Article Contributed on: 5/7/2009 1:20:44 PM
Wednesday night, May 6, the Friends of Chamber Music presented a truly wonderful concert given by Julia Fischer, violin, and Milana Chernyavska, piano. Please note that I said Julia Fischer and Milana Chernyavska. And, therein lies the reason for this review of a review.
In Thursday's (May 7, 2009) Denver Post, Kyle MacMillan's review of this concert appeared. Ninety-eight percent of the review concerned Julia Fischer and one tiny paragraph was about Milana Chernyavska. Kyle MacMillan has relegated the pianist to an unequal partner in this concert when, if he were a musician, he would understand that the performance of a violin and piano sonata means that the piano and violin are equal partners. The pianist is not just an accompanist. The program could well have been listed as a recital with Milan Chernyavska, piano, and Julia Fischer, violin. If Mr. McMillan had looked carefully at the program, he would have noticed that Julia Fischer's name and Milana Chernyavska's name were in the same size type. Not only that, but every work on the program was listed as a sonata for violin and piano. That is because they are equal partners.
The Sonata form evolved as an architectural and harmonic form from the Baroque and reached its fruition in the Classical period. It is a very versatile form, and even though it is changed from work to work even by the same composer, its overall structure it is roughly the same even through the 20th (21st) century. When one goes to hear a string quartet, that is a sonata for four performers. When one goes to hear a symphony, that is a sonata for (usually) forty to eighty performers. A Sonata can be three movements or four movements, and there are some by Haydn and by Beethoven that are two movements. The name of the Sonata comes from its first movement, which has the form called sonata allegro. I will not go into the details of the form for all three or four movements, but it would be very nice if Kyle MacMillan knew enough about music to give the pianist Milana Chernyavska her rightful place, not only in his review but take a cue from the program as well. In addition, Chernyavska is just as well known as Julia Fischer.
But I must say, that in his error, he was not alone. During the intermission, I overheard conversations all around me discussing how beautifully the "accompanist" played. But these are typical concertgoers who appreciate and love music, but who do not understand that in a sonata the pianist is an equal partner. I would say to them, look at the program -- it says "Sonata for Violin and Piano." Without being condescending, this misunderstanding may be quite acceptable because most concertgoers do not have degrees in music or an appropriate understanding of the music that they love so much. Usually, when the pianist plays with a choir, they are accompanying -- but that's not always the case either. But certainly when one hears a sonata for violin and piano, a sonata for clarinet and piano, or a sonata for cello and piano, the two instruments are equal. If a pianist performs a concerto, then the orchestra is an equal partner; there is an interchange of all the themes between the two instruments. And by the way, a concerto is also a sonata form.
But I have to point out, that in her opening remarks before the concert, Kathy Newman, the president of the Friends of Chamber Music, introduced only Julia Fischer and not Milana Chernyavska. That truly was a serious error. If one is president of so fine a musical organization, then it behooves one to know something about music, or at least be able to read the program so as to see that it says sonata for violin and piano. After all, that is what all of these composers put as the title for their composition. Perhaps the FCM should have a musician, or someone familiar with the musical arts on the board. If the performers had been Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax, would Emanuel Ax have been omitted in the introduction?
It does not matter one bit if Julia Fischer was the headliner for the concert. Certainly the printed program was accurate in giving both musicians equal billing, and certainly Milana Chernyavska's musicianship and artistry does not deserve second place. In addition, it might be worth pointing out that when a singer performs Schubert, Ravel, Strauss, or Wolf songs, the pianist is an equal. These composers wrote specifically for that equality. It is not a simple matter of being courteous.