CONCERT
Eri Nakagawa
Music Auditorium, WA Academy of Performing Arts
Of Beethoven’s thirty two piano sonatas the last three,
composed between 1820 and 1822, were especially personal. Sonatas No 31 and 32 were
dedicated to Mrs Antonie Brentano, considered by some to be the “Immortal Beloved” addressed in his love letters, and Sonata No 30 to her daughter
Maximiliane. The sonatas also have mind-blowing structural and harmonic innovations.
None of this contextual information was explained during a
recital by Thai pianist Eri Nakagawa. The concert was titled Immortal Beloved
but the lack of program notes meant it was up to Nakagawa to musically convey
the emotional riches and technical innovations.
Nakagawa played
with bright tone and strong ideas and her insights into the tender sweetness
and fierce energy of Beethoven’s music went a long way to redeem some flaws in
her playing. Melodic sections were clearly declamed and abrupt contrasts emphasised,
as in the moody Six Bagatelles Op 126 which opened the program. A tendency to
smudge finger work and miss the occasional note became evident in Sonata No 30.
But the variations in the final movement were impressive, including a
particularly tender restatement of the original theme.
Nakagawa’s light, fluid scale passages were a highlight of Sonata No 31. The piece becomes increasingly dark and the third movement had a tangible heaviness. Nakagawa came unstuck in the knotty fugue but maintained momentum for a gargantuan ending. More slips marred the Sonata No 32 although the swinging jazz rhythms of the finale were joyously delivered. No wonder they call Beethoven a composing god; this is boogie-woogie one hundred years ahead of its time! Again references to this in the program would have been enlightening.
ENDS
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