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Soheil Nasseri, Piano
(Nasseri Website)
Presented by 21st Century Classical Corporation
(21st Century Link)
At Alice Tully Hall
Lincoln Center
(Tully Hall Website)
Press: AudreyRossPub@aol.com
Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower
March 19, 2005 Soheil Nasseri is 26 years old and has performed three solo recitals at Alice Tully Hall and eight solo recitals at Weill Recital Hall. Next season he will perform 15 Beethoven piano sonatas as part of a pledge to perform all of Beethoven’s piano works by Beethoven’s 250th anniversary in 2020. Mr. Nasseri also performs new music by young composers, such as tonight’s premiere by Avner Dorman. Mr. Nasseri has studied with Karl Ulrich Schnabel, Alfred Brendel, and Richard Goode, and he is committed to performing music by composers from around the globe. (Program Notes).
Program:
Avner Dorman: Dance Suite (2005) World Premiere, Prelude-Lento, Oud and Kanun, Techno-Steady Beat.
Schubert: Sonata in B Major, D.575 (Op. 147 Posth.; 1817), Allegro, ma non troppo, Andante, Scherzo: Allegretto, Allegro giusto.
Beethoven: Sonata No. 22 in F Major, Op. 54 (1804), In Tempo d’un Menuetto, Allegretto.
Schumann: Humoreske in B-flat Major, Op. 20 (1838-39).
Soheil Nasseri, a warm, strong onstage presence, began tonight’s program at Tully Hall with Avner Dorman’s premiere composition, Dance Suite, a disturbing, dissonant, and driven work, which resembles dance rhythms with new, contemporary sound. This abstract piece was fascinating and definitely well positioned to begin the program, prior to the traditional, melodic works. At times, Mr. Nasseri played both far ends of his Steinway keyboard, in dizzy, feverish passages. Movement II, inspired by Mid-East instruments, generated some of the more interesting moments.
The Schubert Sonata in B Major began with skipping lyricism and contemplative connections. The tightness of composition was in stark contrast to the earlier, contemporary work. The Andante movement progressed from near silence to majestic volume, and then back to structured softness. The Sonata proceeded with a marching motif, followed by elegant energy. There was no romance here, as this was an esoteric work, as was the Dorman premiere.
Beethoven’s Sonata No. 22 brought out the passion and affective side of Mr. Nasseri, a talented and versatile pianist. His moody, melodic, and tempestuous presentation, ending with the Allegretto’s repetitive and charged passages, brought Tully Hall to extra attention. Schumann’s Humoresque in B-flat Major, the closing work, was romantic, impassioned, and inspired. It’s occasional torrents of musical madness were evocative of Schumann’s life, with voluptuous volume melting into what could be interpreted as a persistent pleading, with emotional energy overflowing. Contrasting passages toward the finale varied from violence to peacefulness. Several encores followed. Kudos to Soheil Nasseri on this virtuosic event.
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