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Economic survey: Job losses to bottom out in first quarter
Calling hours today for Stefanie Spielman
Ohio gas up 12 cents from last week
City, county may ban bias based on sexual orientation
Researcher says she found text on Shroud of Turin
Ohio native takes second place on 'Project Runway'
White House at odds with bishops over abortion
End of an era: Oprah ending show after 25 years
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Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Does it work? Test team returns to try out new products advertised on television
Coventry man killed in crash at I-77 ramp
Zips men end tournament with 69-52 win over Howard
City, county may ban bias based on sexual orientation
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Sunday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns sick after sick loss in Detroit
Akron Zips:
Zips advance to Sweet Sixteen
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Post-game defensive quotes
Kent State Sports:
Kent State defeats Rochester College, 63-44
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Sunday Sanity Challenge
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Faye Dunaway to be Evicted?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – You are All Wrong About Jobs, or the Lack of Jobs, Being the Reason People Do Not Live in NEO
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
By Elaine Guregian
Beacon Journal arts and culture critic
POSTED: 12:12 p.m. EDT, May 07, 2008
Garrick Ohlsson makes a virtue of middle age.
One of America's most famous pianists, he has been on a successful path ever since winning the Chopin International Piano Competition in 1970 — the first American to do so. Now 60, he played Tuesday night at E.J. Thomas Hall like a man at the top of his game.
Ohlsson, who lives in San Francisco, has had a long relationship with Tuesday Musical, which presented the recital. This was Ohlsson's third solo recital and his fifth appearance under the auspices of the Akron organization.
The concert also had special significance as the second Margaret Baxtresser Annual Piano Concert, named to honor the late pianist who did so much to connect people into a strong arts community in Akron. Ohlsson and Baxtresser had been friends; between that and the ecstatic audience response, Ohlsson was in a particularly expansive mood by the end of the recital.
If you had come in late and heard just the encores (three!) you could have gone home happy. As Ohlsson explained before the first encore, the Prelude in C-sharp minor Op. 3, No. 2 was Rachmaninoff's most famous piece, and eventually became an irritant to the composer. Crowds used to scream at the composer/pianist to ''play it'' and Rachmaninoff took to calling the dread piece ''it.''
Luckily, Ohlsson hasn't developed any such aversion to the piece, which suits his gigantic technique and solid touch. Ohlsson uses his large build at the service of a tone with unusual heft and command. The tolling quality of the opening lines and the solemnly etched melody of the Rachmaninoff Prelude may have been ubiquitous at one time, but not now, when piano recitals are rare. Ohlsson made the piece pure Russian drama.
Continuing in the key of C-sharp minor, Ohlsson knocked out a thrillingly fast and accurate version of the Chopin Etude Op. 10, No. 4. It was a wild ride that could only make you smile.
''One more?'' Ohlsson silently mouthed to someone at the front of the audience, grinning as he asked. He proceeded with the Chopin Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2. Here, he dazzled with the delicacy and lightness of his playing.
Oh, yes, there was more before the encores. Ohlsson began with Prokofiev's Sonata No. 2, Op. 14. His touch was incisive but never brittle for the staccato attacks. Those trademark Prokofiev runs with the slightly off-kilter harmonies were dreamy. Everywhere, Ohlsson made the most of the visceral delights of the score.
Finishing the first half with Chopin's Sonata No. 3, Op. 58 was a move well calculated to get everyone buzzing with oohs and aahs. This was not the Chopin of a delicate aesthete but of a full-blooded romantic, with jaw-dropping fast runs and a galloping rhythmic drive in the finale.
Whether playing Chopin or three preludes and the Etude Tableau in E-flat minor, Op. 39, No. 5 by Rachmaninoff, Ohlsson's style proved more direct, less buffed and pretty than some other wonderful Chopin players, like Krystian Zimerman or Ohlsson's former teacher, the late Claudio Arrau.
Ohlsson is at his best setting out radiantly triumphant lines or flying through fast passages. The Sonata for Piano by Justin dello Joio (son of Norman) didn't draw on these qualities. After the high of the Chopin before intermission, this craggy piece felt like hard work.
If that sounds lazy, well, it's hard not to want to be wowed by Ohlsson when he is so generously equipped for the job. It's good to see middle age presented in such a flattering light.
Elaine Guregian can be reached at 330-996-3574 or eguregian@thebeaconjournal.com
Garrick Ohlsson makes a virtue of middle age.
One of America's most famous pianists, he has been on a successful path ever since winning the Chopin International Piano Competition in 1970 — the first American to do so. Now 60, he played Tuesday night at E.J. Thomas Hall like a man at the top of his game.
Ohlsson, who lives in San Francisco, has had a long relationship with Tuesday Musical, which presented the recital. This was Ohlsson's third solo recital and his fifth appearance under the auspices of the Akron organization.
The concert also had special significance as the second Margaret Baxtresser Annual Piano Concert, named to honor the late pianist who did so much to connect people into a strong arts community in Akron. Ohlsson and Baxtresser had been friends; between that and the ecstatic audience response, Ohlsson was in a particularly expansive mood by the end of the recital.
If you had come in late and heard just the encores (three!) you could have gone home happy. As Ohlsson explained before the first encore, the Prelude in C-sharp minor Op. 3, No. 2 was Rachmaninoff's most famous piece, and eventually became an irritant to the composer. Crowds used to scream at the composer/pianist to ''play it'' and Rachmaninoff took to calling the dread piece ''it.''
Luckily, Ohlsson hasn't developed any such aversion to the piece, which suits his gigantic technique and solid touch. Ohlsson uses his large build at the service of a tone with unusual heft and command. The tolling quality of the opening lines and the solemnly etched melody of the Rachmaninoff Prelude may have been ubiquitous at one time, but not now, when piano recitals are rare. Ohlsson made the piece pure Russian drama.
Continuing in the key of C-sharp minor, Ohlsson knocked out a thrillingly fast and accurate version of the Chopin Etude Op. 10, No. 4. It was a wild ride that could only make you smile.
''One more?'' Ohlsson silently mouthed to someone at the front of the audience, grinning as he asked. He proceeded with the Chopin Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2. Here, he dazzled with the delicacy and lightness of his playing.
Oh, yes, there was more before the encores. Ohlsson began with Prokofiev's Sonata No. 2, Op. 14. His touch was incisive but never brittle for the staccato attacks. Those trademark Prokofiev runs with the slightly off-kilter harmonies were dreamy. Everywhere, Ohlsson made the most of the visceral delights of the score.
Finishing the first half with Chopin's Sonata No. 3, Op. 58 was a move well calculated to get everyone buzzing with oohs and aahs. This was not the Chopin of a delicate aesthete but of a full-blooded romantic, with jaw-dropping fast runs and a galloping rhythmic drive in the finale.
Whether playing Chopin or three preludes and the Etude Tableau in E-flat minor, Op. 39, No. 5 by Rachmaninoff, Ohlsson's style proved more direct, less buffed and pretty than some other wonderful Chopin players, like Krystian Zimerman or Ohlsson's former teacher, the late Claudio Arrau.
Ohlsson is at his best setting out radiantly triumphant lines or flying through fast passages. The Sonata for Piano by Justin dello Joio (son of Norman) didn't draw on these qualities. After the high of the Chopin before intermission, this craggy piece felt like hard work.
If that sounds lazy, well, it's hard not to want to be wowed by Ohlsson when he is so generously equipped for the job. It's good to see middle age presented in such a flattering light.
Elaine Guregian can be reached at 330-996-3574 or eguregian@thebeaconjournal.com
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