Between his grandfather, the violinist and composer Adolf Busch, and father, the pianist Rudolf Serkin — both possessing great musical talents — Peter Serkin has a lot to live up to. But Serkin has certainly made his musical family proud. He has already performed with symphonies nationwide, won a Grammy for Best New Classical Artist when he was only 19 and earned Best Recording of the Year from Stereo Review Magazine. Needless to say, Serkin has done pretty well for himself, which is why the Madison Symphony Orchestra invited him to play with them once again for their 84th season.
The first two pieces, Beethoven’s “Consecration of the House” and Strauss’ “Death and Transfiguration,” were performed by MSO. Beethoven created “Consecration of the House” for playwright Carl Meisl, who had rewritten “Ruins of Athens” and had asked Beethoven to compose incidental music — music to be played in between scenes and at climatic moments. This piece was only 11 minutes, but in that short period of time, the music began in softer, mellow tones, building up dramatically with the trumpets. At the end, the violins started a grand fugue, when certain parts in the piece are started by the musicians and are then echoed and imitated by others, resulting in an explosive ending for the piece.
Strauss’ “Death and Transfiguration” was one of the more memorable pieces. Conductor John DeMain even gave a little speech beforehand, explaining this piece is about a dying artist. The piece begins with quiet thumps from the drums, representing soft irregular heartbeats of the dying man. The music gets louder and faster as he awakens from sleeping to remember his childhood, and the violins and harp come in. After this is a loud coming-together of all the instruments, suggesting the artist is fighting for his life. His soft heartbeats come back, but death triumphs and loud bursts of music from the brass instruments and the final gong signal his death. The piece ends with the strings singing his transformation, revealing to the listener the dying artist is on his way to heaven.
The third and final piece was Brahms’ “Concerto No. 1 in D Minor,” where Serkin joined MSO on stage and performed the entire 45 minutes without a single sheet of music in front of him. The “Concerto” has three movements and began with “Maestoso,” during which passionate blasts of music from the orchestra quiets down when the piano joins in with soft tones, elaborate runs and chords and intensifies when the orchestra appears once again. The second movement, “Adagio,” goes back and forth between the orchestra and piano, a coupling of soft musical exchanges between the two. The last movement, “Allegro non troppo,” consists of a rondo, which means a theme is built on and altered throughout the piece — in this case the theme was inspired by Gypsy music.
The amazing talent of Serkin in the final piece combined with the other two pieces played by only the Orchestra created an awe-inspiring and jaw-dropping experience for the audience. Any and all recommendations to see MSO should be taken to heart and acted upon immediately. The Madison Symphony Orchestra boasts the title “Your Symphony” so take advantage of this to create your own moving and breathtaking experience.
