By Rebecca Cline Howard
Deseret Morning News

ANA MARIA TRENCHI BOTTAZZI, Libby Gardner Concert Hall, University of Utah, Thursday.

 

Ana Maria Trenchi Bottazzi

JUANA ZAYAS, Libby Gardner Concert Hall, University of Utah, Friday.

      On Thursday and Friday, the University of Utah's Summer Arts Piano Competition presented recitals by pianists Ana Maria Trenchi Bottazzi and Juana Zayas. The audience was filled mostly with youngsters, but the music would have pleased the most discriminating listener.
      Both pianists gave excellent — but different — programs and performances. While Zayas' program exclusively focused on all of the Chopin Etudes, Bottazzi covered all the major music periods from Scarlatti to Ginastera.
      Bottazzi's most distinguishing characteristic was a beautiful, rich, warm tone that reigned supreme no matter what she was playing. She also seemed to blend the sounds somewhat for a softer edge to her music.
      This style particularly complemented the latter half of her program. In Debussy's "Clair de Lune," for example, the blending managed to lend itself well to the subtle coloring of the impressionistic style.
      Bottazzi imbued the three Chopin pieces with richness, tempering the brilliant portions with a deep passion. She also had a great feel for the jazz rhythms and style in Gershwin's "Three Preludes"; she caught the swing in the stride left hand of the first movement and the soulful blues in the second.
      Interestingly, the same qualities that made Chopin so stunning gave Beethoven's "Pathetique" Sonata (in the first half) an unusual twist, with almost a feminine quality. Rather than emphasizing the moodiness and sharp, dramatic contrasts in the music, she softened the edges of this piece, so much that most of the highlights were the lyrical sections.
      The Scarlatti was similar in that her peaks were during the softer sections, which gave her a chance to coax the warmth from the piano. Occasionally, her playing (throughout the program) was peppered with a missed or unclear note — most likely caused by recent health problems involving her arm.

Juana Zayas

      Zayas' playing, on the other hand, gave the music absolutely everything it needed but absolutely nothing extra. By not projecting a lot of her own personality into the interpretation, her unaffected playing style went immediately to the core of Chopin. Even with the obviously spectacular technical display of the Etudes, she was able to set the brilliant pyrotechnics of the music in the background and focus instead on the melody and counterpoint.
      The emotional depth of the slower etudes (such as Op. 25 No. 7) gave her a chance to really shine; one could hear Chopin's homesickness for Poland in the plaintive beauty that she expressed.
      It would be lovely to have her back to hear what she can do with the rest of Chopin.