San Francisco Classical Voice

Pianist Minyoung Lee played with an uncommon, lovely delicacy in her West Coast debut recital Sunday at Herbst Theater, presented by the Korean American Music Supporters' Association. She has an honest musical intensity, contained but not halfhearted.

A wonderfully idiomatic performance of the Mozart Sonata in F Major, K. 332, began the program. There was an unforced rightness about her playing. Warm and simple it was, yet at the same time interesting and sophisticated. Lee took the repeat of the exposition of the Allegro first movement, with the consequence of setting off the development section with genuine drama. The Adagio second movement was magically played with a sense of quietude. In the Allegro molto movement, Lee played with freedom and unfailing rhythmic poise.

She played Maurice Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin with an improvisatory fluidity. The Fugue was fully expressive. In the Forlane, unfortunately, the spell was broken by a few latecomers allowed to wander in during the playing. The Rigaudon was filled with spirit and energy, although Lee splattered the last chord. An enchanting Minuet, with extraordinary sensitivity to harmony, was mesmerizing. The Toccata is technically formidable, a tour de force that is easily vulgarized if actually forced. She was up to the task, and her timing in building to the climax was masterful.

Chopin Mazurkas of Op. 59, containing unfathomable harmonic and contrapuntal subtlety, were played with genuine discernment. The middle section of the A minor mazurka, in the tonic major and with its slight variations, is among the most sophisticated writing in all of Chopin. And the opening of the A-flat major mazurka is equally adventurous, with its tonally elusive, shifting harmonies. Lee's approach was nonpercussive, almost a caress of the keyboard. This was music, and a performance, that transcended the salon. Lee stood in the shadows of the stage for her bow, unselfconsciously elusive after these Mazurkas, and profoundly apt.

Lee's performance of Bartok's Sonata (1926) was less visceral than many other renditions, focusing instead on qualities of color and line rather than the usual bombast. The frenetic Allegro moderato was propulsive but atmospheric as well. The Allegro molto movement remained accessible despite its jarring clashes. Never noisy or reckless, she took the high road.

The temperature in Herbst Theater was cold to the point of discomfort in the second half. Was anyone minding the store?

(John McCarthy is a pianist and teacher. He is Director of Preparatory and Extension Divisions at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.)

©2000 John McCarthy, all rights reserved