A delightful Viennese evening with Sassmann

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.