Immaculate technique one would expect from a top-class
pianist. (Review by Michael Green)
The distinguished American pianist Spencer Myer is well
known in South Africa, and he made a welcome return here when he played for the
Friends of Music at the Durban Jewish Centre.
He gave a varied programme ranging from Domenico Scarlatti
to modern American. He displayed the immaculate technique one would expect from
a top-class pianist, and he presented the music with understanding, affection
and insight.
Scarlatti (1685-1757) was a harpsichordist and one of the
greatest of keyboard composers. Spencer Myer played three of his sonatas. There
are 555 of them, short pieces that are classified by the letter K, which stands
for Ralph Kirkpatrick, the American harpsichordist who visited South Africa
about 50 years ago and became the supreme modern authority on Scarlatti.
Spencer Myer captured expertly the lively spirit of these
delightful pieces.
He followed with Schumann’s big Fantasie in C. Dating from
1836, this is one of the composer’s finest works, passionate, majestic and
romantic – and difficult to play. In this performance the pianist gave full
rein to its many moods, and he was rewarded with an ovation from the audience.
The Sonatine by
the French composer Maurice Ravel was first performed in 1906. It is subtle, stylish
and sophisticated - very French, in fact - and it is formidably difficult,
especially the last of the three movements. Spencer Myer handled all this with
virtuoso brilliance, producing a memorable performance.
Two American composers completed the programme. Samuel
Barber, best known for his Adagio for
Strings, was represented by the four pieces called Excursions. Written in the 1940’s, these are based on American folk
and jazz idioms. They are all attractive, and the gem is No. 3, which has its
roots in a poignant folk song, Streets of
Laredo, about a dying cowboy.
This was a good and interesting choice for the programme, as
were the Three Rags by William
Bolcomb, who was born in 1938. These bright and entertaining pieces are part of
the revival of interest in the 19th century ragtime music of Scott Joplin and
others. They were played by Spencer Myer with great zest and panache.
He gave an encore that was a complete contrast: Giovanni Sgambati’s
arrangement of the calm, ethereal Dance
of the Blessed Spirits from Gluck’s opera Orpheus and Eurydice. Beautiful music, beautifully played. - Michael
Green
FOM acknowledges the
support of the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund
Posts
