Show going on
By Jesse Phelps

The wind blowing through Ojai this week may be sighs of relief from Ojai Music Festival organizers.
The world-renowned festival, scheduled for this weekend, Wednesday through Sunday, suddenly lost a key performer last week but gained two excellent replacements. Pianist Mitsuko Uchida, one of the headliners and much appreciated among local audiences, had to pull out due to exhaustion after what festival director Jeff Haydon called "an aggressive" performance schedule.

Uchida is recovering well, says Haydon, but "She needed a break. We hear she's doing better, she's very sorry she missed it, and she's already told (festival coordinators) that she's very interested in coming back." Haydon says that Uchida canceled, at her doctor's request, a performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic scheduled for this week with the hope she could pull through for the Ojai Music Festival. Doctors, however, nixed the idea, saying she needed at least two weeks recovery time.
Piano aficionados need not worry, however. "Her replacement is great," according to Haydon.

Helene Grimaud, who will perform Bartok's Concerto No. 3, replacing the Mozart concerto originally scheduled, at the festival finale on Sunday afternoon, is "also an internationally regarded pianist," says Haydon. "Actually, a lot of people know her not only for her piano performances, but she's also an avid wolf breeder."

Haydon thinks the change may actually create new and wonderful juxtapositions. "The combination of Bartok (no.) 3 and Mahler (no.) 9, people are just going to walk away with just an incredible music experience."

Haydon said it was a real coup for the festival to be able to get Grimaud, who will fly out to practice later this week, then fly back to her home in New York to deal with her furry companions, then fly out again to perform on Sunday. "It's actually pretty amazing that we got her," says Haydon.

He says that feedback has been extremely positive in the wake of the change. "We're really sorry (Uchida) is not coming but we're amazed at the replacement," said one caller.
In Saturday night's main event, Uchida will be replaced by Los Angeles' Mark Robson, another extremely talented performer.
One thing that hasn't changed will be the presence of Marino Formenti on piano on Saturday, beginning at 2:30. Actually, the Formenti program will begin at 1:30 with a "chalk talk."

According to those who have met him, Formenti is a big personality with an even bigger musical gift. Haydon says no other performer will give a pre-performance talk but that Formenti loves to do so. "He's not afraid to go out and embrace everybody and say, 'I'm excited about this music and I want you to be excited about it, too."

Formenti has something of a reputation as a larger-than-life persona. "Everybody has their Marino story," says Haydon. "He's Italian, he's good looking, he's just incredibly brilliant and gifted playing the piano." Haydon relays that Formenti is so connected to his instrument that it's necessary to have a piano on hand for him at all times during his visit. "He's just one of these people who devours music," says Haydon.

Formenti released two albums in the past months, neither of which has been available prior to this weekend on American soil. Haydon says both should be available at the festival.
An early release of the recording revealed much.

On "Nothing is Real," named from the Beatles classic "Strawberry Fields," Formenti builds suspense with silence and atmosphere through octave changes. Piano mixed with stock audio, notes with knocks and noise, combine to create a soundscape something like the surreal score to a whimsical horror flick.

The familiar refrains of "Strawberry Fields" appear over a windy background, dramatic in their simple, hanging phrasing. Formenti builds a remarkably structured record from there; it's out but it's cohesive. He segues experimentally between various forms of noise and semi-silence and into themes like a discordant ringing noise capable of putting cats' tails on end.

he monotonal jangling creates the feeling that Formenti is, on some level, angling toward the essence of music itself through the exploration of a single note. This delving into the primordial resonance of a simple element through staccato repetition is suddenly counterbalanced by unexpected harmony. Music which moments ago became a hypnotic meditation creates balance and equilibrium in the ensuing silence. The original motif, now beautifully heightened, becomes a melancholy resolution.

For his part in the runup to his first Ojai Festival, Haydon expressed much joy at being a part of a festival with so much international acclaim, such a diverse, cutting-edge lineup of performers and such a powerful volunteer force of more than 200 people working to make it happen. He says that, so far, everybody has shown tons of support.

"I just really look forward," says Haydon, "to after the festival is done, spending some more time within the community, getting to know the community better and them to get to know me, finding more ways that we can work together and bring the festival even closer to the community."
© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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