Pianist Mari Kodama
by
Lyn Bronson
Pianist Mari Kodama is one of California’s secret
treasures. A resident of the San Francisco bay area with her husband, conductor
Kent Nagano, at age 35 she has a moderate but steady career as a soloist in
recitals, concerto appearances and some important festivals throughout the
world.
Last season Kodama gave her final performance of the
complete Beethoven piano sonata cycle which she presented over three consecutive
seasons in Los Angeles and Pasadena. In recent years she has also appeared in
some important festivals such as the Mostly Mozart Festival, the Bard Music
Festival, the Aspen Music Festival and on the Ravinia Festival’s Rising Stars
Series. Her recordings include Prokofiev Concertos No. 1 and 3 with the
Philharmonia Orchestra, her husband Kent Nagano conducting, on the ASV label.
Yet she is relatively unknown except to those fortunate
enough to hear her in concert. Well, she just made a whole bunch of new fans
last night as she performed to a full house a recital consisting of the last
three Beethoven sonatas at the University of California Santa Cruz Music Center
Recital Hall. This concert was presented under the auspices of the UCSC Arts &
Lecture Series.
Kodama has a reputation for playing standard repertoire
(with special kudos for her Mozart & Beethoven) as well as many important
contemporary piano works. In hearing her perform on this occasion only
Beethoven’s Op. 109, 110 and 111, we were denied an opportunity to hear her play
Mozart, Chopin, Schumann and Liszt, but perhaps she will return in some future
season to let us hear other facets of her artistry.
The first thing that strikes a listener hearing Kodama for
the first time is how natural her musicianship and artistry is. Some pianists
walk out on stage and from the first notes their playing screams, “Listen to me,
I am a concert pianist and I am going to knock your bloody socks of with my
virtuoso technique!” This didn’t happen with Mari Kodama. What we heard was
music, music, and nothing but music.
Her approach to Op. 109 was solid and thoughtful with
beautifully shaped musical lines and a sure feeling for the work’s dramatic
moods. Her Presto section was fleet and powerful, yet never glib or
bangy, and the loving way she presented the Andante theme in the final
movement just stole your heart away. The variations that followed, especially
the final Variation VI, were magnificent as Kodama built the tension ever higher
with a marvelous balancing of the complicated trills and swirling passages that
achieved an extraordinary volume but never lost their clarity. The reprise of
the theme at the end was done simply and quietly, but with a lovely cantabile
that was breathtaking.
Op. 110 had a similar thoughtful quality about it. The
opening statement had a lovely simple and untortured quality about it. Kodama’s
performance of the second movement, Allegro molto, was similarly natural
and unforced. The Adagio sections and the final fugue were some of the
best playing of the evening — full of tender feeling with moments of great
beauty.
It was Op. 111 that made the strongest impression of all.
The opening movement was full of broad dramatic gestures where her strong
technical mastery served the music well. The Arietta that ended the sonata was
pure and sublime magic. Time seemed suspended as this movement unfolded through
moments of ethereal serenity and impassioned feeling.
The power of this performance could be gauged by how quiet
the members of this audience were. They were listening intensely. You heard no
rustling of programs, no shuffling of feet — just intense quiet and rapt
attention. At its end came a spontaneous roar of applause and a warm standing
ovation.
Kodama returned to the stage for one encore, the first
movement of the easy Beethoven Sonata in G Major, Op. 49, No. 1. We often hear
students performing this work, but you will rarely hear it performed like this.
It was masterful.
