Gabriela Montero, piano
Reinberger Chamber Hall
Severance Music Center
Cleveland, OH
July 9, 2023

Chopin: Polonaise-fantaisie, Op. 61
Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9
Stravinsky: Piano Sonata
Montero: Improvisations on themes by Beethoven, Gershwin, and Piaf

As part of the Cleveland International Piano Competition and Institute for Young Artists, Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero presented a wide-ranging recital at Severance’s Reinberger Chamber Hall. Two pinnacles of the Romantic repertoire occupied the first half – both works which often feature on contestant programs in Piano Cleveland’s adult counterpart of the youth competition, to be held next in 2024. Chopin’s Polonaise-fantaisie was given an introspective, spacious opening, more fantasy than polonaise before the dance meter took shape.

Montero purveyed remarkably clear voicing through Chopin’s densely-textured writing, crisply punctuating the polonaise rhythms. A chorale section was of lyrical contrast, its delicate cantilena suggesting an Italianate bel canto, in due course giving way to an energetic coda. Schumann’s Carnaval provided a wonderfully picturesque series of vignettes from the titular festival, arrestingly brought to life by Montero. An opening preamble was colorful and exuberant, almost orchestral in force.

Each subsequent scene was shaped with distinct character: the coquettishness of “Arlequin”, the darkly passionate “Chiarina” – emphasizing the dotted rhythms, Montero sculpted a fervent climax. “Chopin” was rapturously lyrical, a fitting tribute to the Pole – and in the present recital, a callback to the previous selection – while “Paganini” was a sprightly affair with Montero traversing the keyboard in leaps and bounds. The buoyant march which closed the work did much to heighten its drama.

I first encountered Stravinsky’s brief piano sonata on a warmly recommended album from Earl Wild. Despite being a pianist himself, Stravinsky’s output for the instrument tends to get overlooked, and the sonata made for an intriguing opening to the latter half. Crisp and detached, it epitomized the composer’s neoclassical period, though a melody of surprising sweetness took shape. The central movement served as an interlude replete with piquant dissonances and intricate ornamentations. The finale recalled the measure of the opening, though its imitative textures suggested a two-part invention.

The balance of the evening was devoted to Montero’s signature improvisations, wherein she requests a theme from the audience and proceeds to develop a five-minute or so improvisation based on that theme. It’s a rare thing to experience in a classical piano recital, and a remarkable gift to witness. In her spoken remarks, Montero noted that improvisation is “the way I communicate through sound”; indeed, what followed flowed just as natural conversation, improvising on Beethoven’s Für Elise, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Piaf’s La Vie en rose, and Beethoven again in the opening theme of the Fifth Symphony.