The Miami International Piano Festival, under the guidance
of Giselle Brodsky, continues to fill a gap, presenting
some superb yet lesser-known keyboard artists who are infrequently
given an opportunity to shine in South Florida.
The festival's Discovery Series, which closed last weekend,
set the bar high with Piotr Anderszewski's extraordinary
Bach recital Wednesday night. While the two other artists
I was able to catch did not quite rise to that rarefied
level, each offered some fascinating pianism.
Antonio Pompa Baldi displayed an imposing technique and
huge interpretive flair in a venturesome program Friday
night at the Lincoln Theatre. Co-winner of the Silver Medal
at the 2001 Van Cliburn Competition, the 28-year-old Italian
showed delightful humor and nimble élan in Czerny's
Variations on a Theme by Rode. Without sacrificing elegance,
the pianist brought out all the wit and scintillating virtuosity
of Czerny's clever variations.
Two contrasted musical Baedeker Guides made a nice pairing.
Pompa Baldi brought out the varied moods of Grieg's Holberg
Suite with subtle colors and a finely calibrated expression.
The rustic vigor of the quasi-Baroque dances was as unerringly
pointed as the Sarabande's gentle fantasy and the searching
depths of the Air. Though inspired by Italy, Poulenc's Napoli
Suite breathes more of the French composer's inimitable
Parisian joie de vivre. The boulevardier esprit and dizzying
demands were tossed off with gleaming panache and bravura.
Pompa Baldi went from strength to strength in the second
half. The drama of Liszt's Ballade No. 2 was rendered with
laserlike focus, lyrical poise wedded to blazing virtuosity.
The scintillating charm of three Moszkowski Etudes was deftly
conveyed, dynamic extremes wittily pointed.
The Italian pianist concluded with a powerful, richly idiomatic
performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Sonata No. 2. Pompa
Baldi made a strong case for the shorter, revised version
of this score, conveying the music's Russian drama and dark-hued
melancholy. Even the chaotic finale with its fistfuls of
notes exhibited amazing clarity and polish. Among the encores
was Debussy's Clair de lune, played with Gallic refinement
and gossamer delicacy.
More variable rewards were had with Misha Dacic on Thursday
night. This was the North American debut for the 24-year-old
Yugoslavian, a friend and compatriot of local favorite Kemal
Gekic.
Dacic (pronounced dot-sitch) clearly has the raw material
for a big career. In Chopin's Introduction et Rondeau --
possibly the Polish composer's worst piece -- Dacic showed
staggering technique and jaw-dropping digital facility.
The pianist paid tribute to the 100th birthday anniversary
of Vladimir Horowitz by offering Horowitz's preposterous
arrangement of Liszt's Rakoczy March. In that showpiece
and an encore of Volodos' equally complex paraphrase of
Mozart's Turkish March, some of the power and blazing speeds
were remarkable. But there were also enough rough spots
and untrammeled pounding to prove that if you don't have
all the notes and the personality to throw off these flame-throwers,
you shouldn't really attempt them.
Dacic's youthful impetuosity might have been better suited
to Schumann's Kreisleriana and at times he seemed in synch
with this fantastical music. But too often the Eusebius
tenderness of Schumann seemed merely glided over, and Dacic's
straitened tonal and dynamic palette failed to realize the
sound world of this music.
Four Scarlatti Sonatas were efficient if undone by a too-generous
rubato. Three Chopin Mazurkas were light on charm and more
powerful than persuasive. Medtner's Sonata-Reminscenza is
an interesting curio, even if it goes on a bit and sounds
like second-rate Rachmaninoff. Here too, while Dacic's unbridled
virtuosity was striking if undisciplined, the quieter passages
sounded unfocused and lacking in concentration.
Lawrence A. Johnson can be reached at ljohnson@sun-sentinel.com
or 954-356-4708.
