By David Beech
The well-established English pianist Imogen Cooper was warmly received by the Steinway Society audience at Le Petit Trianon, San Jose on Sunday evening, March 22, 2009. Her recital was devoted largely to the work of Schubert, preceded by Bach in the first half, and Schoenberg in the second.
The first half of the program would have been heard to better advantage in one of the large halls in which Ms. Cooper customarily plays. Bach’s Partita No.2 in C minor, BWV 826, was firm and fully pedalled. To a listener, the biggest problem with this work is that after an interesting three-section Sinfonia, the Allemande, Corrente, and even the Sarabande, do not find Bach at his most memorable – a little more contrast in tempo between the Allemande and Corrente might have helped. But the final Rondeaux and Capriccio showed why this work retains its place in the repertory, with their spirited rhythms and leaps, and here Ms. Cooper achieved an irresistible momentum, even through the cerebral fugal writing, complete with inversions.
