REVIEW: RIC’S PIANO RECITAL SERIES GETS OFF TO BRILLIANT START
By Channing Gray
Journal Arts Writer
Providence Journal , RI
Sept 19 2005
Rhode Island College yesterday launched its new series designed to
revive the solo piano recital in smaller, out-of-the-way venues. And
the college couldn’t have found a better ambassador than Jon Nakamatsu,
winner of the 1997 Van Cliburn Competition.
The 37-year-old pianist proved a powerhouse, but one with a sensitive
side. He could produce tsunamis of sound, then pull back for the most
delicate passages.
That was true of sections of Rachmaninoff’s wonderful Corelli
Variations and stormy C-Sharp Minor Scherzo of Chopin, where big
contrasts in tone and mood were the order of the day.
And nowhere did Nakamatsu sound more velvety than in the Scarlatti
group that opened the afternoon program in Sapinsley Hall at the
Nazarian Center.
Nakamatsu was the first pianist in a new series to reintroduce the
solo piano recital to smaller towns. While recitals still exist in
Boston and New York, it has been decades since the great pianists of
the day have come through Providence on a regular basis.
RIC is starting off slowly, with just two recitals; the twin brothers
Richard and John Contigulia are due to play here in January.
But Nakamatsu, a former high school German teacher, seemed the ideal
pianist to inaugurate the series — someone with a big technique but
a musician at heart. About two-thirds of the seats at Sapinsley Hall
were filled.
Nakamatsu started things out with a group of familiar Scarlatti sonatas
that were all about control and colorful harmonies. The virtuosic D
Minor, Longo listing 422, was especially impressive for its repeated
fingerwork and sparkling passagework.
But the whisper-soft cross-hands sections in the C Minor was
perfection.
The Corelli Variations of Rachmaninoff, which are seldom played, were
warm and lush, with bold, clean leaps. And his Chopin, the F-Sharp
Major Nocturne and the Scherzo, had poetry, but also clear concepts.
The rippling runs in the Scherzo were feathery and the ending fiery,
as brilliant as I’ve ever heard it.
After intermission came an intriguing set of angular, folkish dances
by the Armenian-Iranian composer Loris Tjeknavorian, written in 1958.
These made for an interesting change of pace and helped introduce the
final Liszt set, made up of a couple of unknown works along with the
ever-popular Mephisto Waltz.
The Mephisto is one of the true showpieces for the piano, with blazing
octaves and gobs of arpeggios. Here’s where Nakamatsu really turned
up the heat, but without sounding forced or bangy. It was about as
brilliant a performance for which you could ask.
Two encores followed, both with a sense of freedom that was not always
heard in the recital proper. The first was the Liszt transcription
of Schumann’s lovely song Widmung or Dedication; the second, a regal
rendition of Chopin’s famous A-Flat Major Polonaise.