THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 20, 1996 TAG: 9603200533
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Music review
SOURCE: BY PAUL SAYEGH, Special to The Virginian-Pilot
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Pianist Ursula Oppens performed at ODU's Chandler Hall on Monday evening as part of the Diehn Concert Series. In Norfolk to judge the 9th ODU Classical Period Piano Competition, Oppens programmed music spanning two centuries and including composers as diverse as Haydn, Stravinsky and John Harbison.
Oppens has an enviable reputation as a specialist in contemporary music, a field in which she has distinguished herself for many years. Monday, she demonstrated a comparable affinity for the music of earlier times. Her playing was marked by a forceful and dramatic presentation of the particular sound-world of each composition. Details were at times relegated to secondary status, and she appeared less concerned with technical perfection than with revealing the expressive potential of the music to her audience.
Haydn's dark and serious ``Variations in F minor'' received an interpretation that grew steadily from the deceptively elegant opening measures to the quiet final pages. Oppens did not seem totally relaxed at first, and the early variations were rushed. The later variations found her more receptive to the work's somber tone.
Stravinsky's neo-classical Sonata (1924) presented a different set of challenges, specifically how to keep the piece from sounding busy and academic. Oppens chose to emphasize the forward motion of the work, while at the same time highlighting the gentle humor of the melodic lines.
John Harbison's ``Four More Occasional Pieces'' were notable for their exploration of the various colors available to the composer.
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the program was the interpretive approach to two major works by Schubert, the ``Four Impromptus, Op. 142,'' and the ``Wanderer Fantasy.'' Oppens' Schubert was a man who seemed engaged in a titanic struggle to expand the boundaries of the piano, and her performance communicated this effort in a most direct and physical way. This robbed the impromptus of some of their more charming aspects, although the third of the set, an elaborate theme and variations, was marvelous in its improvisatory quality. In the ``Wanderer Fantasy,'' Oppens unleashed a sound that threatened at times to engulf her instrument, and one could easily imagine how new and revolutionary this music must have seemed in 1821.
For an encore, Oppens offered Debussy's ``Reflections in the Water,'' not as the delicate pastel ususally encountered, but as another rich-sounding piece, with a climax that clearly demonstrated how much George Gershwin learned from Debussy. by CNB