NEW
BEDFORD STANDARD TIMES – April 1, 2006
New
Bedford Symphony, David MacKenzie (conductor), Clipper Erickson
(piano), Prokofiev: Symphony no. 1, Mozart: Piano
Concerto No. 21 in C major, Beethoven: Symphony No. 7.
Zeiterion Theater
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Under new maestro, the NBSO still shines
By John Atkinson, Standard-Times correspondent
The frosting on the cake was the performance by the guest piano soloist,
Clipper Erickson, of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major. Here
again the audience couldn't contain its enthusiasm, applauding after
each of the work's three movements. In this, his second appearance
with the NBSO, he again displayed an incredible mastery of his instrument.
After waiting for the completion of a rather long prelude, the rippling
effect he created with his uncanny fingering carried over from his
first interlude of playing without the orchestra's very hushed backup
to the last. From my vantage point it was breathtaking to watch his
changes in modulation from almost a whisper to the very firm. Every
note was clear as a bell. Even conductor MacKenzie looked on in awe
whenever Erickson played on his own.
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AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE – May-June
2006
Erickson plays with a wonderful clarity and sense of
style. The
spectrum of music represented here makes that demand. To capture
the peculiar grain of each composer’s voice means going beyond
the notes. It is not too far a jump from the dreamy romantic
sound of Amy Beach’s ‘Ballad’ to the Scriabinesque
pieces of Griffes. These are favorites of mine and compare well
with the four wonderful releases of Griffes’s piano music by
James Tocco. Erickson creates a mesmerizing atmosphere here.
But the journey is father to Fats Waller’s rag, James Johnson’s
casual ‘Casual Shout’, the tart, driving Toccata by Roy
Harris, and certainly to George Crumb’s piano sound in his Little
Suite for Christmas (1979). In all cases, he sounds utterly
at ease and at home.
Copland’s Four Piano Blues are
perhaps the best known pieces here and hence are a good measure of
Erickson’s wonderful
sense of style. What a pleasure. The clarity with which
he shapes phrases and leads the ear suggests that he thinks and interprets
like a composer. For instance, in the opening of the Crumb, his
clusters are never just clusters. They are voiced to bring out the
color of the instrument. And he creates larger gestures. The
effects he achieves are quite stunning.
Daniel Barta’s five-movement Suite,
dating from 2001, is the most recent music here. The outer movements
have a relentless quality. The driving, motive opening, with its irregular
accents and piquant dissonances is followed by a Hindemithian little
piece. The
middle movement, by its length, centers the weight of the set. Its
melody leads into dreamier territory even though it has an undercurrent
of understated agitation. Lovely. The push returns in the
final two movements. Barta is lucky to have an eloquent spokesman
in Erickson.
I would acquire this release for the Griffes, the Copland, the Crumb
and to become acquainted with Erickson’s piano playing. And
I would seek out other releases by this pianist. He is an intelligent
and sensitive musician.
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