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Absorbing Lessons in Artistry From a Master By MINJU CHOI
Richard Goode is an artist whose mastery on the piano—supported by his amazing
intelligence, picturesque imagination, and pure sincerity—has captivated many
music lovers and musicians around the world. The Times
of London summed up his music well by saying, "Mr. Goode probes the inner
reaches of works by any composer, infusing every measure with the utmost
expressivity, making his musicianship an exciting combination of grandness and
humility, boldness and depth."
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| Helen Huang performed Schubert’s Sonata in A Minor, D. 845, at a master class led by Richard Goode in December.
(Photo by Guy Piddington) |
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In his master class on December 15, 2003, in front of a full house in Morse
Recital Hall, Mr. Goode shared his musical thinking with a kind of gentleness
and poise in his words. After pianist Yalin Chi performed the first two
movements of Beethoven's Sonata in E Major, Op. 109, he congratulated her on a
very beautiful, detailed performance before proceeding to explore the
sensitivities of the sound, color, harmony, and texture in the first movement.
This movement, he explained, can sometimes sound too much like a rhapsody and
requires a clear form and a general shape, especially in the Adagio
espressivo sections. Mr. Goode first discussed in
detail the opening section, pointing out that distinguishing the texture and
the shape between the right hand and the left hand resulted in a delightful
and elegant dialogue. In the Tempo I sections, he emphasized listening and
thinking about the harmonies and playing it as long phrases with no big
pauses, like the end of the movement—which, he said, "arises and arises. It's
a gentle crescendo."
In the next movement, the relentlessness and the sinister quality in the music
were brought out. In the opening of the Prestissimo
movement, said Mr. Goode, the ben marcato
marking indicates a certain kind of touch that needs to be powerful.
But the left-hand octaves in the first few measures present a challenge, he
half-jokingly explained; "on a modern piano, you have to be careful that it
doesn't totally sound like the Wagnerian tubas too much." Delving further into
the movement, he talked about how the music seems to be relentlessly searching
for C major, and it is important to bring out the sinister quality by
dramatizing the music. "Make your ideas as clear as possible," he told the
pianists. "I think mostly we don't make them clear enough. I think we tend to
say 'well, the piece has to go on,' and it does
have to go on. I am not making a case for wrenching it apart." But, he
continued, when there is a moment in the music that requires dramatizing
certain details, one must play it with conviction.
Working with pianist Helen Huang on the first movement of Schubert's Sonata in
A Minor, D. 845, Mr. Goode complimented her playing by saying it was "a very
strong performance and it had many different characters." He then spoke of the
music's relentless quality and the many shadows of sonority, and demonstrated
the differences between whispering and speaking in terms of sound quality. In
the opening lines of the first movement, he explained, it is important to get
the mood and the atmosphere right from the first measure, since it is so
mysterious.
It is Mr. Goode's belief that in many first movements of Schubert's sonatas,
several different related tempos that are
not too far from each other need to be established for the various sections
within the movement. This helps dramatize the changes that occur, such as when
it gets more exciting and quivering in the development section.
Mr. Goode further illuminated the benefits of playing more or less in time yet
with freedom while working with pianist Kimball Gallagher on Chopin's
Polonaise Fantaisie. After congratulating him on a
beautiful and sensitive performance, Mr. Goode warned against isolating
details so much that the music ends up lacking a long and grand line. If the
music is performed with a grand and whole gesture, it is then easier to make
transitions, which amounts to having freedom in a performance. He emphasized
the continuation of motion in this music, and being able to play with color
that is in a vocal range.
As a spectator, one of the things that struck me was how much Mr. Goode's
humbleness as a musician was apparent in the class. He focuses purely on
music, so that the audience is drawn only to the sounds created in the room
instead of the physical presence of a person. Mr. Goode's emphasis on the
various colorful shades of sounds, enabling the performer to bring out so many
different qualities in the music, was truly inspiring. Throughout the entire
master class, he spoke positively and gently to the pianists and addressed
them as artists. Judging from the number of students who attended the master
class (including a number of other instrumentalists), as well as the
enthusiasm and energy that remained in the air afterward, his insights will be
taken to heart by many musicians here. Minju Choi is a master's degree candidate in piano.
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