Pianist, organist and conductor Wayne Marshall will be performing Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F and Borodin’s Symphony No. 2 at the Manoel Theatre. He expresses his connection with the two works to Denise Azzopardi and explains the challenges that both pose for the performer.
What is the reason behind your choice of these two works? Are there any similarities between the two and what is your connection with them?
It is always nice when I can choose the programme pieces. I don’t have such a great piano repertoire, unfortunately. I’m a pianist, but I’m also a concert organist, so that’s where my repertoire really is. But I play all the works by George Gershwin, which is something I started to do when I was at school, so it’s very natural for me to sit down and play or direct them.
His Piano Concerto in F was written in 1925 and it was commissioned by Walter Damrosch, a New York impresario who, after having heard Gershwin’s new Rhapsody in Blue one year earlier, wanted him to write a work in a kind of classical manner, although Gershwin is mainly a jazz composer.
The second piece, which is Borodin’s Symphony No. 2, is also great. I love it and first got to know about the symphony when I was at school in Manchester in the 1970s. I actually played the timpani section of the work first, so that’s how I got introduced to it and I’ve conducted it a number of times.
They’re both very good pieces and, when I try to select music that is going to be enjoyed by the audience, I tend to be free with my choice.
Some people like to make a kind of relationship between two works that make up a programme, according to the year they were written or the occasion. But I tend to choose music that I like and which I think would fit the rest of the programme.
How do these works compare?
These are two very different pieces of music. One is a piano concerto written in the 20th century and the other is a 19th-century Russian work from the Romantic period written by a composer who was also a full-time chemist. Borodin wrote music that was very lyrical and is renowned for his opera Prince Igor, which is most popular because it has a lot of music that is played independently such as the Polovtsian Dances.
Are there any challenging passages for the soloist in Gershwin’s piano concerto?
The whole work is challenging and, in this case, I’m not only a soloist but also a conductor, which is very challenging in itself, as I also have to direct the orchestra. But this is something that I’ve been doing for many years, so I’ve found a way of doing it that works.
There are some bits that I have to leave out as I’d need to concentrate on conducting the orchestra at that time – for example, in some of the bits where the piano features together with the orchestra. But I play most of the work anyway. It is interesting to note that all the Gershwin works lend themselves to not having to be directed by a conductor.
How are you preparing for the execution and conducting of these works?
My job is to tie everything together. I know these pieces inside out, so I know where all the problematic areas are and what must be dealt with. We’ve got quite a bit of rehearsal time with the orchestra, so that’s good and I rehearse in a very intense and detailed way. Therefore, I have no doubt we’ll get through the challenging elements of the pieces, namely the jazzy nature of the Gershwin work that has really got to be brought out.
Can you pinpoint any striking elements in the two pieces of music?
The striking element for the piano concerto is the jazz element and it is very important to try and get that across to the orchestra. The rhythmic aspects of this work are quite difficult and the style of the piece has got to feel jazzy, but we get these elements all right thanks to the rehearsals.
The Borodin symphony also has challenges, especially the second movement, which is quite demanding for the horns because they have a lot of repeated notes and it’s also rhythmically quite challenging for the whole orchestra.
This concert forms part of a series of three piano concertos to be held at the Manoel Theatre and takes place on Friday at 8pm. Tickets are available by sending an e-mail to bookings@teatrumanoel.com.mt, by calling on 2124 6389 or online.
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