Anthony Molinaro Dazzles
by
Lyn Bronson
Pianist Anthony Molinaro dazzled his audience last night at
the First Congregational Church in Santa Cruz in an interesting concert that
paid tribute to George Gershwin. On this occasion, a benefit concert for the
Carole Holdaway Grand Piano Fund at Cabrillo College, Molinaro was performing on
an unique “Art Case” Steinway called “Rhapsody in Blue” crafted by Steinway &
Sons in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Gershwin’s birth.
This instrument was supplied through the courtesy of Sherman Clay, the Steinway
dealer in San Francisco, as a part of the company’s support of Cabrillo
College’s program to acquire a new Steinway concert grand for the College’s new
performing arts center.
A classically trained pianist, Molinaro treated us to some
staples of the standard piano repertoire with his fine renditions of two
Schubert songs transcribed by Liszt, Der Müller und der Bach (The Miller
and the Brook), Gretchen am Spinnrad (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel),
and the great Prokofiev Sonata No. 7 in B-flat Major. In these works Molinaro
demonstrated that he has significant “chops” and can get around the keyboard as
well as anybody on the circuit today.
What he also showed us is that he isn’t just one of those
pianists trying to impress us with how loud and fast they can play, but rather a
sensitive artist who, in addition to superb technical control, can mold dynamics
and shape phrases for musical purposes and charm us along the way. His lovely
phrasing in Der Müller und der Bach and in the gorgeous slow movement of
the Prokofiev Sonata was musical artistry of the highest order.
In addition to his classical renditions, the major portion
of the concert was devoted to Molinaro’s arrangements of Gershwin’s songs such
as “Summertime” and “Someone to Watch over Me” and, finally as the major work on
the program, his own arrangement for solo piano of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in
Blue.” His performance of these Gershwin works revealed Molinaro to be a
skillful arranger and a sensitive performer in Blues and Jazz styles.
There was one problem, however. Like so many musical
artists in today’s pop culture, Molinaro tends to be self indulgent, and he
allows his arrangements to go on and on and on, until they are in danger of
overstaying their welcome. It is the original simplicity and brief direct
expression that is so much a part of the charm of “Summertime” and “Someone to
Watch over Me,” and bloating them with too much additional variation weakens,
not strengthens the original design. “Rhapsody in Blue” suffered also from
bloating with Molinaro’s intrusions of so much new added material ending up
being not as effective as Gershwin’s original ideas. His best moment in the
Rhapsody was his extraordinary cadenza, or coda, whichever you want to call it,
and this was terrifically effective.
Still, this was a highly successful concert, and it was a
happy audience that left the church at the end of the evening.
