I am fond of quoting the immortal words of the distinguished British conductor Sir Neville Marriner who said, "Why is it that those people who are tremendously enthusiastic about 18th century musical instruments rarely express the same enthusiasm for 18th century plumbing?"
Well, he's got a point there. And we need go no further as an example than the concert on Friday evening at the Mayflower Church in Pacific Grove where the Mozart Society of California presented fortepianist Preethi de Silva in a recital of pianoforte compositions by Eckard, C.P.E Bach and Mozart.
Ms. De Silva is a sweet person of unusual erudition who in her introductory remarks on each work she played shared rather a lot of interesting information about period instruments and the works she played on the evening's program
On stage was a lovely looking fortepiano modeled after those made by Johann Andreas Stein, a prominent manufacturer of early pianos in Augsburg, Bavaria. Coming into contact with these instruments inspired Mozart to write a famous and oft-quoted letter extolling the virtues of Herr Stein and his craft.
Judging only by the reproduction (for the originals are safely tucked away in various museums), it has to be said that this is marvelous example of 18th century craftsmanship. And it does get you from point A to point B, which is to say it does work. However, the same can be said for a reproduction of a Ford Model "T" from the 1920's. It also will get you from point A to point B.
But, there is much wrong with hearing a recital of Mozart, C.P.E. Bach and Eckard on such an instrument. Even in a small hall such as the Mayflower Church (which sleeps about 250) the tone of the instrument is weak and unsatisfying in climatic moments. The contrast between loud and soft is minimal and thus the monochromatic sounds tended to lull us into periods of slumber (we even lost a significant portion of the audience after intermission).
Ms. De Silva's playing was quite pleasant, if somewhat under rehearsed, for she played from the score, as is often the custom of people who play period instruments. There were times she was hard pressed even to play all the notes, and passages were sometimes smudged and scrambled.
I don't care what the purists say about period instruments, I still feel that if Mozart were to be miraculously brought to the end of the 20th century, he would prefer our modern instruments.
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