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Pianist Frank Wiens has long admired Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. So when the centenary of Prokofiev's birth rolled around in 1991, Wiens took his fellow pianist's work back home via a short tour of the then-crumbling Soviet Union. The tour made a musical impression on Russian audiences, but the era's political instability made one of its own on the American pianist. The famous attractions of Red Square, Wiens recalled, were only accessible to those marching in what turned out to be the Communist party's final May Day parade. With only a single day to see Moscow, what was an American visitor to do? Following the encouragement of his local translator, he slipped into the march and became Comrade Wiens just long enough to see the sights. "We just joined up and that got us to Lenin's tomb," he said with a laugh. Local audiences will hear Wiens perform the music of another legendary Russian composer as he joins the Stockton Symphony for Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto in B flat Minor. The program also includes Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition," as orchestrated by Ravel, and the world premiere of Asher Raboy's "The Coming Storm." Peter Jaffe conducts. Wiens secured that Russian tour through the same tireless self-promotion that has led to every other performance in his professional career. It was during his first on the road that Wiens, touring with a cellist, was bitten by the performing bug. "I came home and made a flyer," he remembered. "I didn't have much to put on it except my name and a phone number, but it got me a couple of performances. Then I had some reviews and so then I could put those on the flyers." What started as a simple flyer grew into something extraordinary when Wiens arrived in Stockton in 1976 to begin teaching piano at University of the Pacific's Conservatory of Music. "In my earliest years," Wiens said, "I would send out 10,000 mailers each year to colleges and orchestras advertising myself." That kind of effort that is even more important today for the classically trained pianists Wiens helps produce, even if the media used by has expanded to include Facebook, MySpace and YouTube. For Wiens, it all supports his belief that the do-it-yourself approach still makes the most sense. "Management is really hard to get," he said. "Sometimes they can get you performances, but sometimes they just take a percentage of what you could have gotten on your own." The weekend performances of Tchaikovsky's concerto are a welcome revisiting of a piece he began studying as part of his preparations for the 1974 Tchaikovsky Competition. Wiens described the piece as "a chestnut of the piano repertoire," and its familiarity to many in the audience was a prime reason he selected it for these concerts. Indeed, Wiens has consistently walked the line between his own artistic desires and engaging an audience in the selection of repertoire. "I've never been a champion of the music of our time," he said, but the music he does perform, such as his recent exploration of Chopin's piano music, keeps him in tune with audience sensibilities. "I tend to hope that I'm going to be invited back again," he said with a chuckle. Contact Glenn Pillsbury at features@recordnet.com. |
