By Holland Garcia

Showing what a consummate professional he is, pianist Hans Boepple gave a stellar piano recital this afternoon for a small intimate audience in the home of Lyn & Renee Bronson, despite being under the weather with severe vertigo that caused a disturbing dizziness while he was playing. He opened his recital with Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in F Major, Op. 10, No. 2, playing with grace, charm, and great clarity. This sonata showed how Beethoven was a bridge between the classical and romantic period, being composed in classical forms while yielding to romantic extroversion in its emotionality.

Cyril Scott, the author of “Music: Its Secret Influence Throughout the Ages,” claimed that Beethoven’s music brought about a more compassionate society. He was convinced that Beethoven expressed emotion so overtly that it encouraged Europeans to display their feelings and become more humane and empathetic towards others. It is certainly true that even in the early Sonatas, Beethoven displayed emotions in a more forceful manner than any composer who preceded him.

The second piece Boepple played was the great Samuel Barber Sonata for Piano, Op. 26. This is a monumental masterpiece that was given a totally convincing performance.  After the energetic and somewhat frenetic first movement, the second movement was a welcome respite with its delightful humorous touches. The slow and singing third movement was followed by an almost jazzy sounding fugue, which seemed to pay homage to Bach.

I found the second half of the program to be the most enjoyable. Boepple opened with the Chopin Barcarolle in F-sharp Major, Op. 60, which he played gorgeously. Then he played the three selections from Venezia e Napoli by Liszt. The impressionistic Gondoliera opens with a fogbound Venice, and then when the sun comes out, a gondolier sings a beautifully sweet melody, and the piece fades away with a magical sounding ending. The Canzona sounded like a transcription of a song for voice and orchestra, but with a melody that only a piano could sing. The last piece, Tarantella, was a virtuosic tour-de-force that brought the recital to a thrilling conclusion. There were two encores by Chopin:  the “Aeolian” Harp Etude, Op. 25, No. 1, and the Etude Op. 25, No. 2, which I thought were the best performances of the afternoon.

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