Natasha Paremski

By David Beech

The 18-year-old Russian-American pianist Natasha Paremski treated Steinway Society patrons to an exciting solo recital on Sunday, January 8, 2006 at Le Petit Trianon in San Jose (the same program had been performed, also to a full house, the previous evening). Already a seasoned concerto performer, Paremski was here giving her first Bay Area solo recitals, and it was easy to see from her assurance and musicianship why she has already played with many fine orchestras, and has a full calendar ahead with many more. She also has an engaging manner, modest and without unnecessary gestures while playing.

In the second half of this program especially, she showed exceptional promise as a recitalist, ranging from delicate nuances and many gradations of quietness to astonishing pyrotechnic displays without any rhythmic hesitation. This was remarkable playing by any standards, and even the loudest passages were clean and well judged, whereas in the Beethoven and Chopin sonatas earlier, the dynamics were often inappropriately on the scale of a Brahms concerto. What would have sounded fine and heroic coming over an orchestra in a large hall seemed to be forcing both the drama and the tone of solo works in the intimate setting of Le Petit Trianon.

Beethoven's "Tempest" sonata, Op. 31 no.2 in D minor, has been appearing so frequently on recital programs recently that an audience comes to it well prepared. Paremski immediately showed her rhythmic control in both the reflective Largo and the vigorous Allegro sections of the first movement, with graceful softer passages but rather hard forte. The central Adagio had felicitous pp arpeggios and subito piano effects, although elsewhere accompanying notes in chords might have been softer underneath the singing melody. The Allegretto finale came off delightfully, with a charming lilt which seems to be very personal to each pianist who plays this movement. Paremski's version deemphasized the first note of each little group of three preceding the beat, to the point where it was sometimes barely audible. Beethoven's throwaway ending missed only a little clarity of the final triplet group.

The opening of Chopin's "Funeral March" sonata, op. 35 had urgency at a well-varied mf, but soon the volume level became too great, and there was also some over-pedaling. The Scherzo was often very loud, with undeniable excitement as the wild waltz section went at full tilt, while its Trio was beautifully poised. The transition to the return of the scherzo was skillfully pointed, and the ending of the movement showed a delicate touch with diminuendo bass notes against the held treble. The funeral march was monumental, with a well-sustained soft consolation section in the major, but it was the short, scurrying moto perpetuo finale that was special, with little emphases giving tantalizing hints of meaning to the rushing notes, and also hinting at the delights to come in the second half of the program.

The Three Character Studies of Fred Hersch were persuasively presented, each with a distinctive style and none outstaying its welcome. Although the most recent works in the program in terms of date, they were conservative and largely tonal in style, yet so well crafted that they had something convincing to say. The first piece, a Nocturne for left hand alone, could not fail to invite comparisons with Scriabin's left hand Etude, and stood up well to the test. Probably the highest praise that can be bestowed on a left-hand piece is to say that it sounded as though it was played by two hands, and this was indeed the case in Paremski's performance, where the flow and inflexions of the melody, at a higher dynamic level than the accompaniment, could not have been bettered if taken by the right hand. The short second movement, a Spinning Song, had melodic notes above a trill-like background with some slightly jazzy rhythms, and this led to a strong Latin-American finale, specifically a Brazilian chorinho. Altogether, this was a welcome addition to the repertoire, and a nice piece of program planning as a lead-in to the Debussy and Stravinsky works which also had three strongly characterized movements each.

The playing of Debussy's Estampes (stamps, in the sense of prints or engravings) was magical. Paremski revealed a rare affinity for Debussy in being able to conjure up all the atmospheric and dramatic effects while retaining a kind of crystalline precision. The steady pulsing of the first movement with its various pentatonic scales brought the Chinese pagodas to us with a processional feeling, and yet also with a centuries-old stillness. The trills were beautifully even, and the different levels of soft playing were divine, with ppp or pppp being followed by something softer still. Next, Spain came alive in the Habanera, evocative of evening in Grenada, with more terrace dynamics and a lovely serious middle section. Finally, we returned to France for the brilliant portrayal of a child's view from a window of gardens in the rain – sometimes lightly pattering rain, sometimes thunderstorms with flashes of lightning, with interludes of sunlight on the sparkling grass.

Stravinsky's own piano transcription of three movements from his ballet "Petrouchka" is another work that is currently fashionable among the most accomplished pianists, and San Jose audiences have heard it played excellently within the past four years by Cliburn gold medallist Stefan Ioudenich, and by Stephen Prutsman. Astonishingly enough, Natasha Paremski gave a performance that was in the same league. Indeed, while Ioudenich had turned the piano into an orchestra, and Prutsman reveled in the percussive possibilities of the piano, Paremski did both. The Russian Dance got off to a great start, establishing the vivid rhythm and the trademark Stravinsky combination of sonority and acerbic clarity. The momentum was maintained, and grand orchestral gestures were realized. "In Petrouchka's Cell" was spellbinding, with quirky characterization, humor, and evidence of the pianist's fine ear. Then came "The Shrovetide Fair", the grandstand finale to end all finales, and this was carried off with ever-increasing virtuosity, to be received by an immediate standing ovation.

We were treated to two encores: a moving and well-proportioned performance of Chopin's C minor Etude Op.25 no.12, and an authentically melancholy Rachmaninov Elegy Op.3 no.1.