Hans Boepple Charms Guests
by
Lyn Bronson
On Sunday, September 16, pianist Hans Boepple performed for
a group of invited guests in our home in Carmel, California, as a preview of the
recital program he will be playing on September 29 in Santa Monica and at Santa
Clara University on October 6 & 7. This was in no way an informal “House Music”
appearance, but rather a polished performance on the highest artistic level.
After opening his program with a sensitive and stylish
performance of Bach’s Toccata in C Minor, BWV 911, Boepple launched into the
major work on the program, Schumann’s Fantasie in C Major, Op. 17, a work heard
so often in concert it is difficult to imagine that an artist could find
anything new to say in it. Boepple projected all the grandeur and passion of
this extraordinary work in its more powerful and extroverted sections. However,
it was in the quieter moments, like the
Im Legendenton C minor section and in the glorious final slow movement that
Boepple achieved some lovely surprises. He projected a magical feeling of time
suspended as we were drawn into a quiet, hushed mood where his artistic shaping
of musical lines and skillful use of softly hued dynamics underscored the
profoundly moving feelings this work can invoke. At the end of the outer
movements, Boepple’s expressive and drawn out pianissimos piled on further
pianissimos had the audience holding its breath. We were aware of his intense
listening to final chords as we heard them slowly dying away – and we observed
he was not about to take his hands off the keyboard until the sounds had
entirely vanished. The end of the second movement with its dangerous rapid wide
skips in contrary motion is a scary moment for any pianist, and we have heard
some great pianists like Horowitz, Gilels and Richter spray the air with wrong
notes in this passage. However, Boepple sailed through it gloriously without
missing a note. It was impressive!
After intermission Boepple played a work we have heard from
him often as an encore, the Scriabin Prelude for the Left hand. Every time we
hear him play this piece, we hear new charms, and this performance was no
exception. We heard beautiful tone, lovely phrasing and a compelling logic to
its structure. After the Prelude we heard Scriabin’s Sonata No. 9, a difficult
work for both performer and audience, and Boepple gave it his best shot and
managed to bring coherence to its many scattered passages and spiky trills.
Boepple ended the concert with a magnificent performance of
Chopin’s Ballade No. 4 in F Minor. This is the third time we have heard him
perform this Ballade, and it has to be said that each time we hear it, we are
aware of new aspects of the work itself. We heard some of the same sensitive and
expressive rubato we had heard in the Schumann Fantasy, and again there were
moments of time suspended as we were drawn ever more deeply into the work.
Interestingly enough, in previous performances, we have heard Boepple sustain
the low C octave several measures before the coda, which is an effective way to
forestall premature applause. He didn’t do it in this performance, and I missed
it. Well, we will be interested to see what he does the next time we hear him
perform this Ballade.
We were treated to one encore, Chopin’s Nocturne in D-flat
Major, Op. 27, No. 2 It was gorgeous.
