A Celebration of the Piano in Its Many Personalities

By VIVIEN SCHWEITZER
Eclecticism has now overshadowed any particular compositional dogma, though to some degree crossover has long been established. Composers have mixed and matched for centuries, recycling themes and styles from earlier periods and incorporating folk tunes and popular idioms into their scores.

During the innovative Keys to the Future — a festival of solo contemporary piano music organized by the pianist and composer Joseph Rubenstein — 10 pianists highlighted a range of styles in works by 19 composers. On Thursday night, the last of three concerts in this celebration of eclecticism at Le Poisson Rouge featured mostly conservative works that recalled traditions and incorporated popular styles.

Jazz was an integral component of the exuberant “Five Études in Different Intervals” (1992) by Nikolai Kapustin, who once played piano in a big-band jazz orchestra. Stephen Gosling performed the technically intricate and virtuosic work with aplomb.

Also jazz-infused was Richard Danielpour’s vivacious “Mardi Gras” (1992), part of his “Enchanted Garden,” a set of preludes for piano. Blair McMillen offered a dynamic performance of the work, in which the rapid sequences of jagged rhythmic patterns are punctuated by a momentary lull in the festivities. Mr. Rubenstein performed one of his own scores, the evocative, chromatically meandering “Romance No. 2 (aurora)” (2007). He opened the program with Bruce Stark’s gentle, introspective “Yours” (2002), which had a slight New Age sheen to it.

A meditative mood also permeated Vuk Kulenovic’s “Virginal,” (1982), sensitively rendered by Karen Hakobyan. Insistent themes resurfaced throughout the tranquil, arresting work, with delicate, ephemeral motifs repeated with increasing intensity, until a fiery outburst shattered the serenity. A quietly persistent theme restored the calm.

Judd Greenstein’s “First Ballade” (2008), played by Mr. McMillen, began similarly on a serene note before slowly building in intensity. Paying homage to a famous composer or theme is a long-standing tradition, continued by Barbara White in her “Mirage (homage to Ravel)” (2002), whose gauzy textures evoked the mirage of its title.

There was also a Ravelian tint to Philippe Hersant’s pictorial “Six Éphémères” (2003), given a colorful performance by Mr. McMillen. In “Autumn Wind,” the first movement, trills and rapid, rising figurations in the right hand evoked the wind. “An Ant,” the fourth section, depicted that tiny creature with scurrying sounds and solemn gestures, while the ominous whirlwind of “Hurricane” concluded the suite with dramatic intensity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/arts/music/01future.html?partner=rss&emc=rss