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Recital
LARGE AUDIENCE HEARS AX IN WEILL PIANO RECITAL
by Terry McNeill
Thursday, October 24, 2024
Symphony
SRS' NEW SEASON OPENS WITH BEETHOVEN AND COPLAND IN WEILL
by Terry McNeill
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Chamber
TWO CHAMBER MUSIC WORKS AT MARIN'S MT. TAM CHURCH
by Abby Wasserman
Sunday, October 13, 2024
Chamber
CALLISTO'S ELEGANCE IN UPBEAT 222 GALLERY CONCERT
by Terry McNeill
Friday, October 11, 2024
Chamber
FINAL ALEXANDER SQ CONCERT AT MUSIC AT OAKMONT
by Terry McNeill
Thursday, October 10, 2024
Choral and Vocal
MERCURY IN FLIGHT
by Pamela Hicks Gailey
Saturday, October 5, 2024
Choral and Vocal
SPARKLING ART SONG AND PIANO SOLO RECITAL AT THE 222 GALLERY
by Pamela Hicks Gailey
Saturday, September 28, 2024
Symphony
MOZART THE SUBLIME IN UKIAH SYMPHONY'S CONCERT
by Terry McNeill
Sunday, September 22, 2024
Symphony
POTENT TCHAIKOVSKY INTERPRETATION IN PHILHARMONIC'S 25TH ANNIVERSARY OPENER
by Terry McNeill
Saturday, September 21, 2024
Recital
SPANISH MUSIC AT SPRING LAKE VILLAGE
by Terry McNeill
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
RECITAL REVIEW

Pianist Anastasia Dedik At Spring Lake Village Sept. 17

DEDIK'S POTENT BEETHOVEN AND CHOPIN AT SPRING LAKE VILLAGE RECITAL

by Terry McNeill
Monday, September 17, 2018

Anastasia Dedik returned Sept. 17 to the Spring Lake Village Classical Music Series in a recital that featured three familiar virtuoso works in potent interpretations.

Chopin’s G Minor Ballade hasn’t been heard in Sonoma County public concerts since a long-ago Earl Wild performance, and Beethoven’s Appassionata Sonata with Valentina Lisitsa was a distant memory from 2010, both in Newman Auditorium. The same for the warhorse B Flat Scherzo of Chopin, so it was good to hear music that is justly famous and justly glorious.

But no nod to the past, as the Russia-born pianist gave full measure of dramatic intensity to all three in a 50-minute concert before 150 in Montgomery Auditorium. Perhaps the finest playing occurred in the Beethoven Sonata, with an interpretation that captured the big-boned drama that never sounded frantic or too fast. The frequent left hand repeated notes in c had the proper menace, the trills were even and tone colors were rich. The five piu piano notes at the end of the allegro were played in a lovely decrescendo.

The repeats in the variation movement were played without differentiation but sang softly, leading to a held damper pedal for the clangorous entry of the famous 13 fortissimo notes that begin the volcanic finale. Here Ms. Dedik used a staccato touch in places and a left-hand inner voice to add to the momentum and sweep. The last crashing chords generated a loud ovation.

In a program of minor key drama, the Op. 23 Ballade fit right in, and the initial playing did the right thing – eliciting the feeling of an unfolding story. Here and there wrong notes crept in, and over pedaling blurred scale passages after the orchestral repeat of the second theme. That said, throughout the evening Ms. Dedik’s scale mastery never left her, and there were Romantic-era touches such as legato octaves that were shaped rather than rushed. She built the big climaxes late in the piece and heightened the drama before the terrifying ascending runs in the coda by taking two extra-long pauses. Repose among the carnage.

Muscular playing continued in the Op. 31 Chopin Scherzo, with the “call to battle” opening bars juxtaposing histrionic tension with a languorous approach in the quiet Trio. It was a brassy and exciting reading that featured brilliant finger technique and again brought a standing ovation.

Somehow among all the tempestuous music and brawny playing Ms. Dedik chose a slow expressive Chopin Waltz, the A Minor of Op. 34, and she played the cello-like themes with chaste phrasing and amorous attention to the subtle alterations of rhythms.