Red {an orchestra} continued its improvisatory ways. The theme of the concert was immediately apparent as one entered the concert hall. The walls around the outer edge of the stage area were bathed in red lights, adding warmth to the chill of the afternoon. But there, in front of the orchestra seating were three—count 'em—three! shiny black Yamaha concert grand pianos. This is a sight not often seen on concert stages around here, and it sent an extra tingle of anticipation up one’s spine. Jonathan Sheffer, Artistic Director and Conductor programmed three works for piano—from pretty (Mozart) to witty (Saint-Saëns) to dramatic (Prokofiev). Four pianists were required to do justice to this marvelous concept: Sergei Babayan, Christina and Michelle Naughton, and Mr. Sheffer, himself.

The Misses Naughton (identical fifteen-year old twins from Milwaukee, Wisconsin) are students of Mr. Babayan at CIM, and opened the concert by joining with Mr. Sheffer (playing the part of the mother) in Mozart’s elegant and graceful Concerto for Three Pianos, K 242 in F Major, written for a lady and her two daughters. Dressed in identical red gowns, the young ladies were also completely in synch with each other, right down to head and arm movements. They are unquestionably very talented as they demonstrated in the various styles in which they performed during the afternoon.

Then, after one piano was removed from center stage, they were the brilliant co-soloists in Carnival of the Animals by the French composer, Camille Saint-Saëns. Many listeners are familiar with the verses by Ogden Nash that add a sort of verbal cheekiness to the musical sections. Mr. Sheffer thought these were perhaps a bit dated, so he embarked on a web-crawl looking for newer, more appropriate comments to preface the musical descriptions of various animals. Presented in his droll manner, they were indeed entertaining. Among those he quoted were Voltaire, Mark Twain, Emily Dickinson, Maggie Thatcher, Groucho Marx, Henny Youngman, Dmitri Mitropoulos, Oscar Wilde, Jelly Roll Morton and Muhammad Ali.

Animals represented were lions (they roared!); chickens (Thatcher’s comment: Cocks may crow, but hens lay the eggs); horses; tortoise (slow, dreamy music); elephants (gorgeously depicted by the three lady bassists); kangaroo; fish (limpid and languid); donkey (the violins were eloquent in their hee-haws); cuckoo (charming clarinet); birds (gorgeously portrayed by the flute); pianists (playing endless, frustrated scales); fossils (xylophone); swan (the most famous of all the melodies, given a silken rendition by the four cellists); and finally — humans. This is a wonderful piece that benefits greatly from being seen as well as heard. It’s much easier to appreciate the virtuosity of the pianists, to be sure. The young ladies displayed maturity and expressivity along with their capability.

They were given a rousing accolade, and responded with the spirited Scaramouche by the more recent French composer, Darius Milhaud.

After intermission (and the removal of one more piano) Mr. Babayan emerged for the marvelous Fifth Concerto in G Major, Op. 55, of Prokofiev in a splendid and percussive yet thoughtful rendition. Winner of the Cleveland International Piano Competition in 1989, Mr. Babayan stayed here and joined the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music, and has also performed internationally as well.

During his pre-concert talk, Mr. Sheffer commented on the ‘personal touch’—that is, playing music written originally by a composer/pianist for him/herself to play, and bemoaned the fact that no one is doing this today. What a shame that this is so very true. The degree of virtuosity required to satisfactorily perform this particularly unmistakable concerto by Prokofiev gives the listener an added bit of insight to the character and talent of the composer.

As a further innovative touch, a video camera was placed immediately adjacent to the left end of the keyboard, focused entirely on Mr. Babayan’s strong yet elegant hands. The curtains at the rear of the orchestra were opened, and a large screen appeared, allowing everyone in the audience a close-up view of the keyboard. This concerto requires the almost continual collaboration of the soloist, with very few moments of respite. The pianist displayed no nervousness whatever, even when the music was most frenetic, even skittish. Watching the screen could be a distraction, but yet it was fascinating to see the technique so up-close-and-personal. Curved or flat fingers, it mattered not. Mr. Babayan used both styles interchangeably in the brilliant performance.

The final concert by Red {an orchestra}for this season will feature Ethel, the electronic string quartet, on Sat 4/2 at 8PM. Call (440) 519-1733 or visit http://www.redanorchestra.org.

from Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriter@core.com

 (:divend:)