Russian pianist Olga Kern has become a frequent and most welcome guest to New Mexico. Having already appeared earlier this year with the New Mexico Symphony, she was hosted Thursday night by the Santa Fe Concert Association, her second appearance on that series. Most appropriately the Lensic Performing Arts Center was packed, which unfortunately is rarely the case for a piano recital. But Kern has earned a well-deserved reputation as a slim blonde with the hands of a demon possessed, and after an astounding concert of Scarlatti, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Liszt, her renown lives on gloriously. This was not just an amazing recital but one which people will brag about having attended.

She began with a sparkling set of Sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti. The rapidly repeating-note K. 24 in A was followed by the lovely “Pastoral” (K. 9). The E major “Military” Sonata, completing the set, has long been one of the composer’s most popular because of its catchy theme. Yes, the great masters had their “hooks” just like pop composers. Kern plays the works as piano pieces, using subtle shadings not possible on the harpsichord, but always aesthetically logical.

It has long been said Chopin’s Sonata No. 3 is not really a true sonata but more a four movement Rhapsody or Fantasia. Kern played the work as pure piano poetry bringing out her most lyrical vein. The Largo ranged from pastoral beauty melding into stately elegance and ultimately relaxing into a glowing reverie.

She took the Finale Presto not at breakneck speed, but allowing the music to sing for all its worth.

Kern had originally scheduled Rachmaninoff’s collection of character pieces, Op. 3. But in a dramatic reversal, she chose instead the immensely difficult Sonata No. 2 by that composer. Here was truly an event, for only a pianist of virtually unlimited technical resources would ever dare present this formidable piece in public (Horowitz recorded it as did Van Cliburn). Simply hitting all the notes is an Herculean feat, but Kern manages to make genuine music out of a work often a bit too complex for its own good by the composer’s own admission, and which doesn’t really have any “hooks.” She leapt into the final movement with a crack of lightning as though 10 yards away, and the fireworks did not cease until the final note.

The problem with the Rachmaninoff is that anything afterward will almost seem an anti-climax. Almost. Anyone growing up with Looney Tunes cartoons will know the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Liszt, with several of the most recognizable “hooks” in all classical music. After all, it was Bugs Bunny’s signature concert piece. Kern doesn’t play it quite like Bugs (with his eight fingers he could never quite manage the Rachmaninoff cadenza). Cascades of delightfully mischievous sonorities came pouring from the piano as the hands (only two?) chased each other playfully up and down the keys.

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Chamber Music Albuquerque opened its Classics series on Sunday hosting the Miró String Quartet, currently in residence at the University of Texas at Austin. With a slew of prestigious awards to their credit, this group of young musicians takes its name from the Spanish painter Joan Miró. Their performance at the Simms Center at Albuquerque Academy admirably lived up to the accolades which precede them.

Pinpoint intonation and rhythmic precision is only the starting point. They bring a palpable sense of commitment to whatever they program, be it contemporary or classic. The Miró players are characterized by a strong, vigorous, clearly youthful sound, as much a product of their enthusiasm as the sound of their instruments.

The first half was devoted entirely to American music beginning with the String Quartet No. 1 by Charles Ives subtitled "A Revival Service." Like much of Ives' work, the piece is full of quotes from American folk songs and hymns. "Missionary Hymn", "Beulah Land", "The Shining Shore" and "Webb", among others are used as starting points. Throughout, one finds Ives predilection for sudden and unprepared harmonic shifts, occasionally effective but often simply arbitrary. The Miró jauntily jumped into the lively second movement, Prelude, conjuring up the spirit of turn of the century rural America before it "ends" in an unresolved half-phrase.
But despite the Miró's genuinely persuasive playing, much of the work still sounds a century later as Ives' teachers originally pronounced it, ponderous and incoherent. Novelty is not the same as innovation.

Mohican composer Brent Michael Davids suffers from tinnitus, described in the notes as a "ringing, sometimes a buzzing or crackling sound, that comes from within the ear." His Tinnitus Quartet, written specifically for the Miró Quartet, is an autobiographical statement, a testament attempting to bring this affliction to the attention of the general public. A high harmonic A is heard continuously through the piece. At work's conclusion one can certainly now empathize with the maddening effects of this condition.

Beethoven's first "Razumovsky" quartet (Op. 59, No. 1 in F major) was the real meat of the program. A briskly played Allegro, full of drive and energy, was as buoyant as it was spontaneous in feeling. Beethoven's rhythmic sweep seemed perfectly congenial to the Miró style. The animated Scherzo came alive with bursts of dynamic contrast and unwavering momentum. The slow movement, Adagio molto e mesto (Very slow and sad) has long been considered one of Beethoven's most heart-wrenching. Here the Miró really demonstrated a maturity of emotion translated into music, balancing tension with breadth of reflection. 

The premise of the three Opus 59 quartets was that they would each contain somewhere a Russian folk tune, in honor of the Count Razumovsky for whom they were written. The obligatory tune appears in the Finale, though the movement is as Russian in character as Wienerschnitzel. The finale Presto section became a brilliant scramble, concluding a thrilling rendition of a masterwork. 

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