daily californian logo

BERKELEY'S NEWS • JUNE 04, 2023

Apply to The Daily Californian!

Mitsuko Uchida balances complexities in evocative Franz Schubert performances

article image

JUSTIN PUMFREY | COURTESY

SUPPORT OUR NONPROFIT NEWSROOM

We're an independent student-run newspaper, and need your support to maintain our coverage.

MARCH 25, 2021

In the age of TikTok and YouTube, short-form media has turned subtlety into a scarcity. And few do subtlety as well as world-renowned pianist Mitsuko Uchida.

Livestreamed March 18, against the backdrop of Wigmore Hall’s intimate wood interior, Uchida’s all-Schubert performance was heartfelt, personal and quietly refreshing. Dispelling classical music’s unjust reputation for being “boring,” Uchida reconciled both soft and quiet grace with exciting vigor in her entry to the “Cal Performances at Home” series.

Uchida opened with Impromptu in A-flat Major, D. 935, No. 2, a piece characterized primarily by dualities and contrasts between two dominant themes. The first, elegant and tranquil, was soon followed by a triumphant but no less graceful theme. Throughout the piece, Uchida effortlessly slipped between the two contrasting characters.

Then, a melancholic tension tainted the serenity of the melody, soon after which another theme emerged: Uchida’s undulating triplets evoked fish gliding beneath the glimmering veneer of a river.

Always one for subtlety, Uchida’s careful transition into the minor key was gradual. Culminating slowly in a cathartic release, she allowed the tension to simmer down to a riverlike calm again. Her return to the first theme was characterized by more tenderness and hesitation and less of the earlier, rather youthful carelessness.

Uchida’s rendition of Schubert’s Impromptu in C Minor, No. 1 began with an impishly dark march. An uneasiness engendered the underlying tension that continued to haunt the remainder of the piece, lingering like a pulse.

Subsequently, Uchida took temporary refuge in a cinematic, exquisite and heavenly theme. But shortly thereafter, she descended into an even more sonorous and powerful darkness. Uchida adopted a much more agitated pulse that only quieted when she slid into a sprightlier variation of the main theme.

The minor, agitated pulse was soon infused with the major key, and Uchida ended the piece ambiguously. The major key hesitantly triumphed — but it didn’t feel like much of a victory.

Uchida’s three last notes lingered with a sense of subdued reluctance and acquiescence — one that comes with age, as if she had taken the audience on the journey of witnessing someone’s life and death.

Uchida’s final piece of the night, Schubert’s Sonata in G Major, began serenely with an almost waltzlike sway. Even at its stormier parts, the darkness was much less imposing and more subdued, while its other, more ebullient parts were played with a crystalline delicacy. With this piece, Uchida added a spark of exuberance, venturing into a zestful and playful theme — a first for the night.

In Uchida’s introduction, Jeremy Geffen, Cal Performances executive and artistic director, said, “One of my pet peeves is the generalization that classical music is beautiful. Playing music for beauty alone smooths out the rough edges that composers use to document some of the most difficult challenges of the human experience.” Uchida certainly captured beauty and grace as well as the rough edges — her expressive capacity for contrasts, contradictions and complexities triumphed in this stunning performance.

In a conversation with Geffen, Uchida said, “If you have something to say, truly, then the world will come to you.” The world, it seems, has come to Uchida a thousand times over.

This performance was streamed by Cal Performances on March 19 and will be available on demand through June 16.

Contact Gracie Chung at [email protected].
LAST UPDATED

MARCH 25, 2021


Related Articles

featured article
The close-ups of the Takács invited the viewer to be a part of the music, and as a result, the performance felt more intimate, organic and alive. 
The close-ups of the Takács invited the viewer to be a part of the music, and as a result, the performance felt more intimate, organic and alive. 
featured article
featured article
With just an acoustic guitar, Pecknold traded in the songs’ grandiose studio recording arrangements for an understated and more intimate sound.
With just an acoustic guitar, Pecknold traded in the songs’ grandiose studio recording arrangements for an understated and more intimate sound.
featured article
featured article
Frankie and the Witch Fingers’ livestream was not only fun for the audience, but it was clear the band itself was thoroughly enjoying the performance.
Frankie and the Witch Fingers’ livestream was not only fun for the audience, but it was clear the band itself was thoroughly enjoying the performance.
featured article