|
LESLIE
HOWARD, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Friday.
Leslie Howard is a pianist who stands apart from
his contemporaries.
An interpreter of Franz Liszt's music without equal, he has recently
finished recording the complete piano works of the composer on
95 CDs. That, coupled with his other albums, has earned him a
place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most recorded
artist.
Besides Liszt, Howard has in his repertoire a large body of works
that are not often performed today.Howard returned to Salt Lake
City Friday for a recital presented by the Gina Bachauer International
Piano Foundation.
Playing in St. Paul's Episcopal Church, which was filled beyond
capacity with an enthusiastic audience, Howard performed an all-Russian
program of three sonatas that have been all but shunned by most
pianists today: Tchaikovsky's G major, op. 37; Anton Rubinstein's
E minor, op. 12; and Rachmaninoff's D minor, op. 28.
The three sonatas are stunning works that deserve to be performed
more frequently. However, each is extremely difficult in terms
of technique and expressive articulation. They demand a pianist
with immense technical skills, great dexterity and an incomparable
sense of expression.
Howard possesses all of these qualities in abundance. At Friday's
recital, he showed what a remarkable technician and supremely
articulate musician he is. With his program, Howard accomplished
the near impossible. The three sonatas, taken individually, tax
the abilities of the performer, yet Howard maneuvered around the
demands the composers place on the pianist with disarming ease
and near flawless execution.
The three sonatas are similar in style and content. They are written
on a grand scale with broad gestures and bold statements. They
are not immediately expressive or subtle. Yet Howard managed to
bring nuance and color to his playing, differentiating each work
with an infinite array of shadings.
He captured the intensity of the music as well as the vibrancy
of the pianism in each sonata. His playing was imbued with fierce
passion and compelling drama that brought out the sweeping emotional
outpourings with mannerisms that were never excessive or grandiose.
Howard succeeded in bringing variety and well-modulated _expression
into his lucid and dynamic interpretations. His playing was perceptive
and insightful. This was a tour de force presentation, and Howard
brought the audience to its feet with his dazzlingly display.
|
