An Evening with a Streicher
Jenn deLagran

What made this Monday night concert at the Maureen Forrester Recital Hall interesting was the star; a 150 year old Streicher fortepiano lovingly referred as "Madame Streicher". Although apparently temperamental, this handmade Viennese fortepiano behaved for pianist Heather Toews, who treated Laurier faculty, students and CBC Stereo to a truly unique concert.

Toews first gave the audience a much appreciated introduction to the fortepiano. These first pianos had the ability to play either a loud ("forte") or soft ("piano") tone-hence the name. As time went along, the "forte" was dropped to become just "piano". There are many differences between the modern piano and the fortepiano. As Toews demonstrated, the fortepiano has a much sweeter and clearer tonal quality, especially noticeable in the upper octaves. Other differences are that the modern piano uses English action and has a powerful, resonating ability-which Toews enthusiastically demonstrated to the crowd. The Streicher pianos are strung differently and also use Viennese actions, which were preferred by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms.

The piece was "Marche Militaire" by Franz Schubert, a wonderful piano duet by Toews and James Parker, also a Laurier faculty member. Light and joyous, this work really showed the clarity of the Streicher.

Fourth year soprano Jane Archibald accompanied Toews with a selection of Mendelssohn works. From sweet and charming to sorrowful and imploring, Archibald was very expressive. She drew in the crowd with her powerful stage presence and, of course, a voice to die for.

Robert Schumann’s "Fantasy Pieces" for cello and piano was tremendously enjoyable. Fourth year cellist Catherine Anderson’s magnetic playing captured the audience’s attention. Expressive, lively, and at times very playful, Anderson delighted the crowd to a great finish.

Toews took the stage alone for Schumann’s "Carnaval". This interesting piece is reminiscent of masked balls in Venice, with many different characters all in disguise. Throughout this work there are hints of street theatre, jokes of Schumann’s ex-girlfriend, sighs for his future wife and so on. Even the Paganini Devil makes an appearance to trounce his way through a proper German waltz. With dynamic facial expressions, extreme enthusiasm, and sharp wit, Toews made all the characters come alive. "Madame Streicher" did as she was told as Toews gave the audience a truly rich and entertaining performance.

The Penderecki String Quartet came on for the second half of the concert. This was the first performance with Jeremy Bell, the most recent addition to the Penderecki family. Beethoven’s "Quartet in A minor" was quite emotional and had a surreal, dream-like quality to it. Audience members seemed to be particularly moved in the third movement.

Overall, the concert was very well done. A few students stated that they enjoyed the sound of the fortepiano, especially in the upper range. As one girl stated, "You just don’t get that in the regular piano." To quote one thrilled patron, "Fabulous. Absolutely fabulous." But what the hell do I know? I’m not in music; I just like listening. If this glowing review of a wonderful concert doesn’t get you out to the Recital Hall more often-well, see ya at the Turret.

Jenn deLagran is a biz-knob who was entirely uncomfortable writing this review, and vows never to do it again. Please direct all complaints to Tim Durkin (editor).