Guest harpsichordist Meniker to play Kulas

After performing in Europe, Israel, Meniker comes to Oberlin

For anyone desiring to leave the pressures of this first week of classes at Oberlin behind, Zvi Meniker's Sunday guest performance should provide a welcome escape.

Meniker brings 17 years of playing experience as a harpsichordist, fortepianist and organist to Oberlin. Beginning his higher musical studies at age 15, Meniker went on to graduate with distinction from both the Mozarteum Conservatory in Salzburg, Austria, and the Conservatory of Music in Zurich, Switzerland.

Currently, he is pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Cornell University. In addition to performing as a soloist and in ensembles in Europe, the United States and his native Israel, Meniker also teaches, lectures and conducts harpsichord clinics in performance practice.

Meniker took up the harpsichord after starting on the organ. The harpsichord, another keyboard instrument, was easy to play. He said that many people are disenchanted with the harpsichord because it "seems limited. There are no dynamics or tricks to help the performer."

Meniker considers his teachers Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Johann Sonnleitner in Europe and Malcolm Bilson at Cornell as his greatest influences.

He will be playing J.S.Bach's Goldberg Variations, a piece he described as being both "hard for the listener and the performer alike." This is one of Bach's very big cycles, composed in the last years of his life. Meniker assessed it to be more difficult than the "Art of the Fugue."

The piece consists of an aria, played once at the beginning and once at the end of the piece, with 30 variations in between. There are 10 canons, 10 "character" pieces and 10 variations involving the use of both manuals, or keyboards, of the harpsichord.

Meniker learned the 10 variations for both manuals first as he deemed them "the most difficult passages in the work." These variations are surprisingly similar, involving hand crossing and notes that constantly run into each other.

He said that these variations "sound awkward on piano even though the pianist has every dynamic contrast and creative device at his disposal. Unlike the piano, the harpsichord achieves different sound colors with each manual. One can hear the music better." Meniker called the 10 canons in this work his favorite canons because they are all rather "jolly."

Meniker's first practice of the Goldberg Variations for this recital was about a year ago. Performers of this work tend to lose enthusiasm during the performance because, harmonically, the variations are the same. Meniker does not find the variations boring at all and always keeps himself interested in his playing. He does not listen to recordings because he always wants his performances to be his unique creation. He offers a fresh interpretation of this piece, and a good respite from studies.

Zvi Meniker will be performing Sunday at 3 p.m. in Kulas Recital Hall. Admission is free.