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For Four nights last week, April 9 - 12, the Miami International
Piano Festival of Discovery held their 5th annual "Discovery
Series" of concerts at the Lincoln Theatre on Miami Beach.
As promised, these concerts offered not only wondrous performances
of great music by young pianists of rare ability, but ample
opportunity for discovering more about piano-related topics.
For example, during the hour preceding each concert the pianists
and other invited guests offered interesting and informative
presentations about the piano and piano performance. These
talks usually included a question and answer session. And,
after each concert, there was an Artist Reception in the lobby
of the theatre.
Italian pianist Pietro De Maria opened the series on April
9th with a brilliant performance of works by Mozart, Beethoven,
Mendelssohn, and Ravel. De Maria has performed several times
now in South Florida and is an artist of rare poetic beauty
and rich insight. This was evident from the first few notes
of Mozart's "Piano Sonata in B-flat major, K.333," which opened
the concert. De Maria played the piece with obvious delight
and expressiveness and had superb control of phrasing, articulation,
color, and dynamics. Melodies flowed naturally from De Maria's
fingers during each piece on the program. Mendelssohn's "Fantasy
in F-sharp minor, Op. 28" was virtuosic, impulsive, and imaginative.
Ravel's "Gaspard de la Nuit" shimmered with other worldly
beauty, as well as with passion and romance.
Even when playing idiosyncratically, as De Maria certainly
was during Beethoven's "Sonata in F minor, Op. 57 (Appassionata),"
he nevertheless was able to convince you that his way of playing
the piece was the right way. To my way of thinking, this is
one of the hallmarks of a major artist. De Maria is a refreshing
talent not to be missed, so mark your calendars now for his
next South Florida appearance in September during Festival
Miami 2002 at the University of Miami.
On April 10th Romanian pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa gave powerful
and lyrical performances of works by Schubert, Chopin, Enesco,
and Bartok. Schubert's "Klavierstucke, D.946," in particular,
was given a long, flowing, arching reading of considerable
sensuality, playfulness, and magisterial triumph. Ursuleasa
routinely delves deeply into the aura and passionate moods
found in the music on her program, often playing for extended
periods of time with her eyes closed, as if living and experiencing
the music rather than "merely" performing it. The piano seemed
as much an extension of her body as it did a separate musical
instrument. Ursuleasa was an especially impressive advocate
of the two Romanian works on the program: George Enesco's
rarely performed "Sonata in D major, No. 3" and Bartok's "Romanian
Dances, Op. 8, No. 1 and No. 2." Both works require prodigious
technique, agile fingers, rhythmic power, and absolute control
of the piano's sound character.
Ursuleasa was more than equal to the task. For her these
two works flowed comfortably and coherently and possessed
considerable dramatic energy and nationalistic flavor. Chopin's
familiar "Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 58, No. 3" was the
final work on Ursuleasa's program. After a powerfully dynamic
opening volley of notes, Ursuleasa played with incredible
lyricism, beauty, expressiveness, and pianistic control. In
this work, also, Ursuleasa closed her eyes for long stretches
at a time, especially during the second movement, where she
produced subtly rich and delicately complex pianistic colors
and textures of uncommon introspection and beauty. Even though
Ursuleasa seemed slightly less secure at moments during the
third movement, hers was a memorable and satisfying performance
of this work.
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