By South Florida Classical Review / Lawrence Budmen

Ariel Lanyi is an artist who values subtlety and depth of expressive insight over flashy superficiality.

On Sunday, the Israeli pianist displayed his disciplined musicality to impressive effect in a recital for the Miami International Piano Festival at the Aventura Art and Culture Center. Schubert and Chopin sonatas and rarely played Bartók comprised a program that mixed familiar with less-often-heard fare.

In pre-performance remarks, Lanyi described Schubert’s Sonata in G Major as “calm and serene.” Those qualities characterized his unhurried pacing of the first movement, but he made the underlying pathos strongly felt. Every note and detail were transparent. At times, Lanyi’s limpid articulation was almost Chopinesque, bringing out unexpected connections between the two composers’ keyboard writing.

He channeled the Viennese grace in the main theme of the Andante. Holding his power in reserve, the contrasting episode was played with tempestuous and fiery emphasis. The Menuetto pulsated with the virile rhythms of the dance and the central section resounded almost like a folk tune under Lanyi’s bright and svelte touch.

Applying judicious rubato and tonal coloration, Lanyi captured the verve of the concluding Allegretto. The thematic lines in the right hand were exceptionally clear and present. Throughout the performance, Lanyi infused every nuance with meaning and gravitas.

Béla Bartók was an inveterate collector of indigenous Hungarian folk music, visiting the most remote places in the countryside to hear and transcribe the songs and dances of the rural population. His 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, Op. 71, range from nostalgic to rustic to fiercely euphoric. Bartók’s iteration of folk influences is more direct and less ornamented than Liszt’s adaptations. Lanyi found both poetry and yearning as well as the festive exuberance in these brief but deftly contoured vignettes. In the final Poco piu mano vivo, he ignited fireworks without ever resorting to pounding or tonal harshness.

There was an impetuous streak in Lanyi’s performance of Chopin’s Sonata No. 3 in B minor. From the forward thrust of the opening to the lyrical outpouring and rhapsodic sweep of the secondary subject,  unhurried breadth and scale highlighted Lanyi’s rendering of Chopin’s panorama of pianistic motifs and colors. The inner drama and spacious reverie of the Largo were brought forth with special immediacy while the flurry of notes at the onset of the Finale were attacked with force. With dynamics and tonal shadings finely varied and proportioned, Lanyi’s reading was more than the sum of its parts.  Chopin’s melodic inspiration and virtuosic bravado were both fully served.

A full standing and cheering house brought Lanyi back for an exquisitely etched encore of Chopin’s Nocturne in C-sharp minor, concluding the concert on a contemplative note.

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