A delightful Viennese evening with Sassmann

By Jim Read

JAKARTA (JP): Albert Sassmann, a 30-year-old Austrian pianist from Linz, promised a Viennese evening for his recital on Friday night at Erasmus Huis in South Jakarta. It was one of the final musical events in JakArt@2001, the international arts and culture festival which ran through the month of June.

The event was well attended, considering the relatively early (for Jakarta) start time of 7:30 p.m., although many people arrived late and had to sneak in during the applause after the first item.

Sassmann is one of Europe's up-and-coming concert pianists who, with the benefit of a classical music education, has already won a clutch of awards and prizes from national and international piano competitions. He has performed extensively in Europe and further afield, but this was his first trip as a professional to the southern hemisphere.

He put great thought into designing a program that would explore the Viennese musical tradition, and in particular the waltz, from various perspectives, and which took the appreciative audience on both a fascinating and exciting journey of discovery.

As his repertoire specializes in the music of the Viennese Classic, French Impressionism and the Viennese School (the latter pioneered by Schoenberg in the early part of the last century), he had a natural empathy for what he had chosen to perform. Furthermore, his familiarity with the Impressionists also means that he is no stranger to gamelan music, as many of the figures from that era had a fascination with it, and sometimes incorporated pastiches of it into their compositions.

Someone (presumably JakArt) had not produced a written program for the benefit of the audience, so this provided Sassmann with an opportunity to give a very brief "thumbnail sketch" about each piece before playing it, something that helped enormously to develop an instant rapport between him and his listeners.

The recital opened with Sonata in F major KV 332 by Mozart, a piece which Sassmann referred to as having "a bright and sunny atmosphere". It was encouraging to observe that the audience was well-mannered (and musically educated) enough not to applaud between movements, a habit that can be very disruptive when listening to live performances of multi-movement pieces of music.

The final movement, full of fast, running passages, had all the passion and exuberance of some of Beethoven's piano works, and, in a way, anticipated him. Sassmann's articulation and subtle control of the sustaining pedal were demonstrated very effectively here.

The first half ended with a transcription by F. Grunted of the waltz Voices of Spring by Johann Strauss the younger. This is an example of the genre par excellence, complete with "oom-pah-pah" rhythm and a melody that encapsulates everything that was suave, urbane and elegant about Vienna in the 19th century. The atmosphere of the New Year's Day concerts from Vienna's Musikverien, with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Willy Boskovsky, was also brought to mind by Sassmann's spirited interpretation.

The second part of the recital explored the idea of the Viennese waltz as seen by other composers. By now, the audience had thoroughly warmed to Sassmann, and it appreciated the great delicacy of expression that was evident in his playing of Schubert's Soiree de Vienne IV, as transcribed by Liszt.

A piece very well known to lovers of "salon" music followed: Liebeslied (Love's Sorrow) by Fritz Kreisler, but transcribed by Rachmaninov. This, of all the works performed at the recital, explored the essence of Viennese romanticism to the full. Yet here, the full-blown romanticism of the Russian, coupled with his inimitable, and instantly recognizable pianistic style was exploited to great effect by the young Austrian.

"Now you've heard a Russian version of the waltz, it's time for an Italian one," were the introductory remarks before we were presented with the Viennese rhapsody Alt Wien Op 30 by Castelnuovo-Tedesco. This was a piece that turned out to be a rather satirical, latter day observation of 19th century Viennese society, played with suitable panache by Sassmann.

Ravel's La Valse - Poeme choregraphique marked the high point of the program, and was the last item in the formal part of the recital. This showy piece, full of orchestral effects, arpeggios and glissandi, presents a formidable technical challenge to even the most accomplished of pianists, and it was given both stylish and bravura treatment in this performance. Here, Ravel has imbued the waltz with unmistakable French elegance, but within a quintessentially impressionistic framework. This was interpreted with great sympathy and rightly drew a tumultuous reaction from the audience at the end.

It was inevitable that at least one encore would follow, and, in fact, we were treated to two. A "lollipop" of a piece (as in the "lollipops" that Vladimir Horowitz, one of Sassmann's pianistic heroes, used to play at the end of his recitals) came first. This was a scherzo by Henk Badings, a Dutch composer (chosen out of respect for the venue) who was born in Bandung and it was greatly appreciated.

Sassmann ended with Beethoven's Fur Elise: what student of the piano has learnt this familiar old standard and managed not to produce a hackneyed version of it? In Sassmann's hands its elegant simplicity shone through like early morning sunlight, and this was clearly recognized in the applause of the numerous amateur pianists in the audience who had listened intently.