A
night of musical discovery: Zuk Piano Duo concert review
By
Christine Sabbaghian
--------------------
There
was plenty to pique one’s interest in a multicolored program of
two-piano works by the Zuk Piano Duo in Pollack Hall at McGill
University in Montreal on Thursday, March 13, 2014. Such programming
will not come as a surprise to those who know the sister-brother
team, Luba and Ireneus Zuk. For their significant artistic
achievement, the Ukrainian government awarded them a medal and the
title “Merited Artist of Ukraine” in 1999. This concert, “Folk
Elements in Piano Duo Works,” featured folk melodies and influences
from Ukrainian, Greek, Hungarian, and Canadian music, with a special
emphasis on Ukrainian music. It formed part of the Schulich School of
Music Professional Concert Series: Carte-Blanche.
This
particular program presented the music of only a few among the Zuks’
large repertoire of Ukrainian composers, many of whom have written
pieces specifically for the Duo. According to Luba Zuk, there are
over 200 professional composers in Ukraine itself, in addition to
many Ukrainian-Canadian composers, but much of the music from the
newer generations is underperformed. For several decades, the Zuk Duo
has provided the opportunity to enjoy pieces from the more standard
repertoire alongside contemporary compositions, particularly
Ukrainian and Canadian.
The
political crisis in Ukraine happened to coincide with this concert,
which contained a large proportion of Ukrainian music but was planned
months in advance. As such, the Duo dedicated the first number on
their program, Pices ukrainiennes (1925) by Ukrainian composer Fedir
Akimenko, in memory of the peaceful protesters who lost their lives,
and in support of the continuing struggle for independence. With
these poignant events in mind, they played from this suite the pieces
“Pisnya” and “Lystopad” featuring quotes from traditional
Ukrainian songs, dances, and rituals.
A
solemn mood prevailed in the next piece, Ukrainian Dance (1979) by
George Fiala, a Ukrainian-Canadian composer whose music is frequently
featured in Zuk Duo concerts. The term “dance” in the title could
be misleading to some as the piece contains dissonant harmonies and
sharply accented rhythms influenced by the neoclassicism of Hindemith
and Stravinsky. Subtly orchestrated, the melodic and rhythmic
transformations unfold within a framework of contrapuntal complexity.
The Duo’s execution was with their usual precision and in-depth
comprehension.
Five
Ornaments, based on pre-Christian Ukrainian ritual music including
chants and dances, was composed in 1997 for the Zuk Duo by Ukrainian
composer Halyna Ovcharenko. It is a slow and rather lengthy work with
sustained harmonies and gradually transformed material. While the
audience may have lost its concentration at some points, the Duo
never did.
With
the most melodious among the works of the evening, Dances from the
Greek Isles (1971) by Yannis Constantinidis, the Duo brought the
first half of the concert to a close with a flourish. Lest one think
these are simply folk melodies, they are actually delightfully and
ornamentally arranged in a study of contrasting moods and textures,
switching between simplicity and complexity, always with exuberant
folk appeal. Although fundamentally Greek, the dances have something
of an international aspect, considering that Constantinidis, a Greek
educated in Berlin, found the neoclassical inspiration for these
pieces in the music of his much-admired Ravel, a Frenchman.
Following
the intermission, the audience was transported into the vivid world
of the Ukrainian Carpathian mountains with Ukrainian composer Yevhen
Stankovych’s 2002 perspective on Ancient Dances of Verkhovyna.
These powerful dances, like Ovcharenko’s work, were also written
for the Zuk Duo and are modeled on the rhythmic songs and dances of
the region. As with Fiala’s Ukrainian Dance, they incorporate
dissonant harmonies and combine contemporary musical language with
the old. Both pianists are equally challenged in preserving the
relentless energy to the end while displaying the orchestral colors
and maintaining clarity within the polyphonic layers. All of this the
Duo easily achieved.
More
richly colorful music followed with five pieces from Bla Bartk’s
Mikrokosmos: “Bulgarian Rhythm,” “Chord and Trill Study,”
“Canon and Inversion,” “New Hungarian Folksong,” and
“Perpetuum Mobile.” As Ireneus Zuk amusedly pointed out, most of
these originally solo-piano pieces were already difficult, but the
composer made the two-piano arrangements of 1940 even more demanding.
Each was fairly short, like a prelude, and the Duo handled the shifts
from one mood and technique to another, from lively swirls and trills
to lyric melancholy, with unruffled grace.
Throughout
the evening the Zuk Duo demonstrated that they could expertly handle
any technical challenge and any pace, whether slow and sustained or
lightning-fast. Playing with extraordinary endurance and deliberate
control, they are never rushed. They can be compared to marathon
runners, able to maintain a steady drive towards the goal. But they
also surprise with the power they keep in reserve: without warning,
in the middle of a long stretch, they quickly reel off ornaments and
glissandi no less brilliant than at the beginning of the evening.
An
outstanding demonstration of such endurance and vigor came with the
grand finale, a joyful outpouring of Clermont Ppin’s “Ronde
Villageoise” (1961, rev. 1986) extracted from the ballet
l’Oiseau-phnix, with such supreme verve that anyone happening to
walk in would be excused for thinking that the concert had just
begun. The piece’s origin from a Canadian legend is not surprising,
but who would expect Ppin to integrate jazz rhythms? The composer
succeeded in merging these with complex rhythmic shifts and elements
old and new--too often a failed attempt--into a wonderfully unified
musical treat that, combined with the zest and enthusiasm of the Zuk
Duo, left one wishing to hear it at least once more.
With
various tastes and styles linked by the common thread of folk
elements, there was something for everyone at this night of musical
discovery.
Christine
Sabbaghian holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition with
Distinction from the Schulich School of Music at McGill University.
PHOTO
Luba
and Ireneus Zuk