Klarinet Archive - Posting 000191.txt from 1997/10

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
Subj: I could not resist: Part 1 of 2
Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 12:14:30 -0400

The following review actually appeared in an English language
newspaper in Bankok a number of years ago. If you can read it
without wetting your pants, you get an award.
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A Humid Recital Stirs Bangkok

Kenneth Langbell, The English Language Bangkok Post

THE RECITAL, last evening in the chamber music room of the Erawan
Hotel by US Pianist Myron Kropp, the first appearance of Mr. Kropp
in Bangkok, can only be described by this reviewer and those who
witnessed Mr. Kropp's performance asone of the most interesting
experiences in a very long time. A hush fell over the room as Mr.
Kropp appeared from the right of the stage, attired in black formal
evening-wear with a small white poppy in his lapel. With sparse,
sandy hair, a sallow complexion and a deceptively frail looking
frame, the man who has repopularized Johann Sebastian Bach
approached the Baldwin Concert Grand, bowed to the audience and
placed himself upon the stool.

It might be appropriate to insert at this juncture that many
pianists, including Mr. Kropp, prefer a bench, maintaining that on
a screw-type stool they sometimes find themselves turning sideways
during a particularly expressive strain. There was a slight delay,
in fact, as Mr Kropp left the stage briefly, apparently in search
of a bench, but returned when informed that there was none.

I HAVE mentioned on several other occasions, the Baldwin Concert
Grand, while basically a fine instrument, needs constant attention,
particularly in a climate such as Bangkok. This is even more true
when the instrument is as old as the one provided in the chamber
music room of the Erawan Hotel. In this humidity the felts which
separate the white keys from the black tend to swell, causing an
occasional key to stick,which apparently was the case last evening
with the D in the second octave. During the "raging storm" section
of the D-Minor Toccataand Fugue, Mr. Kropp must be complimented for
putting up withthe awkward D. However, by the time the "storm" was
past and he had gotten into the Prelude and Fugue in D Major, in
which the second octave D plays a major role, Mr. Kropp's patience
was wearing thin.

Some who attended the performance later questioned whether the
awkward key justified some of the language which was heard coming
from the stage during softer passages of the fugue. However, one
member of the audience, who had sent his children out of the room
by the midway point of the fugue, had a valid point when he
commented over the music and extemporaneous remarks of Mr. Kropp
that the workman who had greased the stool might have done better
to use some of the grease on the second octave D. Indeed, Mr.
Kropp's stool had more than enough grease and during one passage in
which the music and lyrics were both particularly violent, Mr.
Kropp was turned completely around. Whereas before his remarks had
been aimed largely at the piano and were therefore somewhat muted,
to his surprise and that of those in the chamber music room he
found himself addressing himself directly to the audience.

BUT SUCH THINGS do happen, and the person who began to laugh
deserves to be severely reprimanded for this undignified behavior.
Unfortunately, laughter is contagious, and by the time it had
subsided and the audience had regained its composure Mr. Kropp
appeared somewhat shaken. Nevertheless, he swiveled himself back
into position facing the piano and,leaving the D Major Fugue
unfinished, commenced on the Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor.

Why the concert grand piano's G key in the third octave chose that
particular time to begin sticking I hesitate to guess. However, it
is certainly safe to say that Mr. Kropp himself did nothing to help
matters when he began using his feet to kick the lower portion of
the piano instead of operating the pedals as is generally done.
Possibly it was this jarring or the un-Bach-like hammering to which
the sticking keyboard was being subjected. Something caused the
right front leg of the piano to buckle slightly inward, leaving the
entire instrument listing at approximately a 35-degree angle from
that which is normal. A gasp went upfrom the audience, for if the
piano had actually fallen several of Mr. Kropp's toes if not both
his feet, would surely have been broken. It was with a sigh of
relief therefore, that the audience saw Mr. Kropp slowly rise from
his stool and leave the stage. A few men in the back of the room
began clapping and when Mr.Kropp reappeared a moment later it
seemed he was responding to the ovation. Apparently, however, he
had left to get a red-handled fire ax which was hung back stage in
case of fire, for that was what was in his hand.

MY FIRST REACTION at seeing Mr. Kropp begin to chop at the left leg
of the grand piano was that he was attempting to make it tilt at
the same angle as the right leg and there by correct the list.
However, when the weakened legs finally collapsed altogether with
a great crash and Mr. Kropp continued to chop, it became obvious to
all that he had no intention of going onwith the concert. The
ushers, who had heard the snapping of piano wires and splintering
of sounding board from the dining room, came rushing in and, with
the help of the hotel manager, two Indian watchmen and a passing
police corporal, finally succeeded in disarming Mr. Kropp and
dragging him off the stage.

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Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
Rosanne Leeson, Los Altos, California
leeson@-----.edu
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