Pianist Reginald Robinson smiles after performing a number during a
concert with Jon Weber on Dec. 2, 2016, at PianoForte Studios in
Chicago. (Kristen Norman / Chicago Tribune)
Howard Reich
December 3, 2016
It was one of the most joyous concerts of the year.
Two exceptional pianists. Two state-of-the-art pianos. And music by composers who span the history of ragtime.
Considering that the performers in question were Chicago
ragtime innovator Reginald Robinson, a MacArthur Fellow, and Jon Weber,
his mentor and longtime champion, it's no wonder the recital hall at
PianoForte Studios was packed Friday night. The two men hadn't performed
together in more than a decade, and each possesses an encyclopedic
knowledge of historic repertoire, as well as a ferocious command of the
keyboard.
Put them together on a stage, and you're bound to hear how
an all-American genre that emerged more than a century ago ought to be
played.
Robinson and Weber devoted most of the program to
scores by the most revered figure of classic ragtime, Scott Joplin, and
the most significant composer of the music today: Robinson. Though the
evening also included snippets by Fats Waller and George Gershwin, the
focus on Joplin and Robinson afforded listeners proof of the genius of
the art form and its enduring vitality in Robinson's work.
From
the first notes of Joplin's "The Entertainer," published in 1902, there
was no doubt that the music — so often exaggerated in film and TV
scores — was in four unusually capable hands. Though arranged here for
two pianos, Joplin's masterpiece conveyed all the rhythmic bounce and
melodic grace the composer conceived for a single instrument.
Better
still, Robinson and Weber made clear the underlying structure of this
music, applying different tonal colorings to each section and bringing
forth motifs often overlooked by lesser pianists. In effect, Robinson
and Weber revealed the inner workings of this music.
Not many contemporary ragtime works would sound very
compelling following "The Entertainer," but most of Robinson's vast
catalog does. "The Strongman" (1990) immediately proved the point, the
composer having compressed copious melodic invention into classic
ragtime form. Though Robinson has played his early opus frequently
through the decades, it benefited considerably when articulated by two
pianists. Weber provided low-note ballast to Robinson's middle- and
upper-register flourishes, "The Strongman" never sounding more muscular.
Each
of the subsequent Robinson works on the program conjured a world of
sound unto itself. The tender lyricism of Robinson's "Petunia Rag"
(1989) stood in sharp contrast to the keyboard wizardry of his "The
Tomahawk" (1996). The modernistic, chromatic chord progressions of
Robinson's "The Jester" (1991) hardly seemed to come from the same pen
that produced Joplinesque figures in "Struttin' Your Troubles Away"
(2013).
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