RECITAL OF THE NEGLECTED

Grazyna Bacewicz is a name virtually unknown--as well as unpronounceable. According to Nancy Fierro, there is no reason why this fine Polish composer should be so neglected. Unless one considers the simple fact that Bacewicz was a woman composer.

“Bacewicz,” Fierro says, “was quite a woman--a violin virtuoso and a fine pianist, and she had a diploma in philosophy. There was no genre (of composing) she didn’t touch. When I met (Polish composer Witold) Lutoslawski recently he told me how he had known her (she died in 1969). He said she usually worked about 20 hours a day. She was well-respected right from the beginning.” Today, though, her name rarely appears on concert programs and is absent from the Schwann record catalogue.

A case of sexual bias? Perhaps.

“As recently as the ‘40s, some women were not allowed to study composition. Back around the turn-of-the-century, debates raged as to whether women had any creative powers,” Fierro notes.

The pianist, a specialist in keyboard music by women, has been involved in this fascinating field for 12 years. This afternoon at Mount St. Mary’s College, where she serves on the music faculty, Fierro will play a recital of works by Bacewicz as well as such unjustly neglected figures as Clara Schumann, May Aufderheide, Julia Niebergall and Gladys Yelvington (the latter are all American ragtimers).

Of that list, of course, only Clara Schumann is a familiar name--ironically because of her marriage to Robert Schumann. Clara, says Fierro, was trained “almost as if she were a man by her father, who wanted her to become the artist he never was. I recently came upon a letter she wrote when she was 20, in which she said something like, ‘No woman has ever written great music. Why should I? I don’t know why my father ever pushed me in that direction.’ ”

Clara was, to Fierro, an example of the Superwoman Complex: “She raised seven kids, she played the piano, she composed, she was a protective wife. If you can do everything, then you’re OK, some women seem to feel.”

Fierro acknowledges that most music by women is good, but not great. “What I see, occasionally, is a diamond in the rough, a piece that has some good ideas, but the training wasn’t there to complete them properly.” A sad situation, Fierro agrees, adding that it wasn’t always thus: “In Ancient Egypt, all the high priestesses had musical training. In Greece, too, many temple composers were women. Over the centuries, it depended on whether a society was matriarchal or patriarchal. The Renaissance, of course, was very patriarchal--a big step back for women.”

The overwhelming domination of our culture by men was really hit home to Fierro on a visit to the Library of Congress recently. “A little girl was standing there looking at the statues--all of famous men. I’ll bet, in her mind, she was thinking that all the great things are being done by men.

“That’s why this (playing music by women) is such a thrill for me. These women can serve as role models. And the music is so unknown, I have to reach down and draw an original interpretation straight from my own soul.”

NEW MAN IN NEW MEXICO: Last year, Neal Stulberg left the glamour of Los Angeles for the sandier pastures of Albuquerque, giving up his post as assistant conductor of the Philharmonic here to serve as music director of the small-but-growing New Mexico Symphony. In town recently, Stulberg spoke enthusiastically about life the Southwest.

“The response has been wonderful,” he said. “At the first few concerts they had to turn people away. It’s exciting to be there these days, since the orchestra is going through a transition. Rehearsals have traditionally been held in the evenings, so the players could work in other activities. But we’re looking to expand so they can be full-time musicians. We’re moving toward servicing the entire state.” Right now, Stulberg noted, the annual budget is $2 million, but the board is looking to double that: “The money is really there.”

Programming has been particularly rewarding to the conductor, who pointed to a Gershwin program this month that features little-known Los Angeles pianists Michael Feinstein and Stan Freeman. “Michael is a fine young pianist who was introduced to me by Michael Tilson Thomas. And he in turn suggested Freeman, who’s probably in his 60s. This guy, who’s worked a lot writing scores for TV shows, once went on tour all over Europe playing ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ with Paul Whiteman (who conducted the first performance with Gershwin as soloist).” Freeman, incidentally, will appear at the L.A. Stage Co. West on Monday night.

AT THE PHILHARMONIC: Two events sponsored by the Los Angeles Philharmonic occupy this Thanksgiving week at the Music Center. Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha will play a solo recital on Tuesday. Her program lists music by Bach. On Wednesday and Friday, Jan Latham-Koenig will conduct two non-subscription programs--and unusual ones they are: Poulenc’s “Les Biches” suite, Bizet’s “Jeux d’enfants” and Saint-Saens’ “Carnival of the Animals” (both with Katia and Marielle Labeque as soloists) and the premiere of the Guitar Concerto by jazz fusion guitarist/composer John McLaughlin (with the composer as soloist).