Review: ANA MARIA TRENCHI BOTTAZZI, Pianist
Piano Expressions, Ltd. Series
Goethe Institute
1014 Fifth Avenue
New York City
Thursday Evening, February 3rd, 2005 at 8:00 PM
First of all, sincere thanks to Piano Expressions, Ltd. for the
spectacular opportunity to hear first rate artists at admission
prices that are affordable in such a beautiful setting. The audience
this evening, as it was eight weeks ago when Dr. Bottazzi last
played in the series, was packed and responded throughout the
program with thunderous applause, bravos and a standing ovation for
the artist.
I hesitate to attempt a review of this concert since I reviewed the
last one given here by Dr. Bottazzi and nearly used up by vocabulary
of praise at that time. But I will attempt this one because there
was something different in the air this evening.
We usually associate virtuosity with speed, thousands of notes
performed with ease and brilliance. Well, it's time to amend the
definition. There is also a certain flair, elan, spontaneity and
elegance that should be part of the definition-plus that impish sort
of feeling one got when Horowitz used to do something impossible and
you could imagine him giving the audience a wink of humor as he did
it. This amended definition was present in abundance at tonight's
performance.
I won't give you a travelogue of the music that was played. I'll
leave that for music appreciation classes, but I will give you a
glimpse of the indescribable genius behind true virtuosic
performance.
Not only Mozart the prankster adolescent was present in the 12
Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je maman" but also Mozart the innately
elegant man with perfectly articulated nuances of every phrase in
his music. No typewriter playing with flair here, but a refinement
and humor and sheer elegance that can only be experienced, not
described. We could nearly hear the young genius improvising with
all the glitter and humor and pathos that defined him at his best.
The Beethoven "Pathetique" Sonata, Op. 13 was an about face with
thunder and darkness in the introduction and first movement,
heart-rending tenderness in the slow movement and a touch of Vienna
in the final Rondo movement. I have most often refused to teach
this piece, knowing that this quality in the Rondo could never be
described nor could I demonstrate it. Tonight we heard it was there.
Ana Maria Bottazzi's love of America is ever present in her Gershwin
"Three Preludes" The spontaneous "riffs" in the first and third and
a nostalgic tenderness in the middle Prelude made these pieces her
own-no one else's..
Dr. Helmut Fuch's lovely and tender "Schlummerlied", written
especially for the artist moved many to tears. The Debussy "Clair
de Lune" and "Reflets Dan's L'eau" showed their lineage with Mozart
and Chopin with the Bottazzi delicacy making both well-known pieces
new experiences.
The lyrical 3rd. Chopin Ballade and well-known c sharp minor Waltz
were a perfect prelude to the amazingly difficult Andante spianato
and Grand Polonaise, Op. 22. I have often heard this fiendishly
difficult final piece with perfect accuracy and amazing speed but
never with the spontaneity and flashes of elegance that made it the
masterpiece of performance that is was meant to be. A never to be
forgotten experience to all of us who were privileged to be present.
The encores of the Chopin "Minute Waltz" and the Morton Gould
"Boogie Woogie Etude" were a delight but this is only part of the
story of this concert. The endearing anecdotes through the program
by Dr. Bottazzi, with her enthusiasm and humor and delightful
delivery, were unique to a concert of this type. Only certain types
of people can pull this off and it was certainly a resounding
addition to this concert. In all the whining and experimenting by
people wanting classical concerts to be more "accessible" to the
general public, whatever that really means, I wish they could have
experienced the relaxed atmosphere hearing the artist speak between
pieces in such an endearing manner. Few of us can do that but one of
us can and did this evening. I brought several adult students to
this concert, knowing it would be a life-changing experience-and it
was and will, I am sure, be remembered for years to come.
I'm ready to hear Ana Maria Bottazzi every week until my concert
going days are over. If more people get a chance to hear her as we
did tonight, this will be a reality. As she often quotes: "what we
are is God's gift to us, what we do with it is our gift to God".
Well, dear Ana Maria Bottazzi, let us hear you more. Your gift is
too rare to be experienced so seldom.
Phillip Dieckow
Reviewer for Internet Reviews, concert pianist, founder and director
of the Dieckow School of Music and Artist in Residence in Piano of
the Stevens Institute of Technology.
