Pianist displays dynamic talent
Former Bachauer performer pleases Assembly Hall crowd
Monday, October 13, 2003
By Edward Reichel
Deseret Morning News
TANYA BANNISTER, Assembly Hall, Temple Square, Friday.
Each year, as part of its ongoing program to bring music education
to public schools along the Wasatch Front, the Gina Bachauer Foundation
invites several prominent pianists to lecture and give a public
recital. Among the artists who come to Salt Lake City are a number
of former competitors in the Gina Bachauer International Artists
Piano Competition.
Tanya Bannister, a participant in the 2002 competition, was the
foundation's guest artist for October. The Hong Kong native performed
Friday evening in a well-attended recital in the Assembly Hall
on Temple Square.
Bannister is an expressive pianist who plays with feeling and
emotional involvement. Her technical skills are equally impressive,
and she had ample opportunity to display both during her well-chosen
program, which ranged from Bach to Prokofiev.
At times, Bannister's technical astuteness dominated (if ever
so slightly) to the detriment of the music. But she is a dynamic
pianist, nonetheless — someone not afraid to exaggerate in
order to get her message across to the listener. In that regard,
she is a true romantic and often a poet of her instrument as well.
Bannister opened her ambitious recital with a stately and elegant
reading of Bach's Prelude and Fugue in E flat minor from Book 1
of the "Well-Tempered Clavier." Her crystalline playing
allowed the contrapuntal lines to stand out clearly, and she brought
enough feeling to her performance to make it vibrant and warm.
She followed the Bach with a striking performance of one of Beethoven's
most popular works, the so-called "Moonlight" Sonata
in C sharp minor, op. 27, no. 2. Her descriptive interpretation
vividly showed off her amazing virtuosity and eloquent musicality.
With only the briefest of pauses between the work's three movements,
Bannister moved from the serenely tranquil, shimmering moonlight
of the opening to the bright sunshine of the middle movement and
finally to the stormy conclusion, all done with the deft strokes
of a true artist.
Janacek's "In the Mist" is a work that isn't often heard
in recital. It contains some of the Czech composer's most dramatic
and evocative writing for the instrument. And Bannister acquitted
herself magnificently in this lengthy work, giving it an impassioned
reading that perfectly captured its character and changing moods.
Works by Prokofiev and Chopin closed the recital. A short prelude
by the former was a welcome antidote to the emotional outpourings
of the Janacek. In this lyrical character piece, Prokofiev's normally
bold pianistic gestures were replaced by a romantic melodicism
that Bannister played imaginatively and lithely.
Chopin's Ballade No. 4 in F minor, op. 52, was the evening's final
work. Bannister imparted great sensitivity and expressiveness to
the piece, capturing the dreamy mood of the opening while attacking
the stormy middle section with impassioned intensity.
© 2004-2005 Tanya Bannister
Contact: tanya@tanyabannister.com
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