Allison is opening her collaborative program in a very different musical vein than we've had up to this point. She is playing the first movement (Allegro moderato) of Haydn's Sonata No. 52 in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI/52. The opening theme calls to mind a hunting horn. Yet, it is still graceful and elegant. As is expected, Haydn is building the entire movement off of this theme. Running scales lines and fast finger work that are characteristic of Haydn are well-displayed in this movement and well-played by Freeman.
Freeman has chosen Schumann's Fantasiestucke for cello and piano, Op. 73 for her collaborative piece. Cellist Andrien Zitoun of the MSO is joining her. What a treat for these young artists to get to play with some MSO musicians. Freeman is giving Zitoun her attention, maintaining contact with him throughout the piece. Good ensemble playing. Originally, this piece was composed for clarinet and piano. There are barely any resting points in this work for the clarinetist to breath, meaning a challenge in getting enough air and tiring out of embouchure. The cello is better suited to this piece in that regard. And it is a beautiful tone quality for the work: deep and rich.
The first movement Saint-Saen's G minor piano concerto, Op. 22 is going to close Freeman's collaborative program. She is joined by pianist Martha Fischer playing the orchestral reduction. Freeman spoke briefly about this movement and the concerto as a whole: The first movement looks back to the Baroque in several ways. It opens with a low G that is sustained as a pedal point for close to the entire first page of the concerto. This also shows the influence of organ on Saint-Saens. In addition to the pedal point, the opening is improvisatory and contrapuntal, both prominent features of the Baroque era. Saint-Saens steps outside the bounds of the traditional piano concerto and concerto in general established by Mozart and Beethoven, by having the piano introduce the first theme as opposed to the orchestra. Further, there is no slow movement, which is also a standard movement in concerti. An intriguing side-note is that there a rumors that Saint-Saens did not compose the first theme, but rather lifted it from one of his composition students - Faure. Freeman also shared one of the techniques that appears frequently in Saint-Saens' works is staggered octaves, octaves that are shared between the hands. This allows the pianist to play more octaves at a faster rate of speed. Brava to Freeman on a well-played collaborative recital!
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