By Kevin Moore
http://cnycafemomus.com/Kevin_Moore.html

Distinguished pianist Jon Nakamatsu played a piano recital on Saturday afternoon, February 26th in downtown Syracuse. Sponsored by Civic Morning Musicals, it was a benefit for that organization, one of the oldest in the United States. And this was a concert that could not have left anyone dissatisfied. Nakamatsu’s playing is the epitome of elegance, grace and gentleness, and the chosen program played to those strengths.

The pianist gained sudden fame as the Gold Medal winner at the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, in 1997. At the time, he was a high school German teacher who never actually expected to win. Since the Cliburn Gold Medal, however, his life has been a constant string of concerts with major orchestras, chamber groups, famous instrumentalists and solo recitals in major venues. This concert was held in Park Central Presbyterian Church in the middle of the City of Syracuse. While that’s not one of the usual major venues for concerts in Syracuse, the acoustics there are rather ideal for a solo recital. And the Steinway D that was used had been on-loan from the nearby Everson Museum of Art. To be honest, it sounds better in this venue than at the museum.

The program included the Gavotte avec six doubles (Variations) by Jean Phillippe Rameau, the Tre Sonnetti del Petrarca by Franz Liszt and the solo version of Frédéric Chopin’s Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op.22.

The concert began with the Rameau. This work is the last of seven movements that make up the composer’s Suite in A minor. It has often been excerpted by pianists, and with good reason. It’s a delightful, charming piece and Nakamatsu’s performance was subtle, elegant and mostly soft. He does not play with a large tone but prefers great subtlety of melodic and colorful harmonic finesse. That worked marvelously in this entire program, surely chosen to fit those virtues.

This recital was performed without an intermission –– which by professional standards is rather short (about 45 minutes of music). He did however speak to the audience between pieces and answered questions, which not only doubled the length of the program but also produced a modest and charming impression that added an air of informality and warmth to the event. It also enhanced the experience for this listener. Nakamatsu spoke after the Rameau, after the first Liszt piece, and after the next two Liszt pieces. That broke up the program and was very effective in getting the music across.

The Three Petrarch Sonnets of Liszt are transcriptions for solo piano modeled after the composer’s earlier songs for voice and piano, based on settings of Sonnets 47, 104 and 123 of the 14th century Italian poet, Francesca Petrarca (more commonly known to English-speaking audiences as Petrarch). The piano settings are much more elaborate, richly textured and pianistically imaginative than the original songs. They were published as part of the second volume of Liszt’s Années de Pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage). That one was entitled Deuxième Année: Italie and consists entirely of works with an Italian theme or connection. They are among Liszt’s finest works.

The Liszt pieces were played with delicacy, elegance and beauty of sound –– essentially impressionistic in effect. While many pianists find more passion, intensity and depth of tone (especially in the softer sections), in Nakamatsu’s hands the passion was limited to the loud climaxes. That’s not a criticism so much as an observation, and an admiring one at that. It was also a wonderful idea to print the English text of the Petrarch Sonnets in the program. That made each piece come alive from the inside out, so to speak, and the playing matched these classic love poems wonderfully.

Chopin’s Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante was originally written for piano and orchestra but is most often performed today as a solo piece. Chopin wrote six works for piano and orchestra and two of them work very well for solo piano –– this one, and the Variations on "La ci darem la mano," Op.2. The orchestral accompaniment merely adds background color and is not essential to the music. In fact, the excellent program notes spoke to this issue and mentioned that Chopin’ s debut in Paris included a solo version of his Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 21 (the printed program notes lacked attribution, but presumably were written by Nakamatsu).

The Andante spianato, which was added by Chopin sometime after the work’s first performance, is a lovely, placid work that brings to mind the surface of a calm lake. Its unruffled charm is interrupted several times by a Mazurka-like interlude. It’s a mark of Chopin’s genius that it introduces and contrasts with the Polonaise so vividly. In fact, the Grande Polonaise brillante is exactly that –– one of Chopin’s most extroverted and brilliant pieces and one of the few by the composer so completely devoted to virtuosic display. It is tuneful and catchy but festooned with elaborate ornamentation and pianistic gymnastics of a unique and beautiful variety. In a famous review, Robert Schumann noted the same thing about Chopin’s earlier work for piano and orchestra, the Variations on "La ci darem la mano."

This was clearly the high point of the program. As extroverted as the Grande Polonaise Brillante may be, Nakamatsu played it with great subtlety and control, and the few truly fortissimo sections were doubly effective for being exceptional –– which reminds me very much of descriptions of Chopin’s own playing. Compared to this magnificent rendition, most other pianists sound rude, brusque and hyper-virtuosic. This was the essence of fine music-making and a wonderful ending to a memorable concert.

After sustained and enthusiastic applause, Nakamatsu added a single encore –– a work he said was the piece he most wanted to learn as a child just starting out on piano. It was The Entertainer, a piano rag by Scott Joplin, which he performed with charm, rhythmic vitality and nostalgia. It was just the right touch to end this event.

DETAILS BOX:

What: An Afternoon with Jon Nakamatsu
Who: Civic Morning Musicals
Where: Park Central Presbyterian Church, Syracuse, NY
When: 3 P.M. Saturday, February 26, 2011
Program: Works of Rameau, Liszt and Chopin