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| post | Classical Thunder [Mozart, Liszt] |
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2021-09-04 22:09:00 +0200 |
My favorite streaming service (Primephonic) was bought by Apple, declaring imminent shutdown. Naturally, I switched to Apple's platform ready to be all condenscending, when it immidiately suggested one of my favorites - Mozart's 20th piano concerto (K466, in D Minor) brilliantly performed by Seong-Jin Cho.
On the 3rd or 4th listen within that week (I really like that piece), Mozart's brilliant capacity for classical thunder struck me - not dissimilar to a solo on a Rock/Punk/Metal piece. Sure, it takes it much more time to get there, but Mozart gets seriously intense. It's odd to think about it, but I feel like today's musical ' hooks ' as they are called have clearly existed that far back - listen to how the opening grips you!
Another thing that listening to Mozart always makes me think is how alien his music feels compared to... most everyone else really. Listening to Beethoven, for example (including the sonatas I mention earlier), I feel like I have a pretty good idea of how he felt when writing them - I often stop at a particular phrase thinking 'Who pissed ya off, Ludvig?'.
Most other Romantic composers I enjoy listening to share this trait - Tchaikovski in particular really bleeds out his soul for you (The fourth symphony's second movements and the piano trio's first are my favorite examples of this), while even in Brahms' more restrained music you can feel the underlying emotional currents (think about the yearning in his 4th symphony, and the lonesome sighs of the Clarinet in his Clarinet Quintet).
But Mozart?
You're chilling and your room and... What exactly do you have to feel to craft something as elaborate, as specific (though not any less intense or passionate) as the 20th concert, or the 40th symphony?
I've only found this alien aspect in one other composer so far - Franz Liszt. Another of the pieces suggested was Liszt's amazing Piano Sonata (S178, in B minor) - which is one of the most unique pieces I've ever heard. It's starkly different from other piano sonatas I know - I remember listening to it the first time and feeling profoundly confused. It felt like an erratic, show off piece. But after finally stomaching it after a few listens, it suddenly revealed it self as carefully, elegantly structured - there's definetly something organized going on here which I can't grasp.
It is however, quite mad - phrases are intense, sporadic, and very virtousic. At times it feels almost random, but always circles back and finds itself. I can't think of another piece that makes me feel the same way.
This time around, I heard Khatia Buniatshvilli's performance - which I was very glad to find, since her Rachmanninof performances are amongst my favorites. I've heard quite a few performers tackle this unique piece (first by Benjamin Grosevener, followed by Marhta Argerich and Krystian Zimerman, all stunning reneditions), and Khatia's differs from them greatly. Benjamin's is very technical, and precise, while Khatia flows with strong emotions - Virtuosic phrases are played with an even faster tempo than called for (!), and then rumble and die down amongst themselves, notes intertwining yet never lost, finally faltering almost to a whisper - uttered softly on the piano. It's an unbelieveable performance for an intese piece of music.
And just like with Mozart, I have absolutely no idea what does one have to feel to construct something as crafted, as mysterious, as that sonata. Liszt had also worked on it for a long time (unlike Mozart churned them out pretty quickly), so whatever it is he felt has been laying around there for a good while.
One of the most gratifying experiences I have while listening to classical is experiencing both of these things - an intense, unexpected crescendo in an awe-inspiring piece. For once, I feel like not fully-understanding these pieces help bring out just how brilliant they are, and how enriching.