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‘Carter in Context’ - Carter and Bach: Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano), Zankel Hall, New York City, 5.2.2009 (BH)

Bach: Canons Nos. 1 and 2 from The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080 (1742-1749)
Carter: Two Diversions (1999)
Bach: "Rectus Inversus" No. 12 from The Art of Fugue
Carter: Night Fantasies (1980)
 [intermission]
Bach: Canons Nos. 4 and 3 from The Art of Fugue
Carter: Retrouvailles (2000)
Carter: Matribute (2007)
Carter: 90+ (1994)
Bach: "Rectus Inversus" No. 13 from The Art of Fugue
Bach: Fuga a tre soggetti (unfinished) No. 14 from The Art of Fugue
Carter: Intermittences (2005)
Carter: Caténaires (2006)


At the moment, pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard is the King of High Concept Piano Playing.  I can think of no other pianist with his abilities who matches his programming risks, and here was a perfect example in an evening interweaving portions of Bach's The Art of Fugue with some of Elliott Carter's most commanding solo piano works (see exact program order above).  If ultimately the experiment didn't quite pay off as we all perhaps hoped, still, Aimard aims high, and usually succeeds.  Here I didn't always sense that the two composers really "talked to each other" as fluidly as one might have expected, but there were still payoffs from the interesting juxtapositions.

Sure enough, the opening lines in Carter's Two Diversions seemed to echo the Bach Canons Nos. 1 and 2 that came before.  Then following the Carter, Bach's "Rectus Inversus" No. 12 seemed almost chaste.  After this, the first dense chord of Carter's Night Fantasies came as a shock, not to mention the change in volume levels, along with the spectacle of watching Aimard's hands flying seemingly in five places at once.  As of this date the pianist has worked up Carter's nocturnal musings to a very high level, and this potent essay might have been the highlight of the evening. 

After intermission, Bach's Canons 3 and 4 sounded pristine, a spiritual mate to Carter's clarity.  But then came Carter's Retrouvailles, written for Pierre Boulez and buzzing with animation and Matribute (for James Levine), which ends with a blizzard of notes.  To complete the trio, Aimard turned to a tribute to Georgio Petrassi called 90+, followed by the merry skipping of Bach's "Rectus Inversus" No. 13. 

In an interesting move, Aimard's final Bach segment was the Fuga a tre soggetti (unfinished) No. 14, as solemn as a court summons, yet as simple as a child's utterance.  Then without a pause, he launched Carter's dazzling Intermittences, answering Bach's incomplete thought with a 21st-century reply, followed by the even more dazzling Caténaires.  The latter, which Aimard premiered here two years ago, is a sparkling bit of virtuosity that even those disinclined toward Carter would probably find irresistible.  As usual lately, the 100-year-old Mr. Carter was in the audience, and after springing up from the piano, Aimard rushed down to greet him.

Bruce Hodges


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