Review: Florence Price’s music was once mostly unknown. Now it’s everywhere

西安张makes her San Francisco Symphony Orchestral Series debut conducting Antonín Dvorák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” and the Symphony premieres of Nokuthula Ngwenyama’s “Primal Message” and Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement featuring pianist Aaron Diehl, also making his Orchestra Series debut.Photo: Kristen Loken / San Francisco Symphony

近年来,音乐生活的巨大回报之一是出现了 - 随后,正如欧内斯特·海明威(Ernest Hemingway)在不同的背景下所写的那样,突然突然出现了非裔美国作曲家佛罗伦萨·普莱斯(Florence Price)的音乐。普莱斯(Price)的音乐在1953年去世时鲜为人知,现在无处不在,给听众带来欢乐,并混淆了封闭的人。

Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement, which numbers among the finest and most ambitious of her creations, finally joined the repertoire of the San Francisco Symphony on Thursday, May 5, in a splendid matinee performance led by guest conductor西安张并以亚伦·迪尔(Aaron Diehl)为钢琴独奏者。这本身就是一场强大的音乐活动,但它也代表了最新的欢迎步骤,即消除了使这种音乐远离公众视野这么长时间的障碍。

即使在价格的一生中,这些障碍仍然是它们一直是他们的样子:种族主义,性别歧视和顽固的固执,使古典音乐的世界无法重新审视其先前的假设或承认错误。默认情况下,任何尚未接受佳能的音乐都是不值得的,因为否则我们现在会知道它。(目前,在美国最高法院可能已经停止了凝视决定的原则,但它在古典音乐界仍然具有强大的冠军。)

西安张Photo: Kristen Loken / San Francisco Symphony

然而,要听普莱斯(Price)1933年在戴维斯交响乐大厅(Davies Symphony Hall)的作品,她的创造力的活力和独特性再次被击中。喜欢她Third Symphony,乐团首次演出二月里, the Piano Concerto is a compelling blend of traditional practice and bold vernacular interjections.

标题是一个错误的称呼。协奏曲实际上是根据标准的三部分计划(剧烈的开场,慢速运动,活泼的舞蹈结局)展开的;只是价格将它们融合在一起而没有大量休息。

What’s particularly powerful throughout the piece is the stylistic tug-of-war going on at every level of construction. The first movement operates in some ways like a conventional 19th century virtuoso concerto (the opening evokes Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto, and there are echoes of Liszt and Brahms as well). The explosive rhythmic burst of the finale is in a line extending back to Mozart.

旧金山交响乐团在以钢琴演奏家亚伦·迪尔(Aaron Diehl)为特色的一场运动中首演了佛罗伦萨·普莱斯(Florence Price)的钢琴协奏曲,这也使他的乐团系列首次亮相。Photo: Kristen Loken / San Francisco Symphony

But within that framework, the details are captivating, surprising and often unique. The slow movement is built around a sensuous extended duet for piano and oboe (associate principal James Button made Diehl an eloquent partner here), which executes a wondrous sudden turn from the language of the spiritual into the blue notes of jazz.

不过,最引人注目的是结局,这是众多价格运动之一,引用了被称为朱巴的非裔美国人舞蹈(她的许多交响曲中也有朱巴的运动)。这是一个充满活力的,巧妙的事件,伴随着ragtime的味道,而普莱斯(Price)则以狂野的放弃为挥舞着节奏 - 尤其是在动作的后期,当和谐突然散发出任何礼节感并冒险进入遥远的地方时。

迪尔(Diehl)证明了这种音乐的理想口译员,在不担心的情况下摆脱了技术要求,并以表现力的精致投资了协奏曲的旋律菌株。张 - 代表新泽西交响乐的中国出生的音乐总监首先是一系列女性在接下来的几周里,在戴维斯(Davies)登上领奖台 - 帮助提出了普莱斯(Price)写作的才华和活力。

作曲家Nokuthula Ngwenyama在5月5日星期四在戴维斯交响乐大厅与旧金山交响乐团与指挥Xian Zhang的“原始信息”进行了向观众讲话。Photo: Kristen Loken / San Francisco Symphony

该节目以“原始信息”开放,这是加利福尼亚作曲家Nokuthula Ngwenyama的感性10分钟的窗帘射击者,标志着郁郁葱葱的音调和声和Foursquare Rhythms。Dvorák的“新世界”交响曲以强大但并不总是完全统一的演绎,在下半场占据了下半场。亮点之一是校长拉斯·德·卢纳(Russ de Luna)对著名的英国角独奏的大浪潮。

把德沃夏克在同一程序与价格啊ugh, proved to be an odd decision. The two composers are obviously linked — the first thing anyone thinks on hearing Price’s music is, “Hmm, sounds kind of like Dvorák” — and the similarity is driven in part by their shared project of fusing African American strains with those of European classical music.

但是他们从不同的角度接近它。德沃克(Dvorák),尤其是在“新世界”中,努力将精神上的精神(他只作为局外人)带入交响乐景观,而普莱斯(Price)的项目更加集成,这是内在的真实努力。

If the shadow of Dvorák lingers on the sidelines whenever Price’s music is played, this might have been the opportunity to let her have the spotlight to herself. She’s been waiting long enough.

San Francisco Symphony:晚上7:305月7日,星期六;下午2点5月8日,星期日。$ 35- $ 125。戴维斯交响乐大厅,201范·内斯大街,S.F。415-864-6000。www.sfsymphony.org

  • 约书亚·科斯曼(Joshua Kosman)
    约书亚·科斯曼(Joshua Kosman)约书亚·科斯曼(Joshua Kosman)is The San Francisco Chronicle’s music critic. Email: jkosman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JoshuaKosman