Two Centuries of Finger-Busting Virtuosity

Pianist Jason Sia (from his Old First Concerts event page)

Yesterday afternoon Old First Concerts presented and live-streamed a solo piano recital by Jason Sia, who is primarily active in the Northern California region. Sia presented two major compositions rife with finger-busting virtuosity. These works were composed, respectively, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The nineteenth-century selection was Robert Schumann’s Opus 14, his third piano sonata in F minor, which was given the title “Concerto for piano without orchestra.” This work was composed in 1836; and, following concerto traditions, this piece had three movements. However, in 1853 Schumann would revise the composition and add a Scherzo as the second movement. This is the version that Sia chose to play.

His ability to rise to all of the composer’s technical challenges was jaw-droppingly impressive. Fortunately, he also developed a clear account of the thematic material in each of the four movements. Where the overall architecture was concerned, one could appreciate the intricacies of Schumann’s structures, although the variations movement (third in the four-movement version), which was based on a theme by Clara Wieck, tended to go on a bit longer than one might have wished (perhaps due to the composer’s personal feelings about the composer of the theme).

The twentieth-century offering was John Corigliano’s 1976 Étude Fantasy. This is actually a suite of five études, each with its own highly-demanding technical challenges. Sia’s focus in rising to all of those challenges was more than merely impressive. He seems to have immersed himself in Corigliano’s score, allowing him to unfold all those technical intricacies as if they were as natural as taking a deep breath.

Corigliano’s suite was coupled with a single étude from the nineteenth century. This was Cécile Chaminade’s “Automne,” the second of the six Études de Concert in her Opus 35. Needless to say, the idea of technical virtuosity had advanced significantly between 1886 and 1976. Sia thus decided to provide a “spacer” between these two compositions with the calm of Claude Debussy’s “La plus que lente.”

This more reflective disposition also began the program with a performance of a D-flat major nocturne by Antonio Fragoso. This selection would have benefitted from a bit of explanation, particularly since the usual PDF program book was not made available to those of us live-streaming the performance. Suffice it to say that the time frame for Fragoso’s nocturne was close to that of “La plus que lente.”

Debussy also had the last word with “Clair de lune” as the encore selection. Personally, I prefer this music when it is the third movement of Suite bergamasque. I wish there were more pianists that would find the other three movements of that suite as interesting as the one that is played to death!