Paragon Pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi’s Triumphant Return
By Richard Lynde
Bravos not only to pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi on his superb all-romantic piano recital, his first here in 15 years, but also to Distinguished Artists Concert & Lecture Series founder and director John Orlando after 30 years of first-rate musical adventures. The recital was on June 4 at Peace United Church of Christ in Santa Cruz, site of the spectacular Yamaha CFX concert grand; the proceeds of the concert going towards the balance on this ultra world-class instrument.
We were treated to lots of familiar Chopin, some unusual sounds from a big Edward Grieg sonata, a brilliant take off on Liszt by the contemporary Roberto Piana (not “piano”), and what was almost a Viennese waltz by none other than Avant Guard 20th century French innovator Francis Poulenc. And present to award a triumphal bouquet of flowers was native San Lorenzo Valley pianist Chetan Tierra, himself also an award-winner, who reveled in the presence of Pompa-Baldi, his teacher and mentor at the Cleveland Institute.
This reviewer had heard Pompa-Baldi many years ago and had found him a bit tame and cautious. Fortunately, this time the still youngish pianist, garbed all in black, played with tremendous fire when needed, along with a great depth and humility. Also, he did not comment on the music nor did he try to “pump up” the audience by dramatic gestures. Quiet and composed at all times, Pompa-Baldi let all of this rich romantic fare speak for itself via the keyboard-soundboard of the great Yamaha, with its “power steering” action and infinite expressivity.
The program opened most unusually with Chopin’s (1809-49) huge “Sonata No. 2, Op. 35 in B Flat minor,” his famous “Funeral March” (1839), this being the “warm-up” to the rest of the program. To these ears the first movement was a bit too fast, my only criticism of the entire evening. During the 3rd movement “Marche Funebre” we could imagine the horse-drawn coffin bouncing on a rutted road, with its slow middle section a mystical prayer and hope for heaven, then clanging onward, before the “presto” 4th movement some have called “a wind whispering over the graves” and Chopin himself termed “merely two hands gossiping,” which indeed they did right up to the final big bang chord, played here as well as any of the old masters including Rachmaninoff and Rubinstein.
Next, we were treated to a big but little-performed work by the diminutive Norwegian Edward Grieg (1843-1907), “Sonata in E Minor,” his only one, sonically very different from his still popular piano concert and “Peer Gynt” Suite. Here, we found a classical structure within the romantic world as in Brahms, The four movement work was fast and assertive to begin, then slow and expressive, with Pompa-Baldi coaxing bell-like tones from the great piano, then tension building with haunting melodies, and a conclusion with tricky runs and, as in Brahms, a non-specific religious fervor, along with technical difficulties that the pianist had long ago conquered.
Chopin was again represented, this time in Book I of his “Etudes Op. 10” (1829), these exquisite and challenging workouts full of much more than mere technical exercises; rather, of divine ear candy, some of the finest piano music ever penned and played, and recorded. During his probing performances, Pompa-Baldi put me in mind of the recorded sets by Vladimir Ashkenazy from the early 1960’s, still a recorded landmark. What we heard in the fine church hall was every bit as memorable.
Roberto Piana (b. 1971) parodied Liszt’s “Dante” reading with his own incredibly effortless adventure titled “Après d’un lecture de Liszt,” a terrific takeoff on themes and mannerisms of his great predecessor, the work commissioned by our pianist, and to cap off his great recital, Pompa-Baldi offered us one amazing romantic encore, “The Path to Love,” by Francis Poulenc from the 1920’s but sounding as beautiful as a late 19th century Viennese waltz, elegant and memorable, as was indeed this whole recital.