Report and Review: Piano "Salons" at Friends University

On Friday and Saturday, January 30 and 31, my sister and I attended two well-designed and performed piano recitals at Friends University: "Music of the Night" on Friday and "Songs without Words" on Saturday. 

The first featured Dr. Nathanael May, Fine Arts Division Chair and Professor of Music and three local, young pianists (two 8th graders and one high school sophomore). The younger soloists performed three of the better known Nocturnes by Chopin (No. 2 from Opus 9, No. 20 in C# minor and No. 21, in C minor, both published posthumously). Dr. May asked their piano teachers to stand and be recognized as did Dr. Knight on Saturday!

Dr. May offered biographical details on the composers whose works he performed, provided background on their composition, and gave some hints for our listening appreciation: Anis Fuleihan from Cyprus (Twilight Mood from 1940); Petite Serenade, Op. 41 by Eduard Schutt; Le Chreche by Idisor Philipp; one of the Kinderszenen of Robert Schumann, (Kind im Einschlummern); a Nocturne by Valeri Zhelobinsky, and several others: Debussy, Scriabin, Borodin, Respighi, and Jeff Manookian, all compositions related to the night. On a dark, cold winter night, the setting in the spare Quaker Chapel in the Riney Fine Arts Center was so appropriate. Dr. May wished that the fire place would have been working to add to the salon ambiance.

One of the composers I wanted to research after the concert was Jeff Manookian (1953-2021). He was represented by four of his 1993 Nocturnes. When Dr. May introduced them he mentioned that one would think the composer should be famous, given his resume. Here's an obituary. Albany Records has recorded some of his works.

Then on Saturday night, at an earlier hour, we attended Dr. James Knight's piano recital with operatic and other vocal works--including a Sonata-form medley of songs by The Beatles--but no Mendelssohn (by either Felix or Fanny)!. Three of the works Dr. Knight performed, based on Puccini's La Boheme, Strauss's Salome, and A Beatles Sonata, were all his arrangements, and they were marvelous.

His Fantasy on Themes of La Boheme had me in the opera house as Rodolfo, Mimi, and Musetta were singing--and I cried as if Mimi had died in the garret. He also played an arrangement of the "Dance of the Blessed Spirits" from Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice by Giovanni Sgambati (I really wanted to hear "Che farò senza Euridice?", but Sgambati didn't include that).

When Dr. Knight introduced A Beatles Sonata, he commented that he was using Frederic Chopin's Sonata form when he composed the three movements, Allegro, Andante, and Rondo with famous tunes by the Beatles (Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starkey). I'd like to find out more about what differentiates Chopin's Sonata form, but what I've found on-line is too complicated for me.

As on Friday night, three students performed: two with a Russian Theme for Four Hands by Sergei Rachmaninoff (Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 11, No. 3) and the third with "Song of Storms" by Koji Kondo, which is "from the video game series The Legend of Zelda"!

One of the students performing the Rachmaninoff is from my parish, Blessed Sacrament!

Over the years, I've enjoyed these great programs at Friends University: their Faculty Fanfare concerts, operas, Tower Wind Quintet concerts, jazz ensembles, etc. They've been enlightening and entertaining.