of that opera have never sold in the millions. But there is another point. Hearing Abrams’ 14-minute approach to the work has made me want to hear the original again and possibly appreciate it more than I have in the past.
I read in the material sent to me that Abrams is working on a 40-minute piano treatment of the music from Wagner’s Ring operas. In the past, I have heard too many mostly faithful readings of Wagner’s non-vocal sections like “Siegfried’s Funeral March” and “Magic Fire Music.” What I now crave is an interpretation of this music, already so familiar to me in symphonic and operatic form, by someone like Abrams who can make me see it from another point of view.
So until the day my singing in the shower can inspire people to hear with fresh ears “Mefistofele” or “Sir John in Love,” I have to leave it to people like Daniel Abrams to do it in their own inspired and inspiring way.
Note: For Mr. Abrams’ own feelings about his music, please see his website at http://www.daniel-abrams.com
Art Times HomePage
——————————————————————————–
.
——————————————————————————–
Please note that Daniel Abrams’ “Musical Portraits from Wagner’s ‘Ring'” will be broadcast on “Performance Today” (awaiting exact date). Sonia Sudak
Raymond J. Steiner, Editor • Cornelia Seckel, Publisher
(845) 246-6944 · info@ArtTimesJournal.com
Art Times HomePage
Read other Music essays
Daniel Abrams (photo: Joy Moore)
If Only the Muse Loved Me as I Love Music
By FRANK BEHRENS
ART TIMES December 2008
I recall, as I suppose can many, the days when all recorded music was on 78 rpm discs and most of my favorite tunes were either hard to find or too expensive to purchase. So most of us sang our favorite songs or hummed our favorite opera arias or melodic themes from concertos and symphonies. How pleasant.
Except for one brick wall: I could not sing and even my humming was in the skeleton key—it fit every piece of music I essayed (and assailed). I began to envy musicians, who could simply sit down at the keyboard and dash off anything from a Bach triple fugue to “Take the A train” with no apparent effort.
I did not even dream of the ideal situation that existed for some people like Daniel Abrams. I had never heard of Mr. Abrams until recently, when a resident of Woodstock, NY and reader of Art Times Journal sent me an e-mail that pointed me towards the gentleman. When I responded, she sent me what amounted to a press kit about this pianist.
A New York Times review of a concert he gave in April 1957 calls him “an uncommonly good technician and it goes on to praise his playing of Brahms’ “Handel” Variations as being “not that of technical slickness but of musical expressiveness.” Having been awarded a two-year Fulbright Grant, he studied in London and gave concerts in at least five other European countries, garnering praise as he went along. As he gained more concert experience, he went on to more praise from critics in Canada and the United States.
Abrams’ association with the Woodstock region alone should earn him an essay in this Journal; but that is not really my purpose. My point is that I now have another kind of person whom I can envy!
When the pianoforte was improved to what we are now used to, composers like Franz Liszt made the great melodies from opera accessible to the public by creating transcriptions of many arias for the keyboard. Naturally, he first played them himself at concerts and was admired for “making the piano sing,” as he put it. The melodies were certainly true to what their original composers set onto paper, but more than just a little of Liszt’s genius found its way into the transcribed versions. Now someone like Abrams can carry that concept one step further. In an age when some of the most obscure operas can be found on at least one recording, he has followed his love for certain works to the point where he writes his own arrangements (not quite the same thing as transcriptions) so that his feelings about the piece as well as the original melodic flow can be transmitted to the audience.
My correspondent kindly sent me a CD, now out of print, that Abrams made in 2000. It is called “Fantasie Variations on Tales of Love” and holds three selections: “Fantasie Variations on Richard Wagner’s ‘Tristan und Isolde’,” “Chaconne on Dido’s Lament from Henry Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas’,” and “Fantasia on Carl Maria von Weber’s ‘Der Freischutz’.”
Now there are many symphonic versions of music from “Tristan,” but they usually follow the score note for note, assigning the vocal lines to certain instruments, and do little to interpret Wagner’s music. Listening to Abrams’ 19-minute rendition of his favorite sections from the long score, I can see where he is coming from. This is music he loves, and he wants to let his listeners know how and why he loves it.
His choosing “Freischutz” is taking something of a chance, because few operagoers have ever seen a production of that groundbreaking work, and recordings of that opera have never sold in the millions. But there is another point. Hearing Abrams’ 14-minute approach to the work has made me want to hear the original again and possibly appreciate it more than I have in the past.
I read in the material sent to me that Abrams is working on a 40-minute piano treatment of the music from Wagner’s Ring operas. In the past, I have heard too many mostly faithful readings of Wagner’s non-vocal sections like “Siegfried’s Funeral March” and “Magic Fire Music.” What I now crave is an interpretation of this music, already so familiar to me in symphonic and operatic form, by someone like Abrams who can make me see it from another point of view.
So until the day my singing in the shower can inspire people to hear with fresh ears “Mefistofele” or “Sir John in Love,” I have to leave it to people like Daniel Abrams to do it in their own inspired and inspiring way.
Note: For Mr. Abrams’ own feelings about his music, please see his website at http://www.daniel-abrams.com
Art Times HomePage
——————————————————————————–
.
——————————————————————————–
Please note that Daniel Abrams’ “Musical Portraits from Wagner’s ‘Ring'” will be broadcast on “Performance Today” (awaiting exact date). Sonia Sudak
Raymond J. Steiner, Editor • Cornelia Seckel, Publisher
(845) 246-6944 · info@ArtTimesJournal.com
Art Times HomePage
Read other Music essays
Daniel Abrams (photo: Joy Moore)
If Only the Muse Loved Me as I Love Music
By FRANK BEHRENS
ART TIMES December 2008
I recall, as I suppose can many, the days when all recorded music was on 78 rpm discs and most of my favorite tunes were either hard to find or too expensive to purchase. So most of us sang our favorite songs or hummed our favorite opera arias or melodic themes from concertos and symphonies. How pleasant.
Except for one brick wall: I could not sing and even my humming was in the skeleton key—it fit every piece of music I essayed (and assailed). I began to envy musicians, who could simply sit down at the keyboard and dash off anything from a Bach triple fugue to “Take the A train” with no apparent effort.
I did not even dream of the ideal situation that existed for some people like Daniel Abrams. I had never heard of Mr. Abrams until recently, when a resident of Woodstock, NY and reader of Art Times Journal sent me an e-mail that pointed me towards the gentleman. When I responded, she sent me what amounted to a press kit about this pianist.
A New York Times review of a concert he gave in April 1957 calls him “an uncommonly good technician and it goes on to praise his playing of Brahms’ “Handel” Variations as being “not that of technical slickness but of musical expressiveness.” Having been awarded a two-year Fulbright Grant, he studied in London and gave concerts in at least five other European countries, garnering praise as he went along. As he gained more concert experience, he went on to more praise from critics in Canada and the United States.
Abrams’ association with the Woodstock region alone should earn him an essay in this Journal; but that is not really my purpose. My point is that I now have another kind of person whom I can envy!
When the pianoforte was improved to what we are now used to, composers like Franz Liszt made the great melodies from opera accessible to the public by creating transcriptions of many arias for the keyboard. Naturally, he first played them himself at concerts and was admired for “making the piano sing,” as he put it. The melodies were certainly true to what their original composers set onto paper, but more than just a little of Liszt’s genius found its way into the transcribed versions. Now someone like Abrams can carry that concept one step further. In an age when some of the most obscure operas can be found on at least one recording, he has followed his love for certain works to the point where he writes his own arrangements (not quite the same thing as transcriptions) so that his feelings about the piece as well as the original melodic flow can be transmitted to the audience.
My correspondent kindly sent me a CD, now out of print, that Abrams made in 2000. It is called “Fantasie Variations on Tales of Love” and holds three selections: “Fantasie Variations on Richard Wagner’s ‘Tristan und Isolde’,” “Chaconne on Dido’s Lament from Henry Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas’,” and “Fantasia on Carl Maria von Weber’s ‘Der Freischutz’.”
Now there are many symphonic versions of music from “Tristan,” but they usually follow the score note for note, assigning the vocal lines to certain instruments, and do little to interpret Wagner’s music. Listening to Abrams’ 19-minute rendition of his favorite sections from the long score, I can see where he is coming from. This is music he loves, and he wants to let his listeners know how and why he loves it.
His choosing “Freischutz” is taking something of a chance, because few operagoers have ever seen a production of that groundbreaking work, and recordings of that opera have never sold in the millions. But there is another point. Hearing Abrams’ 14-minute approach to the work has made me want to hear the original again and possibly appreciate it more than I have in the past.
I read in the material sent to me that Abrams is working on a 40-minute piano treatment of the music from Wagner’s Ring operas. In the past, I have heard too many mostly faithful readings of Wagner’s non-vocal sections like “Siegfried’s Funeral March” and “Magic Fire Music.” What I now crave is an interpretation of this music, already so familiar to me in symphonic and operatic form, by someone like Abrams who can make me see it from another point of view.
So until the day my singing in the shower can inspire people to hear with fresh ears “Mefistofele” or “Sir John in Love,” I have to leave it to people like Daniel Abrams to do it in their own inspired and inspiring way.
Note: For Mr. Abrams’ own feelings about his music, please see his website at http://www.daniel-abrams.com
Art Times HomePage
——————————————————————————–
.
——————————————————————————–
Please note that Daniel Abrams’ “Musical Portraits from Wagner’s ‘Ring'” will be broadcast on “Performance Today” (awaiting exact date). Sonia Sudak
Raymond J. Steiner, Editor • Cornelia Seckel, Publisher
(845) 246-6944 · info@ArtTimesJournal.com
Art Times HomePage
Read other Music essays
Daniel Abrams (photo: Joy Moore)
If Only the Muse Loved Me as I Love Music
By FRANK BEHRENS
ART TIMES December 2008
I recall, as I suppose can many, the days when all recorded music was on 78 rpm discs and most of my favorite tunes were either hard to find or too expensive to purchase. So most of us sang our favorite songs or hummed our favorite opera arias or melodic themes from concertos and symphonies. How pleasant.
Except for one brick wall: I could not sing and even my humming was in the skeleton key—it fit every piece of music I essayed (and assailed). I began to envy musicians, who could simply sit down at the keyboard and dash off anything from a Bach triple fugue to “Take the A train” with no apparent effort.
I did not even dream of the ideal situation that existed for some people like Daniel Abrams. I had never heard of Mr. Abrams until recently, when a resident of Woodstock, NY and reader of Art Times Journal sent me an e-mail that pointed me towards the gentleman. When I responded, she sent me what amounted to a press kit about this pianist.
A New York Times review of a concert he gave in April 1957 calls him “an uncommonly good technician and it goes on to praise his playing of Brahms’ “Handel” Variations as being “not that of technical slickness but of musical expressiveness.” Having been awarded a two-year Fulbright Grant, he studied in London and gave concerts in at least five other European countries, garnering praise as he went along. As he gained more concert experience, he went on to more praise from critics in Canada and the United States.
Abrams’ association with the Woodstock region alone should earn him an essay in this Journal; but that is not really my purpose. My point is that I now have another kind of person whom I can envy!
When the pianoforte was improved to what we are now used to, composers like Franz Liszt made the great melodies from opera accessible to the public by creating transcriptions of many arias for the keyboard. Naturally, he first played them himself at concerts and was admired for “making the piano sing,” as he put it. The melodies were certainly true to what their original composers set onto paper, but more than just a little of Liszt’s genius found its way into the transcribed versions. Now someone like Abrams can carry that concept one step further. In an age when some of the most obscure operas can be found on at least one recording, he has followed his love for certain works to the point where he writes his own arrangements (not quite the same thing as transcriptions) so that his feelings about the piece as well as the original melodic flow can be transmitted to the audience.
My correspondent kindly sent me a CD, now out of print, that Abrams made in 2000. It is called “Fantasie Variations on Tales of Love” and holds three selections: “Fantasie Variations on Richard Wagner’s ‘Tristan und Isolde’,” “Chaconne on Dido’s Lament from Henry Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas’,” and “Fantasia on Carl Maria von Weber’s ‘Der Freischutz’.”
Now there are many symphonic versions of music from “Tristan,” but they usually follow the score note for note, assigning the vocal lines to certain instruments, and do little to interpret Wagner’s music. Listening to Abrams’ 19-minute rendition of his favorite sections from the long score, I can see where he is coming from. This is music he loves, and he wants to let his listeners know how and why he loves it.
His choosing “Freischutz” is taking something of a chance, because few operagoers have ever seen a production of that groundbreaking work, and recordings of that opera have never sold in the millions. But there is another point. Hearing Abrams’ 14-minute approach to the work has made me want to hear the original again and possibly appreciate it more than I have in the past.
I read in the material sent to me that Abrams is working on a 40-minute piano treatment of the music from Wagner’s Ring operas. In the past, I have heard too many mostly faithful readings of Wagner’s non-vocal sections like “Siegfried’s Funeral March” and “Magic Fire Music.” What I now crave is an interpretation of this music, already so familiar to me in symphonic and operatic form, by someone like Abrams who can make me see it from another point of view.
So until the day my singing in the shower can inspire people to hear with fresh ears “Mefistofele” or “Sir John in Love,” I have to leave it to people like Daniel Abrams to do it in their own inspired and inspiring way.
Note: For Mr. Abrams’ own feelings about his music, please see his website at http://www.daniel-abrams.com
Art Times HomePage
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Please note that Daniel Abrams’ “Musical Portraits from Wagner’s ‘Ring'” will be broadcast on “Performance Today” (awaiting exact date). Sonia Sudak
Raymond J. Steiner, Editor • Cornelia Seckel, Publisher
(845) 246-6944 · info@ArtTimesJournal.com
Art Times HomePage
Read other Music essays
Daniel Abrams (photo: Joy Moore)
If Only the Muse Loved Me as I Love Music
By FRANK BEHRENS
ART TIMES December 2008
I recall, as I suppose can many, the days when all recorded music was on 78 rpm discs and most of my favorite tunes were either hard to find or too expensive to purchase. So most of us sang our favorite songs or hummed our favorite opera arias or melodic themes from concertos and symphonies. How pleasant.
Except for one brick wall: I could not sing and even my humming was in the skeleton key—it fit every piece of music I essayed (and assailed). I began to envy musicians, who could simply sit down at the keyboard and dash off anything from a Bach triple fugue to “Take the A train” with no apparent effort.
I did not even dream of the ideal situation that existed for some people like Daniel Abrams. I had never heard of Mr. Abrams until recently, when a resident of Woodstock, NY and reader of Art Times Journal sent me an e-mail that pointed me towards the gentleman. When I responded, she sent me what amounted to a press kit about this pianist.
A New York Times review of a concert he gave in April 1957 calls him “an uncommonly good technician and it goes on to praise his playing of Brahms’ “Handel” Variations as being “not that of technical slickness but of musical expressiveness.” Having been awarded a two-year Fulbright Grant, he studied in London and gave concerts in at least five other European countries, garnering praise as he went along. As he gained more concert experience, he went on to more praise from critics in Canada and the United States.
Abrams’ association with the Woodstock region alone should earn him an essay in this Journal; but that is not really my purpose. My point is that I now have another kind of person whom I can envy!
When the pianoforte was improved to what we are now used to, composers like Franz Liszt made the great melodies from opera accessible to the public by creating transcriptions of many arias for the keyboard. Naturally, he first played them himself at concerts and was admired for “making the piano sing,” as he put it. The melodies were certainly true to what their original composers set onto paper, but more than just a little of Liszt’s genius found its way into the transcribed versions. Now someone like Abrams can carry that concept one step further. In an age when some of the most obscure operas can be found on at least one recording, he has followed his love for certain works to the point where he writes his own arrangements (not quite the same thing as transcriptions) so that his feelings about the piece as well as the original melodic flow can be transmitted to the audience.
My correspondent kindly sent me a CD, now out of print, that Abrams made in 2000. It is called “Fantasie Variations on Tales of Love” and holds three selections: “Fantasie Variations on Richard Wagner’s ‘Tristan und Isolde’,” “Chaconne on Dido’s Lament from Henry Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas’,” and “Fantasia on Carl Maria von Weber’s ‘Der Freischutz’.”
Now there are many symphonic versions of music from “Tristan,” but they usually follow the score note for note, assigning the vocal lines to certain instruments, and do little to interpret Wagner’s music. Listening to Abrams’ 19-minute rendition of his favorite sections from the long score, I can see where he is coming from. This is music he loves, and he wants to let his listeners know how and why he loves it.
His choosing “Freischutz” is taking something of a chance, because few operagoers have ever seen a production of that groundbreaking work, and recordings of that opera have never sold in the millions. But there is another point. Hearing Abrams’ 14-minute approach to the work has made me want to hear the original again and possibly appreciate it more than I have in the past.
I read in the material sent to me that Abrams is working on a 40-minute piano treatment of the music from Wagner’s Ring operas. In the past, I have heard too many mostly faithful readings of Wagner’s non-vocal sections like “Siegfried’s Funeral March” and “Magic Fire Music.” What I now crave is an interpretation of this music, already so familiar to me in symphonic and operatic form, by someone like Abrams who can make me see it from another point of view.
So until the day my singing in the shower can inspire people to hear with fresh ears “Mefistofele” or “Sir John in Love,” I have to leave it to people like Daniel Abrams to do it in their own inspired and inspiring way.
Note: For Mr. Abrams’ own feelings about his music, please see his website at http://www.daniel-abrams.com
Art Times HomePage
——————————————————————————–
.
——————————————————————————–
Please note that Daniel Abrams’ “Musical Portraits from Wagner’s ‘Ring'” will be broadcast on “Performance Today” (awaiting exact date). Sonia Sudak
Raymond J. Steiner, Editor • Cornelia Seckel, Publisher
(845) 246-6944 · info@ArtTimesJournal.com
Art Times HomePage
Read other Music essays
Daniel Abrams (photo: Joy Moore)
If Only the Muse Loved Me as I Love Music
By FRANK BEHRENS
ART TIMES December 2008
I recall, as I suppose can many, the days when all recorded music was on 78 rpm discs and most of my favorite tunes were either hard to find or too expensive to purchase. So most of us sang our favorite songs or hummed our favorite opera arias or melodic themes from concertos and symphonies. How pleasant.
Except for one brick wall: I could not sing and even my humming was in the skeleton key—it fit every piece of music I essayed (and assailed). I began to envy musicians, who could simply sit down at the keyboard and dash off anything from a Bach triple fugue to “Take the A train” with no apparent effort.
I did not even dream of the ideal situation that existed for some people like Daniel Abrams. I had never heard of Mr. Abrams until recently, when a resident of Woodstock, NY and reader of Art Times Journal sent me an e-mail that pointed me towards the gentleman. When I responded, she sent me what amounted to a press kit about this pianist.
A New York Times review of a concert he gave in April 1957 calls him “an uncommonly good technician and it goes on to praise his playing of Brahms’ “Handel” Variations as being “not that of technical slickness but of musical expressiveness.” Having been awarded a two-year Fulbright Grant, he studied in London and gave concerts in at least five other European countries, garnering praise as he went along. As he gained more concert experience, he went on to more praise from critics in Canada and the United States.
Abrams’ association with the Woodstock region alone should earn him an essay in this Journal; but that is not really my purpose. My point is that I now have another kind of person whom I can envy!
When the pianoforte was improved to what we are now used to, composers like Franz Liszt made the great melodies from opera accessible to the public by creating transcriptions of many arias for the keyboard. Naturally, he first played them himself at concerts and was admired for “making the piano sing,” as he put it. The melodies were certainly true to what their original composers set onto paper, but more than just a little of Liszt’s genius found its way into the transcribed versions. Now someone like Abrams can carry that concept one step further. In an age when some of the most obscure operas can be found on at least one recording, he has followed his love for certain works to the point where he writes his own arrangements (not quite the same thing as transcriptions) so that his feelings about the piece as well as the original melodic flow can be transmitted to the audience.
My correspondent kindly sent me a CD, now out of print, that Abrams made in 2000. It is called “Fantasie Variations on Tales of Love” and holds three selections: “Fantasie Variations on Richard Wagner’s ‘Tristan und Isolde’,” “Chaconne on Dido’s Lament from Henry Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas’,” and “Fantasia on Carl Maria von Weber’s ‘Der Freischutz’.”
Now there are many symphonic versions of music from “Tristan,” but they usually follow the score note for note, assigning the vocal lines to certain instruments, and do little to interpret Wagner’s music. Listening to Abrams’ 19-minute rendition of his favorite sections from the long score, I can see where he is coming from. This is music he loves, and he wants to let his listeners know how and why he loves it.
His choosing “Freischutz” is taking something of a chance, because few operagoers have ever seen a production of that groundbreaking work, and recordings of that opera have never sold in the millions. But there is another point. Hearing Abrams’ 14-minute approach to the work has made me want to hear the original again and possibly appreciate it more than I have in the past.
I read in the material sent to me that Abrams is working on a 40-minute piano treatment of the music from Wagner’s Ring operas. In the past, I have heard too many mostly faithful readings of Wagner’s non-vocal sections like “Siegfried’s Funeral March” and “Magic Fire Music.” What I now crave is an interpretation of this music, already so familiar to me in symphonic and operatic form, by someone like Abrams who can make me see it from another point of view.
So until the day my singing in the shower can inspire people to hear with fresh ears “Mefistofele” or “Sir John in Love,” I have to leave it to people like Daniel Abrams to do it in their own inspired and inspiring way.
Note: For Mr. Abrams’ own feelings about his music, please see his website at http://www.daniel-abrams.com
Art Times HomePage
——————————————————————————–
.
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