By their very nature, these "scenes" (two soliloquies by Hamlet, the other Ophelia's mad scene with her brother in observance) challenge both the performer and listener to jump into an action out of context. The texts are longer than sonnets, but still so brief that by the time the listener has gotten in the proper frame of mind, the work is over. It might have been a better introduction to his music had Summer either prepared the audience a bit more with a few sonnets, which are by nature more self contained, or verbally introduced these scenes either in program notes or through brief remarks.
Stylistically, Summer is a kindred spirit to the late Benjamin Britten, especially the operatic Britten. His works have a tonal focus and his accompaniments are highly atmospheric, borrowing technique from much more Romantic and common practice music. In this way, Summer is in the mainstream of serious composition as not only an aesthetic rebel but also an heir. His voice parts are completely at the liberty of his interpretation of the declamation of the text. He employs "text painting" as a means of expression in a manner that goes out of the way to avoid melodic formulae.
The texts he chose were probably among the more challenging. The "To Be or Not to Be" soliloquy is one of the most profound and challenging spoken scenes in dramatic literature, and the translation of it into music is a daunting task. It is unfortunate that this work was not repeated as an encore. It deserves more than one listening. Summer's interpretation of the Ophelia scene, "They Bore Him Barefaced on the Bier," was haunting and disturbing, which is to say quite successful.
Artists of exceptional caliber
The performers gathered for the evening by the composer are all superb musicians. They approached his works with seriousness and conviction. Throughout the rest of the program, they would make it clear just how fortunate he is to have artists of their caliber as vehicles for his work.
Miroslav Sekera is an awesome talent. As both a solo performer and accompanist, he is absolutely amazing. The rather abused and beaten Weber baby grand at the Ritz was never treated so well and produced sounds of such beauty that it must have surprised itself. Sekera has a soaring international career and is someone to watch. We got to hear him "when."
He opened the evening with the ever popular Chopin "Polonaise in A flat, Opus 53." His playing went 'way beyond panache. He captured the "dance" nature of the form and established tempo relationships between the rather episodic sections of the work, giving the piece a cohesion and freshness which is rare. It was just the first of many epiphanies he would provide. His rendering of Franz Liszt's "Rigoletto Paraphrase" was an astounding display of sensitive use of touch to bring out different textures and colors on the instrument. His "singing" lines just seemed to rise from a web of ethereal sound.
page 1 | page 2 | page 3
