Steinway Society Young Artists Concert

The 2004 Young Artists Concert of the Steinway Society of the Bay Area was presented on Sunday evening, February 8, at Le Petit Trianon, San Jose. One of the four selected pianists was unable to appear, but this was still an exciting occasion, despite being uneven in musical quality. 

The evening got off to an excellent start, with Bethany J. Wang from San Ramon playing Beethoven’s “Appassionata” Sonata, Op.57. This was a mature performance that augured well for the future of this 15-year-old pianist, who showed remarkable poise at the keyboard with lithe movements of wrist and arm and body being translated into subtleties of touch and phrasing.

The new Steinway D produced some of the warmest tone heard from it so far, with the right degree of brilliance when needed, and the opening Allegro assai was strong and convincing. The variations of the slow movement were eloquently characterized, and gave further proof of the performer’s love for the music and insight into its thought processes. The finale was exciting without being harsh, lacking only the last ounce of Beethoven’s demonic rhythmic drive. 

Next we heard a group of Chopin pieces played by the 19-year-old Sergiy Komirenko, born in Kiev and now studying in California. The two-against-three Waltz in A-flat, Op.42, flowed along, although sounding rather heavy-handed, and this trait came to the fore (more justifiably) in the “Revolutionary” Etude in C minor, Op.10 No.12, where the most effective bars were the gentle rumbles before the final explosions. The playing of the E major Nocturne, Op.62, No.2, came as a revelation, with tonal warmth in the melodic line, beautifully fluent pianissimo decorations, and impeccably clean pedaling. The Ballade in G minor, Op.23, began promisingly with a measured introduction, but as soon as the accelerando led to greater excitement, the playing became too loud, and was blurred by over-pedaling. There was evidence of fine technique in octave and scale passages, but Chopin would have expected this to be more discreetly employed. 

Sergey Saratovsky, also from the Ukraine and, at age 23, a graduate student in Canada, began his program with Rachmaninoff’s Corelli Variations, Op.42, which the Steinway Society audience had heard beautifully performed by Olga Kern earlier this season. It was soon apparent that Saratovsky had strong dramatic instincts, which held the attention while detracting from the overall architecture of the work, which gradually and rather intellectually builds from its simple beginnings to the more familiar heart-on-the-sleeve Rachmaninoff towards the close. Along the way, we heard some vigorous and clean playing, with nimble finger work, but also much banging and over-pedaling. As a welcome relief, there were two beautiful variations played con amore, followed by one with a delightful lilting left-hand accompaniment, and the big romantic effects and the return of the theme were well managed. Turning his attention to Stravinsky, Saratovsky began the first of the three movements from Petrushka at a high dynamic level, but somehow with a more acceptable sound in Stravinsky’s ostinato chords and figurations than in much of the Rachmaninoff. But soon the sound became harsh again. The second movement began with glassy brilliance, and the third movement had much to admire technically in the playing of repeated notes, the relish for the cross-hand passages, and the accuracy of the left hand octaves however athletically challenging. Let us hope that this young pianist, who seemed gentle and engaging in his manner when not attacking the piano, and who has phenomenal technical and interpretative ability, can learn the virtues of restraint and concentrate for a while on tone quality.