Phillip Kwoka: Duo Recital

I yammered about it in my post about Phillip Kwoka's solo recital, and after his duo recital, I see no reason to change my stance. Readers, if you're tired of reading about how Kwoka has a really sensitive, emotional sound that he uses to great effect, mosey along to the next post. If you're not, Kwoka's rendition of Franz Lizst's Venezia e Napoli had that sound in spades. Kwoka was very expressive on the little scales within the piece, with a lot of delicate, snowflake-sounding things that I wouldn't have expected from a tarentalla (which this was). It brought to mind a lot of winter imagery, but maybe that's just my wishful thinking as we enter the summer heat.

After a few set-up hiccups and with cellist Scott Tisdel finally settled in place, he and Kwoka launched into Brahms's Sonata for Cello and Piano in E minor. Kwoka sounded kind of subdued at times, playing more of a supporting role to Brahms's powerful cello parts. However, he also played off Tisdel well; the two of them had a very (stop me if you've heard this one before) expressive sound together.

After their bows, Jeannie Yu entered as the orchestral piano for Chopin's Concerto No. 2 in F minor. Apparently, back when the piece was first published, Berlioz thought that it was way too piano-focuses. He called the orchestra a "cold and useless accompaniment", according to Kwoka. However, Chopin was working with a contemporary style that emphasized the role of the piano; to illustrate this, Kwoka pointed to the beginning of the piece, where the orchestra starts out with a series of serene-sounding chords until the piano batters down the door with a dramatic entrance.
When the concerto began, Kwoka did sound more assertive than normal, as the piece seemed to demand. Even at his most assertive, though, he still had that artistic, cultured sound. The most complex passages in the piece were carried out with grace.