Music Professor Swings With BSO for a Weekend

Robert Levin ’68 served as a last minute replacement for pianist Alfred Brendel with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) this weekend after Brendel was rendered unable to perform due to an arm injury.

Levin, Robinson professor of the humanities and head tutor of the music department, received a call early Saturday morning from Symphony Hall asking him to perform the same day.

“I was called at 10:10 a.m. by Tony Fogg, the artistic manager, who asked me if I could play Beethoven’s fourth [concerto] that night,” Levin said. “He said there was a rehearsal at 10:30 a.m. I said I could, I’d drive to Symphony Hall immediately.”

After the orchestral rehearsal, Levin spent the afternoon practicing on Brendel’s piano.

“One must adjust to every piano,” he said. “The Hamburg [Steinway] Mr. Brendel selected is a fine instrument, and I am enjoying playing on it.”

Brendel, 70, one of the world’s foremost Beethoven specialists, was in town for six concerts with the BSO and conductor Seiji Ozawa, featuring all five Beethoven piano concertos. After feeling pain in his arm, he cancelled the concerts scheduled for Saturday and last night and flew back to Munich to meet with his physician.

“We’re awaiting a response from his doctor about whether or not he’ll be able to return [this Friday],” said Sean Kerrigan, associate director of media relations for the BSO.

In the meantime, Levin—who was already playing Mozart’s 21st piano concerto with the Handel and Haydn society at Symphony Hall Friday and Sunday—filled in, and performed to an enthusiastic crowd.

Before he began, he told the audience, “I should warn you that the cadenzas will be improvised.”

“The reponse was tremendous,” Kerrigan said. “[Levin] received a standing ovation and the audience realized the short preparation time involved.”

Monday morning, the Boston Globe ran the story on its front page, accompanied by a photo of the animated Levin in performance.

“This is a wonderful, intelligent musician,” Ozawa told the Globe. “You know, I have never before conducted a soloist who improvises his own cadenzas—I wasn’t sure when he was going to end, so I just watched him very closely! It is very enjoyable to work with someone whose mind is so clear.”

Last night, Levin played Beethoven’s second concerto in addition to the fourth. The second was also a last-minute addition and was prepared on one rehearsal with only a few members of the orchestra.

Brendel was scheduled to speak at Harvard tonight in Paine Hall, but his lecture has been cancelled.