Resonate

I have to admit that I was excited to see The New York Times’ complimentary review of pianist Ursula Oppens on Saturday.

Oppens, who has taught at Northwestern University since 1994, has had a flourishing international solo career for more than 35 years.  She is particularly well-known  for her effort to promote contemporary composers, commissioning and performing works by Elliot Carter, Gyorgy Ligeti, Witold Lutoslawski and many others.

On Thursday, Oppens performed an all-Carter concert in anticipation of the composer’s 100th birthday later this year. The Times reviewer, Allan Kozinn, praised Oppens for making the dense textures in some of Carter’s short works seem more clear, and he said she performed “with an unfailing sense of drama” on Carter’s longer work, “Night Fantasies.”

Here’s what’s interesting: With the exception of one brand-new piece by Carter, Oppens performed the composer’s entire body of work for solo piano. The missing piece, “Matribute,” received its world premiere by Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor James Levine in Lucerne in August 2007, and the piece may not be performed in this country until Levine gives an American premiere this summer at Tanglewood.

Because Levine has not yet premiered the piece on this side of the pond, it is off-limits for Oppens to perform it. However, she is about to record the piece on an all-Carter album on the Cedille record label.

Since when does a “world premiere” not count in the United States?