TSO Classical Concert
Friday, November 17th 7:30 pm
Sunday, November 19th at 2 pm
Grieg Piano Concerto
Drew Petersen, winner of the 2017 American Pianists Awards and the Christel DeHaan Fellowship of the American Pianists Association, has already achieved an enormous amount at the age of 23, including graduating cum laude from Harvard when he was only 19. But he is awed by the fact that a number of famous composers had already written their masterworks by the time they were his age. “I am performing Chopin’s Piano Concerto in E minor in concert this season, and I find myself thinking, ‘How in the world could Chopin have written this when he was only 20? It’s too good!’” he says.
Likewise, the Piano Concerto in A minor by Edvard Grieg that he will play with the TSO was written when the composer was just a year older than Petersen is now. The piece is a grand, crowd-pleasing work, filled with beautiful melodies and plenty of opportunities for the performer to showcase the full range of the piano.
This is the first time Petersen has performed the Grieg with a full orchestra, and he notes that the biggest challenge for him will be “to make it my own, and not take it for granted, and realize that there’s more to it than just a superficial understanding that we all have of the piece.”
He points out that when it was first composed it immediately earned some very enthusiastic supporters. “I heard a story that Franz Liszt once had the opportunity to meet Grieg, and Liszt decided to play the concerto, alternating between the orchestra and solo parts. And Liszt loved the piece, particularly this wonderful moment where in the last bars Grieg changes one of the major themes of the final movement. He writes it originally in a typical, classical scale pattern. But the last time it appears he changes it to give it an unusual—especially Norwegian—quality. And the story goes that Liszt gets to that moment, sees the changed note on the page, and before he plays it, he stands up from the piano and storms around the room, singing the tune with the new note and shouting how ecstatic it is.”
Petersen gravitated toward the piano (thanks to the presence of one in his family’s home) as a toddler, and begged his mom to teach him some things. When he outgrew what she knew, formal lessons soon followed. But that wasn’t the only endeavor for which he showed aptitude early on: he also was a competitive swimmer, and continues to find time to enjoy pool or ocean swimming when he can. “Swimming and music are really compatible from the standpoint of the physical activities themselves,” he observes. “It’s all about efficiency of movement. It’s all about doing as much as we can with as minimal movement as possible.”
That’s not to say that the charismatic virtuoso is just kicking back. Along with his hectic tour schedule, he found free moments to record an album of 20th Century American works, which will be released on the Steinway & Sons label. Among the featured works will be two piano sonatas written by multi-Pulitzer Prize-winning giants Samuel Barber and Eliot Carter.
Young as Petersen is, he has already fully embraced the role of being an ambassador for classical music, ensuring that compositions both famous and obscure continue to be played. “Being able to be close to great masterpieces of civilization on a regular basis is amazing,” he says. “Just sitting at a piano all alone and playing through the Grieg concerto is wonderful. But traveling all over the world and sharing what I love with so many people is even more incredible.”
TCC Music Hall · 882-8585 · tucsonsymphony.org