FRESNO PHIL FEATURES FIFTY FINGERS

The 5 Browns offer high art repackaged for everyone.

By Larry Warkentin - October 16, 2009

The 5 Browns brought their flawless pianistic technique and exuberant energy to Saroyan Theater on Thursday evening. Their performance, presented by the Fresno Philharmonic, was promoted as a pops event intended to bridge the perceived chasm between sophisticated classical music and youth-oriented popular music.

The 5 Browns aim to attract emerging music lovers who are young and may have had no previous experience with classical music. Their intention is evident in the clothes they wear, in the informality of their introductory comments, and in the compositions they select.

They are the most recent manifestation in a tradition of showmen who aim for popular appeal: Pagannini with his exploitation of violin effects, Liszt with his orchestral timbres on the piano, Gottschalk with his quotation of American melodies and rhythms. The 5 Browns claim to fame is that they are siblings. They are gifted pianists but so are many others who have not garnered so much attention. It is their familial connection that makes them a phenomenon.

The 5 Browns are Desirae, Deondra, Gregory, Melody and Ryan ranging in age from 24 to 30. Had their gifts been athletic they would have made a family basketball team of Olympic quality. Instead their group ability as pianists has resulted in performances with a high degree of finesse and musicality.

The program opened with a five-piano arrangement of the first movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 played at breakneck speed. The motives moved around the circle of pianos giving the impression that one artist with fifty fingers was playing on a single instrument of four hundred forty keys.

They framed their program with orchestral compositions arranged for five pianos. Before intermission they played three movements from Holst’s The Planets which included the curious sound of soprano vocalization and notes plucked inside the piano strings. Following intermission they performed a rather bland arrangement of the 18th Variation from the Rhapsody on a Theme of Pagannini by Rachmaninoff, and they concluded the evening with Dance Macabre by Saint-Saens in an effective arrangement by Greg Anderson.

Within this frame of quintet arrangements was a variety of solos, duos and trios.

The most effective of these was the solo performance of Prokofiev’s Toccata Op. 11 played with virtuosity by Gregory. His tempo was breathtaking yet never at the expense of articulate musicianship.

Gregory and Ryan played Gottschalk’s Grande Tarantella which was impressive in its speed, but lacked clarity in detail. The printed program listed a Brahms Intermezzo solo for Melody, but in its place, she played a clever arrangement of “My Favorite Things” from the Sound of Music. This piece gave her ample opportunity to display her delicate style.

The three sisters played a strange arrangement of Debussy’s Claire de Lune sitting together at one piano. This well-known gem was not improved by the various effects added by the arranger. It seemed a bit like adding a sequined evening gown to Venus de Milo. Icons do not need improvement.

One problem with the concert had nothing to do with the skill of the performers. It was an acoustical question. A single piano on the Saroyan stage can fill the entire hall when the stage is properly arranged. However, the reflective shell which is usually in place for symphony performances was missing and instead the background was a sound absorbing curtain. In addition, all of the piano lids had been removed to accommodate the placement of the five pianos. This meant that the sound was not projected toward the audience as it is with a solo piano. For these reasons, even with five young, energetic pianists at five concert pianos, the effect was never overwhelming.

They succeeded with their goal of drawing a new audience to classical music on this evening. The audience included many families and young adults who were excited to hear talented young performers who love classical music.

Larry Warkentin, D.M.A, professor emeritus, Fresno Pacific University. Contact him at lwarkent@fresno.edu.

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