By David Beech

The Steinway Society The Bay Area welcomed New York pianist Ursula Oppens to Le Petit Trianon, San Jose on Sunday, March 21, 2004. The highlight of the evening turned out to be the contrasted works of Lou Harrison that began the second half of the program. 

Known for her dedicated advocacy of contemporary piano writing, Ms. Oppens captured perfectly the Schoenbergian style of the Prelude from Harrison’s 1943 Suite for Piano, with its reluctant gracefulness emerging from dull dissonances reminiscent of a gray day in Germany. Nothing could have been sunnier than the three one-movement sonatas that followed — numbers IV, V, and VI of the Six Sonatas for Cembalo [harpsichord] or Piano. The playing of these was notable for its clarity and charm. Number IV is clearly a 20th-century homage to Scarlatti, while number V began to sound more like a piece from Bartok’s Mikrokosmos, and number VI had the spirit of a Bear Dance. Of the many tributes to Lou Harrison heard in this area during the past year, none was more delightful than this short selection of piano pieces, especially as an affectionate offering from an East Coast artist. 

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