Pro Musicis presents Robert Fleitz in Review
Robert Fleitz, pianist
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
October 18, 2021
Pro Musicis presented pianist Robert Fleitz in a highly auspicious debut before a large masked audience this Monday at Weill Hall, continuing their established tradition of presenting outstanding musicians on prominent world stages as well as in charitable venues. A program that included three world premieres, plus works by some lesser-known composers (including five women) was immediately intriguing. The only two works by “mainstream” composers were the Bach Invention No. 1 (BWV 772 in C Major) and the magnificent Brahms Klavierstücke Op. 118, with the balance of the program being music by Unsuk Chin, Maria Martines, Timo Andres, Krists Auznieks, Julia Perry, Julie Zhu, Lūcija Garūta, and Jeffrey Mumford.
Robert Fleitz, a graduate of the Juilliard School (B.M. and M.M.), lists in his biography the usual awards and prizes, one of course being the Pro Musicis 2021 International Award which resulted in this performance; there seems very little, though, that is usual about this eclectic pianist.
It was an unusual choice to open with Bach’s little Invention in C Major, which is heard more at young students’ recitals than professionals’ programs, but one guessed that the Invention was programmed to illuminate the next work, entitled Etude No. 1 (In C), by Unsuk Chin (b. 1961) a pupil of György Ligeti. That guess was correct. In a surprise “non-ending” Mr. Fleitz let the penultimate dominant harmony of the Bach fade without resolution (part heresy, part genius), and omitted the final “C” harmony to proceed attacca to the Chin Etude. That expected tone C, desired but unheard, transformed the way one heard the subsequent Etude. As Dr. Richard Rodda points out in his excellent program notes, Ms. Chin’s Etude is not so much “In C” as much as “On C” with the pitch C repeated amid “increasingly dense constellations of flickering sound-points.” Those “constellations” can make this piece a challenge for the ears, but thanks to “C” being etched in one’s mind from the Bach, one felt its magnetic power throughout. It was a masterstroke of programming by an innovative musical thinker.
Apart from programming gifts, Mr. Fleitz proved to be an excellent pianist in diverse repertoire, including the next work, the Sonata in G Major by neglected Haydn pupil Maria Martines (1744- 1812). The playing was crisp and light with Scarlatti-esque brilliance that verged on breathlessness but stayed on course with hardly a smudge. The last movement was particularly exciting.
After this refreshing return to classicism, the program ventured again into the 21st century for the world premiere (Commissioned by Pro Musicis) of a beautiful work, Honest Labor by Timo Andres (b. 1985). As the composer writes, “Honest Labor attempts to uncover a kind of Transcendental satisfaction in routine tasks. A simple contrapuntal process gives rise to increasingly elaborate and expressive gestures, finally evaporating in an ambiguous haze.” I often find these days that the notes by composers are more evocative than their music itself, but I am happy to report that this music spoke as eloquently here, like a winding journey inviting closed eyes and reflection. Mr. Fleitz seems to have made it a part of himself, even in his printed comments which stated “I am grateful for the chance to share my honest labor with you, and look forward to hearing about where your path through this landscape led you” (the latter part referring to Jeffrey Mumford’s piece yet to come, “a landscape of interior resonances”).
Mr. Fleitz has the gift of being able to deeply internalize his music while projecting equally well his vibrant conceptions, so I was eager to hear his Brahms Klavierstücke, Op. 118. He did not disappoint. From the impassioned opening Intermezzo in A minor to the ponderous closing Intermezzo in E-flat minor with its Dies Irae thematic connection, he held his audience rapt through all six pieces. His pacing of the G-minor Ballade‘s central section was well-conceived, and his sensitive rendering of the Romanze, with its glimmers of Lydian, was magical. I didn’t always agree with his pedaling, which seemed overly generous at times (especially in the second Intermezzo, but also at times in others, leaving me wishing that his curiously active left foot would switch with his right), but this is a debatable and personal quibble. His youthful penchant for extremes also led to some arguably harsh high points in the final piece, but I would opt for passion with some excess any day over the weak tea of many other pianists.
After a five-minute pause (the new pandemic “intermission”), we heard another world premiere, Time Present by composer Krists Auznieks (b. 1992) who happens to be Mr. Fleitz’s husband. The background of this piece is a bit lengthy to summarize in a simple review, but suffice it to say that the piece married other-worldly harmonies (bringing some colors of Messiaen to mind) with flashes of Scriabinesque ecstasy, all a good match for Mr. Fleitz’s all-embracing pianism.
Prelude by Julia Perry (1924-1979) offered a bluesy detour and chance to hear a seldom heard composer, and it was followed by the world premiere of a piece entitled Other of Two by Julie Zhu (b. 1990), inspired (and accompanied by a lengthy description of) the Tunguska meteor event of Siberia in 1908. Mr. Fleitz conveyed well its eeriness, devastation, and desolation.
In a surreal change of mood, the program shifted over to 1920’s Latvia and Paris, via the lush late Romantic Prelude No 2 in E Major by Lūcija Garūta (1902-1977), a Latvian who studied with Cortot and Dukas and reflected still more Scriabin influence. Mr. Fleitz was a persuasive advocate for her work, as for all that he played, including the concert’s finale, the three-movement work, a landscape of interior resonances by Jeffrey Mumford (b. 1955). Mr. Mumford describes this work as “a celebration of the piano as a sonorous resonating chamber” and it certainly did put the pianist through his paces in fiendish feats of complex virtuosity (not to mention memorization).
A standing ovation prompted an encore, and Mr. Fleitz chose the third of the Improvisos Op. 18 by José Vianna da Motta, dedicating it to his mother on her birthday with special mention of her Portuguese parents. It was a beautiful return to folk-inspired music and a special way to bring “home” this musical journey. I would hear a Robert Fleitz concert again in a heartbeat and look forward to following his career.
