Inner Demons Unleashed

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When the Rachmaninov Third Piano Concerto in D Minor appears on a piano recital, and it is performed by a local 16-year-old high schooler, it is truly a cause of interest and celebration.

Chloe Pang, a supertalented student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, ended her Saturday recital at the Conservatory with a powerful performance (with faculty Miles Graber on second piano) of the Rachmaninov, whose technical and dramatic challenges can evoke fear and trepidation even in the most seasoned of pianists.

Chloe Pang

Pang seemed to take on the challenges fearlessly, like a young colt eager to trot off on a new, exciting adventure. The piece started with the beautiful, nostalgic theme that is so unmistakably Russian, and then rose in a flurry of marvelously light, virtuosic embellishments that Pang played at scintillating, lightning speed.

When the music became romantically heartfelt, though, as in the lush second theme, she played tenderly, with a bit of restraint. The second movement, rich and deep in color, begins with another typically Russian theme, both tender and melancholic.

In the finale, Pang suddenly unleashed her inner demon, which allowed the performance to grow in dramatic intensity toward the climactic coda, where every last resource of the pianist is called upon to bring this piece to a triumphant conclusion. The audience responded with a howling ovation.

Captivating Promise

The first half of the program showed elements of Pang’s mature artistry, and also of her youthful inexperience. She began the recital with an engaging account of Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 10, No. 3. Especially noteworthy were the outer two movements, where she displayed perfect technical and rhythmic control of the composer’s wide-ranging octave passages, sharp accentuation, sudden fermatas, and compact thematic material.

The second movement, marked “Largo e mesto” (slow and mournful), is a slow movement like none written before Beethoven. It is the center of gravity of the entire sonata. The grief-laden theme constantly returns, progressing to anguished cries at the top of the instrument’s range. I think a pianist has imagine being an actor in a Greek tragedy in order to express this music more effectively.

The rest of the program consisted of Barber’s Excursions; Scriabin’s Etude in C-sharp Minor, Op. 2, No. 1; and Ravel’s Alborada del gracioso. All three performances showed off Pang’s admirable technical precision and nice sense of style. Yet to elevate her playing to a higher level of eloquence would require a deeper emotional connection with the music, so that her own involvement would truly move the listener. Perhaps listening to great, soulful singers like Maria Callas or Ella Fitzgerald would be a catalyst for this young artist.

Vera Breheda is a Bay Area pianist who has concertized in New York, Boston, and Los Angeles, as well as Europe and Japan. Her Brahms CD was selected as Best Classical Solo Album at the 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards.