Anna Gourari at the German Consulate

by Nicholas Fernandez

Were it
not for awkward programming, Anna Gourari's concert Thursday evening at the
German Consulate could have reached the technical and emotional heights artists
aim for when sharing their passion. Gourari is an agile pianist who overcame
subpar acoustics to fill the banquet-hall-cum-concert-venue with lush chording
and passionate interpretations, demonstrating considerable skill in navigating
a wide range of styles.

The set drew
from her November 2012 album, Canto
Oscuro—which includes works by Bach, Chopin, and Hindemith—but it was a
single movement of Jörg Widmann’s Fleurs
du Mal, written specifically for Gourari, that disrupted the evening. It is
not uncommon for a modern classical recital to cover such a wide range of
styles, but Gourari’s decision to present only the third movement of Fleurs du Mal, "Satz:
Caccia-Presto," a jarring, atonal two-minute flight throughout the entire
range of the piano, failed to do Widmann justice. Sandwiched between works that
identify their key signature in the title, Widmann’s piece drew concerned
glances in the audience as Gourari delivered an unexpected modern jolt to the
otherwise somber set by jumping head first into the repetitious banging of a
single bass note. 

Both
Gourari and her fans seemed more at home with the traditional rep, much of
which she performed from memory, gazing skyward as if receiving divine
inspiration. Gourari opened the evening with Busoni’s piano transcription of the
“Chaconne” from Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D minor, displaying a vast range of
dynamics and emotion. With each iteration of the chord progression, Gourari
introduced another facet of her artistic personality, and the work served as an
overture for the range of emotions she would express throughout the evening. During
Chopin’s B-flat Minor Scherzo, Gourari accented the sharp differences between
flirty riffs and thick rolled chords, and her interpretation of the coda
highlighted the work’s modern harmonic leanings.

The
evening's odd programming continued with the final piece, Hindemith’s Suite ‘1922.’ Gourari presented only three
of the work’s five movements, rearranging performance order in the process. Hindemith's
reflection on postwar Germany expertly juxtaposes the excitement and despair of
the time, and Gourari skillfully highlighted the many facets and personalities
hidden within the work. Titles like "Shimmy" and "Ragtime"
evoke a cabaret, which Hindemith exploits, looking behind the curtain into the
despair that the Roaring '20s struggled to hide. Gourari followed these
journeys, embracing the dark nature of the work and transitioning from
dance-like melodies into angry rants with panache.

Unfortunately,
the excerpted presentation and unconvincing finale diminished the work's
effectiveness and gave the impression the concert could have started or ended
at any point. A brief encore, the evening’s only piece in a major tonality, did
little to mitigate the feeling of disorder. Gourari is skillful and passionate,
and one can only hope future recitals will present her in better form.