André Watts Performs in Chapel Hill

Watts opened his massive Memorial Hall program, presented by Carolina Performing Arts, with Haydn’s Sonata in C, H.XVI/48. The opening movement set the tone for the program; a melancholic nostalgia pervaded the performance. While the second movement is more upbeat, Watts managed to create a tinge of gloom by highlighting grave subtleties with the left hand, which is not ideal for the music of Haydn. He took a cartoon and transformed it into a dark comedy. He followed this work with two rondos of Mozart, K.485, in D, and K.511, in A minor. The D major was the sun peeking through the menacing clouds that would prevail throughout. It was masterfully done, if a touch too romantic for my taste, and his articulation accentuated the dance-like structure. That glimmer of sunlight was quickly dispelled by the Rondo in A minor. The piece, which is painfully romantic in nature and so well suited to Watts’ inclinations, was excruciatingly beautiful. When the main theme softly returned after the exposition, I needed no more proof that Watts should be counted among the greats of the 20th (and 21st) century. So intense were his colors and so deft his voicing that the audience would have gotten its money’s worth if the recital had ended then and there.

It did not. In fact it had only begun. Watts chose to close the first half with Schubert’s Drei Klavierstücke, D.946. It is worth mentioning that there were several programming changes that varied from the printed program. CVNC readers had the inside scoop however, as we were aware of all except one at the time that the preview was published. The only last-minute change came in the second half where he replaced Debussy’s “La Cathedrale Engloutie” with Ravel’s “Oiseaux Triste.” But, I digress; the Drei Klavierstücke (Three Piano Works) has only recently come into its own in the concert hall despite being a mammoth work that displays a wide range of technical and emotional challenges for the performer. Watts was up to the task, delivering a most focused performance and relying not only on his over-abundance of virtuosity but also on his ability to recognize and stress the poignant thematic elements. There were, however, brilliant flashes of virtuosity in the third work, Allegretto, providing a glimpse of what was to come.

There had been so many program changes at this point that Watts opened the second half by apologizing and graciously said that he would announce the works from the piano for the remainder of the recital, which continued with Luciano Berio’s “Wasserklavier.” It is no secret that some music lovers cringe at the thought of sitting through another acute modern work that is alien to the traditional musical language. In this case however, those listeners got a pleasant surprise. Berio’s work, while decidedly modern, is accessible to those who are not German composition professors steeped in twelve tone theory. The short piece was actually quite pleasing and programmatic as one could hear water in varying forms and movements. It also fit well into Watts’ gloomy program, as did the next piece, Ravels “Oiseaux Triste” (“Mournful Birds”). Watts told the audience that the piece was about two birds who wanted to fly but couldn’t for very long. They make one adventurous flutter, then return to their perch to dream about flying. The performance was brilliant because it demonstrated Watts’ability to quickly change styles. His impressionism is as good as his modernism which is as good as his classicism, a rare trait in this world of specialists.

If slow dripping water and mournful birds didn’t bring you down, the next three pieces certainly would have.. The Liszt set consisted of all late works which are, incidentally, equally despondent. The first, “La Lugubre Gondola No. 2″ is about a funeral boat that Liszt dreams is floating through the canals of Venice with the body of Richard Wagner who, in fact, died there three months later. The second, “Nuages Gris” (“Gray Clouds”) needs little explanation. Watts said that his intention with this work was to make the listener feel positively dreadful. Well done! At this point in the recital I was beginning to fear that some people may be having suicidal thoughts, but Watts continued to drive home his mournful theme with the final Liszt work, “Schlaflos, Frage und Anwort.” This piece is about a sleepless night during which the composer asks himself many questions and arrives at the spiritual crossroads of uncertainty.

The program closed with a set of three pieces by Chopin, all in minor keys. Here, as in the Liszt, Watts shone. The Etude in C-sharp minor, Op. 25/7, that opened the set was deeply nostalgic as was the Nocturne in C-sharp minor that followed. As beautiful as this concert had been though, Watts hadn’t shown us the goods, so to speak. The final work on the program did just that. Chopin’s Ballade No. 1 in G minor was played with amazing dexterity, despite a few dropped notes. In the final run, cascades of octaves in both hands were executed with deadly accuracy.

Watts has not lost a step with age and seems poised to further his career despite turning sixty this year. His energy, passion, and humanity make him unarguably one of the giants of the keyboard.

PREVIEW: André Watts to Perform in Chapel Hill on Historic Tour