A Master Class On Mozart By Gilbert Kalish

Thursday, April 27, 2000

Since several of you here responded on the topic of playing Mozart, I thought it would be good to share a little of what my son and I learned while observing a Mozart master class last week at the Boston Conservatory.

The class given by Gilbert Kalish. He served as Faculty Chairman 1985-1997 at Tanglewood and is Professor and Head of Performance Activities at SUNY/Stony Brook. The lesson was an all-Mozart critique with three students each performing a different piece.

Kalish explained that the difficulty in performing Mozart lies in the complex subtleties within his work. Mozart did write his pieces for the instruments that were available at that time, and within that vernacular, produced melody lines of incredible beauty that require a great deal of control on the part of the performer. Mozart is not 'show-offy'. There is no opportunity for high drama or effusive emoting to play up on. Rather, one has to stand back and 'tell a story', weave in variety in playing to make it compelling to listen to.

Playing Mozart well requires restraint, and yet it has to be done artfully, to bring out its inherent wit and magic. Kalish said that by performing Mozart, you find out just how accomplished a pianist (I think he also meant ARTIST, as opposed to technician) you really are.

All the students played very musically and competently. The first player inserted some 'high drama' to some chords - which he said was inappropriately LOUD. Then he demonstrated how to accentuate without being simply loud, and make a beautiful sound.

Oh, I should mention the students performed on a Steinway D, and it sounded marvelously velvety. You could really hear the potential of the instrument when Kalish performed the same phrase in different ways, different accentuations. What an instrument!

The second player was technically perfect, and that was the problem, Kalish said. He could 'hear' the metronome! He demonstrated ways for the player to relax more, and put forth a more spontaneous-sounding result.

The third player brought out much of the pretty musicality of Mozart. Kalish suggested not doing it so evenly, save those beautiful accents for the best parts.

In each instance, Kalish would play passages that each student played, demonstrating different approaches to avoid, and preferable ones.

It was a fascinating lesson not only in piano playing but in appreciating what makes Mozart so unique!

Incidentally, Kalish gave his own recital the following night. Here's the program:

Charles Ives Three-Page Sonata (1905)

Aaron Copland Piano Variations (1930)

Weber Fantasia (1958)

Shapey Passacaglia for Piano Duo One Player (1997)

Intermission, and THEN:

All 24 Chopin Preludes!!!!

I'm exhausted!

In the formative stages of my own development as a pianist, Mozart comprised a pretty good chunk of my repertoire. But honestly I think I must be able to play Mozrt better since I started playing more Chopin. Vladimir Horowitz made mention a few times of the connection between the two. Come to think of it, Chopin recognized Mozart as one of his many inspirations.

The Copland Piano Variations is quite a piece. I heard it played by William Massalos in San Francisco when I was in my teens. More pianists should attempt to play this set of variations as they are concise and demanding, There's also something about them that reminds me of the emotional depth of the Great Depression. I've always wondered whether this was merely incidental or intentional.