ITG 2001 Conference - Giuliano and Max Sommerhalder

Marc Geelhoed, Reporter
There was a standing-room-only crowd in Wheeler Concert Hall to hear the father and son team of Max and Giuliano Sommerhalder, accompanied by Kathryn Fouse, at 11:30 Saturday morning. The Sommerhalders now reside in Italy, and Giuliano was born in Zurich, Switzerland. The elder Sommerhalder explained that the lunch-hour in Italy goes from 12:30 to 3:00, and that they would try to keep their presentation from impinging on this sacred practice. He also said that in keeping with the practice of primitive tribes, who send the younger members out to hunt and fight, while the old men stay home and talk, Giuliano would play, and he would talk. The audience was in for that rare treat, an artist with complete command of his equipment, and whose technique is only a means to his expression.

The younger Sommerhalder walked out on stage completely assured to play Honegger’s Intrada. He played with wonderful phrases and kept the tension high in the quickly moving lines. His playing is very subtle, and immediately draws the listener into his world. Max Sommerhalder pointed out after this piece that both this work and Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra both represent the sorrow and joy at the end of the Second World War. Both pieces have hymn-like sections and music of a joyful nature, and both were written in 1947. He introduced the next piece, “Fantasy Upon Motives” from La Traviata,by Amilcare Ponchielli. Ponchielli was a composer is the same vein as Puccini and Leoncavallo, and who conducted wind bands until the success of his opera La Gioconda. This selection was performed on the rotary-valve trumpet, which gave the piece a sound reminiscent of a cornet. It starts with a vigorous opening in the piano, and then opened into a lyrical theme. There were many virtuoso touches in this Italian piece, with running lines and lots of multiple-tonguing. Next on the recital was another WW II era piece, the Concert-Poeme of Sergei Vassilenko. The three-movement work is reminiscent of Scriabin creating a Romantic atmosphere and an unerring sense of war-time anxiety. The second part of this work is an elegy for the Russian victims of WW II, with the soloist starting this musical prayer. The piano played the elegy theme followed by the soloist. The exquisite ending sounded as if it was far-off in the distance, even though he was still facing the audience. The last section is a dance-movement with touches of ragtime and features a virtuoso-like ending. It ended with arpeggiated figures over two octaves, which Sommerhalder performed flawlessly. His next selection was La Napolitaine by Oskar Bohme, a virtuoso cornet-piece reminiscent of Italy. The second the theme was played by the pianist, as Giuliano played a quick, obbligato above it. The last two pieces were those of Rafael Mendez, the Samba Gitana and Mexican Hat Dance. The first was played on rotary-valve trumpet ending with a fast samba. Sommerhalder has obviously spent many hours listening and absorbing the music of Mendez. The second piece, on the piston-valve trumpet, was played softly. Sommerhalder’s triple-tonguing is a joy to behold. There is no trace of effort or difficulty; he simply does it. He played Mendez’ Czardas as an encore, again on rotary-valve trumpet. He performed the encore in the same flawless manner characteristic of the rest of the program

Sommerhalder’s prodigious technique does not lessen his musicality in the least, and is what makes his playing so spectacular. His technique is only a means to the end of higher artistic communication, which he accomplishes with flying colors. Pianist Kathryn Fouse deserves recognition for her wonderfully sensitive accompaniment. Max Sommerhalder has every reason to be proud of his son’s exceptional development. ITG and the rest of the world can only watch and listen as this talented teenager continues to mature and grow.