CONTENTSCONGRATULATIONS
TO . . ., 3 LIVE EVENTS Veddy British Music
(Kraft) <> Going Into 'Understated Drive' (Kroll), 6 DOTTED NOTES from … Kraft, Kroll, Greenfest, Hickey, BLC, 16 SPEAKING OUT! Thoughts on the Pulitzer Prize, 17 AN INTERVIEW WITH … David Holzman, 19 THE PRINTED WORD Berger's Reflections (Kraft), 20 THE SCOREBOARD Sperry's Encores (Drogin), 21 RECORDINGSMini but Not Mousy
(Cleary) <> Bell's Echoes of Bela (Cleary) <> Just a Few Will Do (Cleary),
22 RECENT RELEASES, 24 THE PUZZLE CORNER, 25 COMPOSER INDEX, 27 BULLETIN BOARD, 27
WEB SUPPLEMENTA John Adams biography and an interview LIVE EVENTS Boston
Modern Orchestra Project CD REVIEWS Angel
Shadows: Laurel Ann Maurer |
AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID HOLZMANThe pianist in conversation with Bruce Duffie Closely associated with the music of Stefan Wolpe, pianist David Holzman has had much to say about that figure, and so we felt the publication of his interview by Bruce Duffie, in which he talks extensively about Wolpe, would be especially timely. The reader may also refer to our Live Events review, "…and don't forget the publisher." All of this relates to the Wolpe Centennial celebration, now all but over. For the complete interview, log onto <http://www.bruceduffie.com/holzman.html> Hailed as a "master pianist" by Andrew Porter in The New Yorker, David Holzman has won acclaim for his recitals and his recordings. Concentrating his virtuosic talents on the 20th Century's keyboard masterworks, Holzman has premiered more than 150 works by various composers and has made first recordings of many of them. He has performed at festivals throughout the world including Darmstadt, Leningrad Spring, the Vienna Schoenberg Festivals and Wolpe Festivals in Toronto, Northwestern University and New York City. His first solo recording, an LP on the CRI label, included Wolpe's Battle Piece and Displaced Spaces, was called "one of the great piano discs of the decade" by Peter G. Davis in New York Magazine. An active chamber musician, performing with New York's major ensembles under conductors including Gerard Schwarz, Arthur Weisberg and Charles Wuorinen. Holzman is Professor of Piano at C.W.Post Center of Long Island University. Recorded on the Albany, Centaur and Bridge labels, his discography ranges across the twentieth century, featuring works from Schoenberg and Bloch, to Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and Donald Martino, to the younger generation of American composers. His recent all-Wolpe CD on Bridge received a Grammy nomination for best solo album and won the Indy Award for best classical album. During the Wolpe Festival at Northwestern in November of 2001, I had the chance to chat with David Holzman late one evening after a day of lectures and performances. We were speaking of recordings, and that's where we pick up the conversation . . . . . Bruce Duffie: You say the recording will be artistically successful. Is that completely your fault, or have you gotten help from producers and engineers? David Holzman: As a matter of fact, absolutely. The producers were wonderful and the place of the recording was the Masonic Temple in Belgrade, Massachusetts, where the sound was simply fabulous. The actual editing is a more tiring process than the recording, and Matthew Packwood gave me incredible help. BD: Should the editing be so meticulous and so tiring? DH: Yes, because I've been working on this particular CD a year, and I've been working on Wolpe for two decades. I am at this moment at the best I've ever been in my career, and after having something in my head for 20 years I can and should do whatever I please with it. BD: Did Wolpe ask too much of the keyboard artist? DH: I used to think that maintaining the struggle is a sufficient victory. After struggling and overcoming the problems, I would realize that struggle is in no way good enough by itself. I think the listeners will struggle when they hear it but they don't gain anything by hearing a performer struggle. (much more on Bruce Duffie's web site) |