Adam Kent - Summit Music Festival

[Donald Isler]

Adam Kent, Pianist
Lecture-Recital
Summit Music Festival
Thornwood, New York
August 3rd, 2021

Falla: El Sombrero de Tres Picos
Danza del Molinero

Mompou: Canciones y Danzas
No. 1
No. 6

Soler: Keyboard Sonata in D Minor, R. 15
Keyboard Sonata in D Major, R. 84

Halffter: Danza de la Pastora

Albéniz: Córdoba (from Cantos de España)
Evocación (from Iberia, Book 1)
El Puerto (from Iberia, Book 1)
Seguidillas (from Cantos de España)

Granados: Escenas Romanticas
Mazurka
El Pelele

(Encore)

Debussy La Puerta del Vino


Adam Kent is a terrific pianist whose teachers included Solomon Mikowsky and Jerome Lowenthal. He received his D.M.A. from Juilliard, where his dissertation was "The Use of Catalan Folk Materials in the Works of Federico Mompou and Joaquin Nin-Culmell". So it's not surprising that he has a great enthusiasm for Spanish music. In these days of Covid, it was delightful to take a musical trip to the Iberian Peninsula! His comments about the history of Spanish musical nationalism, and about the various composers, were enlightening.

We were told that the Miller's Dance (Danza del Molinero) of Falla, which began the program, was a farruca, a form of flamenco music which is an imitation of the strumming and plucking of a guitar. It was both passionate and whimsical.

In the first of the Canciones y Danzas (Songs and Dances) of Mompou, the Song had a sultry theme, caused, in part, by the seventh step of the scale sometimes being raised, sometimes lowered. The Dance was a bit faster. This was followed by the sixth piece of the cycle, which Mompou dedicated to Arthur Rubinstein. In E Minor, and influenced by music from the West Indies it was mournful, but then followed by a Dance which was wild and playful.

Next, came two sonatas by Padre Antonio Soler who, yes, was a priest. He wrote about 150 keyboard sonatas and was probably familiar with, and influenced by Domenico Scarlatti, whose sonatas (of which there are 555!) they resemble. The first sonata Adam Kent played was haughty by nature at the beginning, and featured tricky Scarlatti-like cross hands writing. There were many shadings in Kent's performance. The other sonata was charming and frilly, with fast sections of repeated notes. Here, again, Kent displayed many tonal subtleties.

The Dance of the Shepherdess (Danza de la Pastora) of Ernesto Halffter, a student of Falla, was written in 1927, and Kent described its style as neo-classical. Not at all rustic in nature, it sounded quite sophisticated, energetic, and had quirky harmonies. Adam Kent added that he has recorded the complete piano works of Halffter.

Kent told us that Albéniz' late style, including Iberia, was influenced by French Impressionism, and added that French composers were also influenced by Spanish art and music. The four Albéniz works were played in the order listed above, with two pieces from the first book of Iberia sandwiched between two of the Cantos de España.

Córdoba started with slow chords, and a "religious" feel, though it later became faster. Evocación was sensitive, introspective, and very expressive. El Puerto was lively, with accents, and fast repeated chords. Seguidillas sounded like a wild, joyous celebration.

The Granados Mazurka was very enjoyable, but, except for some of the rhythms, sounded quite Spanish, not like a mazurka. El Pelele (the name referring to a colorful tapestry design) was fast, loud, sometimes LOUDER, and spirited, featuring rapid scales and other flourishes.

Though Kent did not play any parts of Granados' Goyescas (except while warming up before the program) he told the story of the tragic fate of Granados and his wife. Goyescas was originally a piano work, but the composer was talked into turning it into an opera. He and his wife came to New York in 1916 (ie. during World War I) for the opera's New York premiere. They were booked for a return voyage when President Woodrow Wilson invited them to the White House. It was on the trip back across the Atlantic that the ship to which they had changed their booking was attacked by a German U-Boat, and they drowned.

As an encore, Adam Kent played Debussy's La Puerta del Vino, which, he said, describes a gateway into the Alhambra Palace, and has an exotic flavor. Returning to the subject of French/Spanish cultural cross-pollination, Kent said that Debussy loved Spanish music, but is known to have spent a total of only two hours in Spain, when he once crossed the border to meet someone for lunch!

After the concert, the pianist gave the audience an opportunity to ask questions.

Adam Kent is a pianist who plays with great energy, control, imagination, and mastery of the music. This program was a real pleasure, musically and intellectually!

Donald Isler