By Rebecca Cline Howard
Deseret Morning News
ANA MARIA TRENCHI BOTTAZZI, Libby Gardner Concert Hall, University
of Utah, Thursday.
JUANA ZAYAS, Libby Gardner Concert Hall, University of Utah, Friday.
Ana Maria Trenchi Bottazzi
On Thursday and Friday, the University of Utah's Summer Arts Piano
Competition presented recitals by pianists Ana Maria Trenchi
Bottazzi and Juana Zayas. The audience was filled mostly with
youngsters, but the music would have pleased the most discriminating
listener.
Both pianists gave excellent — but different — programs and
performances. While Zayas' program exclusively focused on all of the
Chopin Etudes, Bottazzi covered all the major music periods from
Scarlatti to Ginastera.
Bottazzi's most distinguishing characteristic was a beautiful, rich,
warm tone that reigned supreme no matter what she was playing. She
also seemed to blend the sounds somewhat for a softer edge to her
music.
This style particularly complemented the latter half of her program.
In Debussy's "Clair de Lune," for example, the blending managed to
lend itself well to the subtle coloring of the impressionistic
style.
Bottazzi imbued the three Chopin pieces with richness, tempering the
brilliant portions with a deep passion. She also had a great feel
for the jazz rhythms and style in Gershwin's "Three Preludes"; she
caught the swing in the stride left hand of the first movement and
the soulful blues in the second.
Interestingly, the same qualities that made Chopin so stunning gave
Beethoven's "Pathetique" Sonata (in the first half) an unusual
twist, with almost a feminine quality. Rather than emphasizing the
moodiness and sharp, dramatic contrasts in the music, she softened
the edges of this piece, so much that most of the highlights were
the lyrical sections.
The Scarlatti was similar in that her peaks were during the softer
sections, which gave her a chance to coax the warmth from the piano.
Occasionally, her playing (throughout the program) was peppered with
a missed or unclear note — most likely caused by recent health
problems involving her arm.
Juana Zayas
Zayas' playing, on the other hand, gave the music absolutely
everything it needed but absolutely nothing extra. By not projecting
a lot of her own personality into the interpretation, her unaffected
playing style went immediately to the core of Chopin. Even with the
obviously spectacular technical display of the Etudes, she was able
to set the brilliant pyrotechnics of the music in the background and
focus instead on the melody and counterpoint.
The emotional depth of the slower etudes (such as Op. 25 No. 7) gave
her a chance to really shine; one could hear Chopin's homesickness
for Poland in the plaintive beauty that she expressed.
It would be lovely to have her back to hear what she can do with the
rest of Chopin.
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