Post-Turkey Day Piano Concert

This is a pianist I have heard before—Benjamin Bradham. The program today was a bit difficult, for me. It started with a Beethoven piano sonata, Op. 110, A-flat major. I found the composition a little bit rambling and non-cohesive. As well, there may have been some memory slips. (Note: I did not know any of the works on the program, and all were played from memory.)

Next up was a contemporary work (composed in 1956), Sonata No. 2 by George Walker (b. 1922), a composer I don't know. I found it very difficult to follow (movement one had nine variations—I couldn't keep track of them). There were a few interesting ideas, but I found it fairly scattered.

The first half finished with Johannes Brahms' Rhapsody in b minor. This worked for me. More lush, more of an arc, with definite sections linked together pretty well.

Second half—big improvement. Ravel, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff. The Ravel (Sonatine, Modéré) had washes of color, reminiscent of Impressionism, though with definite melodies—not just wispy, nebulous nothingness. This was followed by Funérailles* (Liszt). There were many shifting moods—angst, martial, hope, melodies over ostinatos, etc.

The concert finished with Four Preludes of Sergei Rachmaninoff. Op. 23, No. 7 (c minor); Op. 32, No. 12 (g-sharp minor), No. 6 (f minor), and No. 13 (D-flat major). These were four jewels. The first two were similar—rippling arpeggios, with overall structure. The f minor was a bit more robust and the D-flat major was expansive, major (duh!) and a positive way to end the concert.

There was one encore that sounded suspiciously like Bach.

*Composed as homage to those killed in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848-49 (program notes, not me.)

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