John writes:
Between
May 12th and May 30th 2003, during a series of eight recording
sessions, I played (and played with) these marvelous songs,
many of which were no doubt born on this very instrument.
Since I play purely by ear and by instinct, none of these
arrangements was written down or even (with the exception
of the basic structure of "My Favorite Things")
premeditated. We'd turn on the machines and for a couple of
hours I'd call out one Rodgers title after another and improvise
wildly different versions as the spirit moved me. Then came
the task of deciding which version of each song to include.
I chose those takes in which I felt I'd responded in the most
intuitive and spontaneous way to the instrument itself. I
also tended to choose those where the song was at least somewhat
recognizable (though there is a dissonant, nearly 12-tone
version of "If I Loved You" that was tempting...)
What you hear are all single takes. There was no overdubbing,
no editing of takes together for perfection's sake. This is
exactly what happened in the moment in what turned out to
be a deeply rewarding collaboration – a collaboration
with Richard Rodgers' piano.
Reviews:
Something
Good
By Michael Portantiere. TheaterMania.com
Can a musical instrument be infused with the spirit of the
person who played it for decades? You may find yourself pondering
that question as you enjoy On Richard Rodgers's Piano, a new
CD that features the contemporary songwriter John Bucchino
playing Rodgers melodies on a Steinway that the legendary
composer purchased in 1939 and on which he wrote much, if
not most, of his greatest music.
The
instrument is currently owned by Adam Guettel, Rodgers's grandson
and an important musical theater composer in his own right.
Bucchino had the brilliant idea of using it to make a recording
of indelible tunes that R.R. crafted for songs that he wrote
in collaboration with Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II,
the master lyricists who were his long-term partners at two
different stages of his career. The resulting CD is much more
than a curiosity; in fact, it's one of the best recordings
to cross my desk in months. To quote Guettel, "Here is
great beauty and humor and understanding, as if Rodgers and
Bucchino are friends who never met, united by a lovely old
piano."
The
disc is pleasantly surprising in at least two respects. First,
it's something of a revelation to me that Rodgers' melodies
stand up so well in performances that have an ad-lib, free-form
quality to them; R.R. was a stickler for his songs being sung
exactly as written in his shows, but I suspect that he'd be
pleased with the highly creative way in which they've been
reconceived here for presentation as stand-alone instrumental
pieces. The other revelation is the excellence of Bucchino's
playing. I've heard him accompany himself and other singers
on several occasions but his work at the keyboard never seemed
as skilled, sensitive, and soulful as it does here. This is
all the more impressive since, as Bucchino admits in the CD
booklet's notes, he plays "purely by ear and by instinct."
For that reason, he informs us, "none of these arrangements
was written down or even (with the exception of the basic
structure of 'My Favorite Things') pre-meditated." Wow!
A great first impression is made by track #1 of the disc,
an exquisite rhapsody on the melodies of "Do-Re-Mi"
("Let's start at the very beginning" -- get it?)
and "The Surrey With the Fringe on Top." Up next
is that "pre-meditated" version of "My Favorite
Things," which starts out as a jazz waltz and goes on
from there, full of ear-catching moments. It's hard to pick
favorites among the ensuing tracks; in songs ranging from
"Isn't it Romantic?" to "It Might as Well Be
Spring" to "You Took Advantage of Me," Bucchino
deftly manages to interpret these standards without distorting
the melodic or harmonic structure of the music as written.
Also persuasively covered are "My Romance," "The
Lady is a Tramp," "Where or When," "If
I Loved You," and "My Funny Valentine."
One
or two cuts are worthy of special note. Bucchino plays "Edelweiss"
from The Sound of Music with such wistful, ethereal beauty
that your eyes may well with tears as you listen. (Mine certainly
did.) And then there's "Something Good," a love
ballad that was written expressly for the film version of
The Sound of Music after the death of Hammerstein. Shorn of
Rodgers's own problematic lyrics ("Perhaps I had a wicked
childhood, perhaps I had a miserable youth," etc.), the
song is revealed to have one of his loveliest melodies.
Composers
are not always the finest interpreters of other people's music;
for proof, just listen to Leonard Bernstein conduct Carmen
or La Bohème. In contrast to those willful, idiosyncratic
performances, On Richard Rodgers' Piano succeeds because John
Bucchino brings his own artistry to these immortal songs while
showing due respect for them and for the genius who wrote
them.
Steinway
to heaven
By Howard Kissel
The New York Daily News
Sunday, February 1, 2004
Yes,
I know I wrote about Richard Rodgers two weeks ago, but it's
not my fault if his presence continues to grow so palpably
25 years after his death.
Rodgers'
work has always been a favorite of interpreters. Jazz pianist
Fred Hersch did a wonderful album based on Rodgers and Hammerstein
a few years back. Classical pianist Stephen Hough, the only
"interpretive" artist to have won a MacArthur "genius"
grant, has included some dazzling Rodgers transcriptions on
his two recent albums of pianistic bonbons.
Now comes the superb contemporary songwriter John Bucchino,
whose work has been recorded by singers as diverse as Judy
Collins, Barbara Cook, Art Garfunkel, Patti LuPone and Audra
MacDonald.
Bucchino
has recorded a series of impressions of Rodgers' work on Rodgers'
own piano, a 1939 Steinway now owned by Rodgers' grandson,
the abundantly gifted composer Adam Guettel.
Titled
"On Richard Rodgers' Piano," the album contains
a dozen improvisations on his melodies, many of which were
composed on this piano and all of which were recorded in one
take without overdubbing or editing.
The
results are illuminating. Rodgers hated artists taking liberties
with his work. So he might have been unhappy about the way
Bucchino alters the rhythms of his songs, as he does in "My
Funny Valentine." But the minor alterations only point
up the elegance of the melodic line.
Not
hearing the words, of course, enhances one's sense of the
beauty of the tunes, but, ultimately, you cannot hear these
songs without thinking of the words. In some cases you have
a new respect for them, as I did with Hammerstein's courageous
use of repetition in "How I loved you/If I loved you."
In
the hubbub of the Rodgers centenary, much was made of his
alcoholism and coldness. What these artful improvisations
stress is a melting tenderness, absent perhaps in life, but
abundant in his work.
By
Jonathan Frank
www.talkinbroadway.com
A
few years ago, we celebrated what would have been the centennial
of Richard Rodgers' birthday. As a result, a veritable typhoon
of recordings flooded the market devoted to his works to the
point of over saturation. Thankfully, enough time has elapsed
for this listener, at least, to wade back into the songs crafted
by one of musical theater's greatest composers, since a remarkable
album has arrived from the most unlikeliest of sources: John
Bucchino, a composer whose works are usually in a syncopated
vein not in keeping with Rodgers' more romantic style. Bucchino,
however, is full of surprises in On Richard Rodgers' Piano,
an instrumental album that features Bucchino performing melodies
written by Richard Rodgers on a Steinway he purchased in 1939,
and on which he wrote many of his greatest creations. As filtered
through Bucchino, the tunes have a free-flowing improvised
feel (no small wonder, as Bucchino admits that none of the
arrangements were written down, and only one of them, "My
Favorite Things," was even pre-meditated before the recording).
By turns jazzy (the slightly discordant "The Lady is
a Tramp" and the highly infectious "My Favorite
Things"), delicate (the ethereal "Edelweiss,"
which evokes the image of a tender lullaby) and a surprisingly
touching "Something Good,” (one of the few songs
for which Rodgers contributed both music and lyrics), and
wistful (a lilting "It Might as Well Be Spring"),
On Richard Rodgers' Piano displays not only a side to Bucchino
not previously displayed, but an appreciation for the genius
Rodgers showed for melodies.
Andy
Propst of AmericanTheaterWeb.com writes:
“Another
disc that I think is worth searching out is John Bucchino’s
"On Richard Rodgers’ Piano". Here, the pianist,
who plays only by ear, improvises 12 of the composer’s
exquisite melodies on the instrument on which many of them
were perhaps first played – Rodgers’ Steinway,
purchased in 1939. The tracks on the disc were taken in eight
sessions over the course of two days in May 2003. There is
a immediacy to them and one hears the familiar in a fresh
light - definitely worth a listen.”
Some
Listener Reviews:
Reviewer: John Rogers
If CD's wear out then I'm in trouble because I've listened to
this constantly since receiving it. I keep hearing new values
so it keeps getting better! Fantastic!
Reviewer:
T Addison
John does it again! What a brilliant musical mind at work!
MAGICAL....FANTASTICAL!!!
Reviewer:
Jayne
I hesitated to buy this CD because it's kinda pricey...but...WOW!!!...it
is worth every penny and them some!! I have been waiting for
Mr. Bucchino to put out a piano-only record...well...this
one goes beyond all expectations...I just received it and
can't stop playing it...it is truly magical...I LUV IT!! John
Bucchino channels Richard Rodgers and you will LOVE it
Reviewer:
Shannon Runion
John Bucchino has done it again. He will make you laugh, cry
and SMILE with this fabulous interpretation of Richard Rodger's
music, played on Richard Rodger's very own Steinway! This
CD is PRICELESS. BUY IT NOW and you will be grateful. I
told John Bucchino that he was the reincarnated Brahms and
I was right!
Reviewer:
Sheila Dugan
"If I Loved You" is priceless. Unbelievably expressively
played by a man that obviously KNOWS what it means to be shy
at the beginning of a love affair, and truly, deeply, passionately
in love during it. Bravo, John Bucchino! The whole CD is a
gorgeous work of art, and I was right on the money when I
told you that you were indeed, the 21st century reincarnated
Brahms. Gorgeous. Thank you for this brilliant music. A
fabulous new take on fabulous R. Rodgers tunes!
Reviewer:
Patricia Linhart
I have had the pleasure of singing Richard Rodgers tunes for
EVER, but hearing these new takes on the standards is just
the best. What a great way to make them fresh and new again.
Beautifully thought out and played by the wonderful
John Bucchino.
