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Review: RIC's Piano Recital Series Gets Off To Brilliant Start

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  • Review: RIC's Piano Recital Series Gets Off To Brilliant Start

    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.
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