Pianist Naomi Kudo astounds in Fontana festival
Pianist Naomi Kudo astounds in Fontana festival
Kalamazoo Gazette
July 9th, 2009
C.J. Gianakaris
Pianist Naomi Kudo, 2008 Gilmore Young Artist, opened the Fontana Chamber Arts 2009 Summer Music Festival Wednesday night with an astounding performance. Both as a soloist and chamber player, Kudo proved an extraordinary artist ready for a successful professional career.
Playing at the First Baptist Church, on the splendid Fazioli grand piano, Kudo displayed stunning virtuosity with three demanding solo pieces to begin the concert. After intermission, she was joined by violinist Diana Cohen, Concertmaster of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, and cellist Julia Sengupta, a newcomer to Kalamazoo though a much-experienced performer in countless chamber groups here and abroad.
During her solo portion, Kudo began with Hadyn's sparkling Piano Sonata No.60 in C major, risky because it must be played note-perfect at quick tempos with nowhere to hide within its transparent score. Kudo's picture-perfect positioning relative to the keyboard allowed her to strike keys cleanly and forcefully, for ideal articulation. Octave runs and chromatics were superb, and Kudo brought out Haydn's merry melodies.
Two pieces from Debussy's Preludes, Book I -- number V ("Les collines d'Anacapri") and XII ("Minstrels") -- followed in an entirely different vein. Here, the percussive excellence required of Hadyn was replaced with silky, sweeping phrases. The Fazioli lent additional velvet sheen to Debussy's charming score.
The final solo featured an incredible performance of Samuel Barber's Piano Sonata, Op.26. It was dazzling and riveting. This Barber piece was written later in his compositional career, when dissonance and atonality attraced him -- it is not heard very frequently in the concert hall.
But it simply may be too difficult for many pianists, but not for Kudo. There is an integrity and compositional excellence here that Kudo made evident. The very fast tempos and devilishly hard passage work did not faze her, and she projected the full musical value of Barber's work.
Mendelssohn's Piano Trio in D minor, Op.49, brought Cohen and Sengupta to the stage. From the opening strains of the cello's line to the closing grand climax, gorgeous music dominated. The hall's acoustics were not always kind during the Haydn and Barber selections, but the sound worked better with the Mendelssohn. Cohen and Sengupta offered delectable harmonizing. The "Scherzo" was sheer perfection.
Even joined with a superb violinist and cellist, Kudo stood out, thanks to enormous musicality and technical brilliance. Kudo's was a spectacular performance.