Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe

ECLECTIC ANDERSON & ROE TRANSCRIPTIONS CAPTIVATE WEILL HALL AUDIENCE

From the first moment when Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe walked Jan. 21 on the Weill Hall stage and spoke to the audience about their two-piano program, it was clear that an afternoon of drama, humor, virtuosity, warmth, transcendence and excitement was in store.

This dynamic and mesmerizing duo create many of their own arrangements, and the first half consisted of three opera fantasies.  Their first was based on the finale of Act I of Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” and enacted drama, romance, humor and scandal.  At one piano, their ten minute arrangement of pianistic Mozart was pure theater.  Mr. Anderson often glances at Ms. Roe at a seemingly cunning moment, and with her return glances the communication conveyed a sense of fun and even conspiracy.

The concert paraphrase from Ades’ opera “Powder Her Face” was taken from a real life story of the Duchess of Argyle who displayed lack of judgment, reckless behavior, narcissism and scandal, and who finally recognizes her errors and decadence. At the end a tango danced by an electrician and a maid over the Dutchess’ bed of shame, and the pianistic duo made the music glittering as though seen through shards of broken glass.  There were wonderful mixtures of colors, rhythms, melodies and dissonances, with soft chords building to loud and sometimes jazzy chords. The energy was palpable.

More drama and romance came with their “Carmen Fantasy” performance with themes taken from Bizet’s 1875 opera - jazzy, gypsy, sensuous, feverish, all full of virtuosity and speed.  Their two-piano performance was stunning.

Both the artists are warm and enlightening speakers with an audience, and at this performance the stories enhanced their instrumental skills. If the first half of the program was about scandal, drama and romance, the second was about transcendence, with musical statements addressing a human yearning. John Adams’ 16-minute “Hallelujah Junction” was built on repetition, the rhythm of the word “lujah” sounding over and over. At the end of the piece one could hear the whole word “hallelujah” at the climax.  This music was featured in the film “Call Me By Your Name”.  The repetition of the word led to a sense of timelessness and a hypnotic state similar to Catholic incantations or Buddhist chanting.  In three movements, each flowing into the next, the music became driving and intense.  

A very different mood was created with the duo’s arrangement of the Hallelujah Variations based on the cult
classic of Leonard Cohen’s song, the meaning of “Hallelujah” sifting through despair, yearning, ecstasy and praise  It was composed with the inspiration of Schubert and late Beethoven, a duet with eight variations. Through the Beethoven and Schubert mix the Cohen song was easily heard.

Paul McCartney’s song  “Let It Be” concluded the program.  Ms. Roe sang the song, with its gospel-inflected tone before they played their arrangement. It was dueling gospel pianists with an uplifting message and the full hall went crazy with stomping and yelling and clapping for more.

The encore was from Bernstein’s “West Side Story” and was played as a rollicking duet of “America” with the added percussion of hands slapping the piano and rapping knuckles against the instrument's wood fall board. Both artists hopped up to dance while trading places on stage. When the audience wouldn’t let them go, they played “What a Wonderful World”, a quiet work full of filigree scales that calmed the hall’s energy.