Last November, when a custom-made McNulty fortepiano arrived at the MU School of Music, piano professor Janice Wenger didn’t even wait for it to be in her office to play it.
Wenger hopes others will be just as excited to hear it when Malcolm Bilson plays the instrument for a dedication concert tonight at Whitmore Recital Hall in the Fine Arts Building.
Bilson, a concert pianist, is a professor of music at Cornell University. He has performed on 18th- and 19th-century fortepianos worldwide since the 1970s, but he wants to perform more often in the United States.
“It’s funny, because the revival of historical instruments started here in the 1950s,” Bilson said. “But the concert life in cities across the country is dying. We need to change that.”
Bilson’s performance is an excellent first step toward rekindling an appreciation for classical music, Wenger said.
“He is one of the world’s most prominent fortepiano performers,” Wenger said. “He’s recorded everything written by Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn and Schubert. For some of us, that is five lifetimes’ worth of work.”
The fortepiano is a hand-built replica of an 1802 model and creates a sound very similar to that of an original fortepiano. Because it is all wood, the fortepiano isn’t as loud as modern pianos, which have iron frames that amplify sound.
Wenger said the fortepiano will allow students to enhance their understanding of classical pieces by hearing how the music sounded to composers. By playing music on the instrument, students will hear the original sound and be able to remember it. Later, the students will be taught to use that auditory memory to adapt their performances of the same pieces to modern pianos.
“There’s a great possibility for musical discovery if students can understand and hear the differences,” Bilson said.
But students aren’t the only ones who can benefit from attending concerts.
“Just to have a chance to hear it can enlighten most anyone with an interest in music,” Wenger said.