Sequenza21/The Contemporary Classical Music Weekly

Tobias Picker's
Orchestral Work

By Duane Harper Grant

Tobias Picker is perhaps best-known for his operas Emmeline and Thérèse Raquin but as a new Chandos CD release shows the New York born (1954) and
raised composer has composed a vast body of distinguished work ranging from orchestral to opera to ensemble and everything in between. In 1982 he was commissioned to write a piece to celebrate the centennial of the Brooklyn Bridge. Eight months later in front of an audience of over 2 million people the piece premiered at the celebration with Picker playing the piano. It was a great success. That piece, a piano concerto titled "Keys to the City", is the first piece on this new Chandos CD.

In writing this 18-minute piece Picker immersed himself in his subject. He studied the bridge, its life, legacy and lore. He went to the bridge and took it in from many perspectives at different times of day and evening, taking in its look, its construction, its sounds and its life, its prose and poetry. What is evident from the onset of the piece is that it is of the lineage of great piano concertos of the Romantic and Post-Romantic eras. The opening is grand and grabs the listener with rhythmic, textural and thematic interest. Then we are led into the piece by the sinewy piano ruminations with an underpinning of strings supporting the piano's every move. And move it does. There is no dearth of ideas in this single movement piece. A rhapsodic work, it springs from theme to theme using jazz harmonies and riffs, show-type melodies and a tip of the hat from the piano to Gershwin. It it held my attention with brilliant intent and propulsion.

The title of the second piece on the new Chandos, "And Suddenly it's Evening," is taken from a poem by Salvatore Quasimodo. Commissioned by a consortium of youth orchestras the piece, which is also inspired by the same poem, is a reflection on the fading of youth. The first movement is thematically subtle but stays intact throughout and seems to suggest; yes, it is almost dark. The second movement captures at once an essence of wonder and foreboding. The violin and viola express their plaintive themes. In the third movement, "Suddenly Evening", we hear an urgency and alarm in the strident statement of the strings. As the horn enters we are aware of the eminent falling of night.

"The Concerto For Cello and Orchestra" was commissioned by the BBC and first performed at a London Proms concert in August 2001. This is just beautiful writing. The cello is so rich and full of texture its melodies stand out against the underpinnings and counter melodies of the orchestra. The first movement, "Not Even the Rain" I was listening to on a rainy Sunday afternoon in February and was a perfect complement for the reflective mood I was in. The segues from solo to orchestra and back are seamless. "Those We Loved" is the title of the second movement. Beautiful and poetic the cello is again set against rich under textures and the counter melodies are used well to give the feeling of a little urgency. "Lament" the third movement is dark and still like a long, cloudy afternoon or dusk. It's mesmerizing. Play it on a rainy afternoon and feel it all the way through.

If you only know Picker through his operas, this CD is a splendid introduction to his formidable symphonic talents.

Keys to the City, And Suddenly it's Evening, Cello Concerto
Composer: Tobias Picker
With Paul Watkins-cello, Jeremy Denk-piano,
Russian Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by: Thomas Sanderling
Chandos CD 10039

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