by Mike Telin
It was a nice change of pace when Zhi Chao Juli Jia (29, China) opened her second round program with Rameau’s Les Tendres Plaintes. Her lovely performance of the short work was light and full of sensitive ornamentation. The pianist brought clean scales and articulations along with dynamic contrasts and well-shaped phrases to Beethoven’s Sonata No. 18 in E-flat, Op. 31, No. 3. The recurring theme in the scherzo was playful and the Menuetto graceful — the concluding Presto full of fire.
She concluded her program with a dramatic performance of Saint-Saëns Etude en forme de valse, Op. 52, No. 6. [Read more…]
Precision, clarity, and character stood out in the opening selection from Vitaly Starikov (25, Russia) — Bach’s Fantasia and Fugue in a, BWV 904. He brought the different voices of the opening into a discussion of their own, and pointed up certain phrases in the Fugue with an attractive, manic energy.