reminds me that the Metropolis Ensemble has uploaded audio of its
at the Angel Orensanz Center, on the Lower East Side. Of particular interest is
’s startling performance / recomposition of Mozart’s “Coronation” Concerto. The score is missing most of the left-hand piano part (you can follow along in the
, with the solo beginning on p. 9); Andres, in a fine display of creative bravado, decided to fill in the gaps in his own early twentieth-first-century style. I attended the concert, and, to be honest, I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing at first. All manner of odd things have been done in the cadenzas of classical concertos over the years — Schnittke’s
, Gilles Apap’s
Gyspy-bluegrass improvisations
— but it is much rarer to hear a performer tampering with the main body of a score. A lot of people will cry sacrilege when they hear this. After recovering from the initial shock, I found Andres’s approach mesmerizing, if not always entirely convincing. And it’s a relief to witness a serious young artist treating a canonical masterpiece with something other than passive reverence. On a deeper level, it’s Mozartian in spirit. I also strongly recommend giving a close listen to Anna Clyne’s
.