Piano Music: Beatrice Rana

I had the great pleasure of seeing Beatrice Rana perform last night as part of the Lane Series Piano Consortium's efforts to bring the Van Cliburn medalists to Vermont.  The tickets were a birthday present, and so there was the added irony of going to see a professional who was half my age.

The program was comprised of three pieces I was not familiar with:

1. J.S. Bach's Partita No. 1 in B-flat Major, BWV 825.  The Allmusic description isn't bad; I would add that gigue feels like a composer's joke, with the left hand bouncing back and forth over the right in an ever-shrinking arc, until the left is stretched out over the right as they play simultaneously.  This is the sort of thing that is most fun to watch live.
2. Robert Schumann's Symphonic Etudes, op. 13.  This provided a good bridge between the Bach and Prokofiev. 
3. Sergei Prokofiev's Sonata No. 6 in A Major, op. 83 [there was a typo in the program; this is actually op. 82, and Sonata No. 7 is op. 83].  Together, these three pieces showcased Rana's range, from the clockwork precision of Bach to the controlled chaos of Prokofiev, ending with thunder as Rana literally lifted herself off the piano bench with the force of her final notes. 

The other highlight of the night was in the director's introductory remarks, which she kept mercifully brief, while also mentioning all the important donors and plugging next week's Valentine's Day performance, which would allow you to "Score major points with your sweetheart or a complete stranger."  That received a well-deserved chuckle from the audience.