Garrick Ohlsson
Garrick Ohlsson has to be one of today’s most popular and beloved pianists. He has been an international star ever since winning first prize at the prestigious International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1970. And because of that win, Ohlsson has been a favorite son of Poland – the Poles regard him as one of their own and he was the featured performer at numerous concerts in the country two years ago when the world celebrated Frédéric Chopin’s 200th birthday.
But Ohlsson is also a citizen of the world, traveling and concertizing around the globe. And fortunately for Utah Symphony audiences he has made Salt Lake City one of his regular stops over the years.
Ohlsson will be returning to Abravanel Hall this week playing Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat, the so called “Emperor,” in his first ever collaboration with Thierry Fischer. “I’m looking forward to coming back to the Utah Symphony and working with him,” Ohlsson said. (Fischer has also programmed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 and Igor Stravinsky’s Suites Nos. 1 and 2 for Small Orchestra.)
Reichel Recommends caught up with Ohlsson in Indiana where he was going to play the Tchaikovsky B flat minor Concerto with the Indianapolis Symphony under its new music director, 28-year-old Krzysztof Urbanski. In a phone interview a few hours before the performance, Ohlsson gave his take on Beethoven’s “Emperor.” “Although it’s called the ‘Emperor,’ it’s fundamentally lyrical and unfolds at a relaxed pace. It’s very benign and sunny. Beethoven isn’t shaking his fist at the heavens.”
Ohlsson doesn’t see the “Emperor” as a romantic work. “Beethoven helped invent romanticism, but the concerto is definitely classical. It’s not about a personal journey.”
There is a lot in the “Emperor” that appeals to the 63-year-old pianist. He is particularly enamored of the slow movement. “It’s an incredibly inspired piece,” he said. “It foreshadows Chopin and to some degree Weber. The slow movement has a magic ‘night’ feel that romantics loved. It’s a true piece of inspiration.”
Ohlsson has spent quite a bit of time in recent years with Beethoven’s music. Last year he finished recording the complete sonatas, a Herculean task for any pianist. “It’s finally done,” he said .”It was quite a journey.”
In his voluminous output, Beethoven made his mark on three major genres: the symphony, the string quartet and the piano sonata. In each of these one can see his development as a composer – one can clearly grasp where he came from and glimpse into what direction he was headed. “The sonatas give us a complete idea of who Beethoven was,” Ohlsson said. “They tell you about him and about the developments he pushed.”
When Ohlsson started recording some of Beethoven’s sonatas he hadn’t planned on doing a complete cycle. “That was with Arabesque Records. I had just done a complete Chopin series for them and hadn’t planned on doing a complete Beethoven.” During the recording sessions his relationship with Arabesque changed and he left and signed on with Bridge Records. “I bought the rights and masters from Arabesque and Bridge reissued them,” Ohlsson said. Then he went ahead and finished the project.
This season and the next, Ohlsson will be focusing a lot of his energy on the music of Franz Liszt, who was born 200 years ago this year. He plans to do a lot of recitals that highlight the great Hungarian composer/pianist, and he recently released a disc with two huge works: the “Fantasie und Fuge über den Choral Ad Nos, Ad Salutarem Undam” and the B minor Sonata. “I’m very proud of this album. This is music that is close to my heart. I consider Liszt one of the greatest of the 19th century composers. His B minor Sonata is his most serious work and a masterpiece. You can say that Liszt certainly defines what romanticism is.”
(Please click http://www.reichelrecommends.com/?p=1512 for a review of Ohlsson’s Beethoven album and http://www.reichelrecommends.com/?p=1516 for a review of the Liszt.)
CONCERT INFO:
Location: Austad Auditorium, Val A. Browning Center, Weber State University
Time and Date: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 22
Tickets: $16-$36
Phone: 801-399-9214
ALSO:
Location: Abravanel Hall
Time and Date: 8 p.m. Sept. 23-24
Tickets: $15-$65 ($5 higher when purchased on day of performance)
Phone: 801-355-2787 or 888-451-2787
Web: www.utahsymphony.org