Charles Jones, Piano (6/8/13)

Charles Jones played a very engaging piano concert on Saturday afternoon that included Sonata in C Major, Op. 53, “Waldstein” – Allegro con brio, Introduzione-Adagio molto,
Rondo-Allegro moderato, Beethoven (1770–1827); Etude in E Major, Op. 10, No. 3, Chopin (1810–1849); Jeux d’eau, Ravel (1857–1937), and after intermission, Ballade in g minor,
Op. 23; Four Impromptus – A-Flat Major, Op. 29, F-Sharp Major, Op. 36, G-Flat Major, Op. 51, and C-Sharp Minor, Op. 66 “Fantaisie-Impromptu”; and Ballade in f minor, Op. 52, all by Chopin.

The Beethoven is a very big work but I found some of the phrases to be a little choppy. It might have been nerves, or just needing to warm up? I also found parts of the middle movement to be a bit segmented. The third movement was spirited. Mr. Jones’s shift into the French repertoire was quite enjoyable. The Chopin Etude had a gentle opening and was, overall, played well. The Ravel really sounded like “water games.” The tinkling portions of the score give a sense of light sparkling on water. There was a darker, slightly heavier section, followed by ripples slowly fading away.

During the first half of the concert, there was a woman who had a coughing fit and, thankfully, left the hall. (She did return later.) In the second half, we had a cell phone ringing. Deep down in the bowels of a woman’s very large purse. Consequently, the ringing lasted a while. This ticks me off. I don’t have a cell phone, so it’s never mine.

The opening Ballade is a favorite of mine and it was a treat to hear it live in a very enjoyable performance, even though there was a slight stumble at the end. All four Impromptus were fun as well, with my notes for the first including “bright and bubbly.” The second had a heroic section in the middle and seemed to be a little more fully developed. The third had lots of rhythmic runs—the equivalent of pianistic fireworks—which are often a hallmark of Chopin’s compositions. In general, there seemed to be more tunes in the impromptus. The final impromptu had rapid finger work from the get go. And those tunes I mentioned?

Yes, this is the “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” impromptu. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x93pwAvUkAA If you want “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows,” skip to 1:10 or so. This sort of makes one of my points—you’ll rarely hear this (what seems to be a studio recording) in a live concert hall.

The final Ballade was very well played. I enjoyed the French repertoire better than the opening Waldstein Sonata, but I’m certainly glad that I got to hear all of them. I urge you all to check out some youtube action on any of the selections from this concert. Both of the Ballades and the Fantaisie-Impromptu are well known to me and would probably at least sound familiar to a lot of you. Mr. Jones’s playing was quite good and his interpretations were, to my ears, pretty valid throughout.

ConcertMeister