San Francisco Classical Voice

Billing her program as "Modernism and More," Berkeley pianist Lynn Schugren presented a terrific new work and an enduring American masterpiece on her recital last Friday evening at Old First Concerts. Her impressive ability to float a melody within a lovely sonority was evident from the very opening of the program.

Beethoven's early Sonata in G major, Op. 14, No. 2, was played with subtle inflection, lyrical bass voices, and a well-paced musicality. Only the Andante movement seemed somewhat static, lacking forward motion. Brahms Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 21, was impressively atmospheric in the opening. Schugren projected the sunny innocence of the second variation and the romantic drama of the ninth variation with genuine musical expressiveness.

The highlight of the first half, however, was composer Ken Durling's zany Zig-Zags, receiving its world premiere. A one-movement scherzo, chromatic and restless, Zig-Zags seemed to go everywhere and in every way. Shugren was like a masterful roadrunner guided by sonic radar. Always and unexpectedly, the piece was in the right place at the right time.

After a fake-out ending, it relentlessly started up again. When it actually stopped, I was hoping for more. Listening was like being in one of those dizzy-making rides at an amusement park, where the only thing to do is to hold on for dear life. Zig-Zags might be subtitled "A Coney Island of the Mind," to borrow the title of Lawrence Ferlinghetti's poem. A repeat performance after intermission would have been welcome.

Ironically, the only disappointment was Copland's hard-bitten Piano Variations (1930). This piece ranks among the real masterpieces of the first half of the 20th century and was the most "modern" piece on the program. But Schugren tamed and smoothed out the vital, craggy elements too much. In a radical departure from Copland's earlier, jazzy piano compositions, the work consists of 20 brief variations and a coda that flow freely without discernible divisions. Serious in intent and feeling, the Variations incorporate a four-note motive on which the entire piece is based. The piece represent one of Copland's first experiments with serial technique.

Schugren's performance of the Copland lacked the dynamic and emotional range to bring off the big contrasts and extravagant statements. The organic unfolding of each variation that makes this such a masterpiece seemed to need rethinking. Leonard Bernstein so adored the Variations that he would sit down and play it at parties (the room would quickly empty). While Schugren's performance did not have enough of the requisite edge, Copland's "French," sonorous aspect came to the fore to a degree I had not heard before in this piece.

Schumann's Kriesleriana, Op.16, which concluded the program, was played with great sincerity. Warm, touching lyricism marked Schugren's performance. She let the music unfold without clutter or interference, and her playing was truly heartfelt.

Always personal, Lynn Schugren's playing offers both substance and poetry. Somehow, like a special neighborhood restaurant, Old First Concerts continues to offer the real thing.

(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