She’s only 21, but pianist Natasha Paremski delivered the musical pyrotechnics of John Corigliano’s Piano Concerto with emotional maturity and sure-handed control at Boettcher Concert Hall on Friday.
The Russian-born virtuoso returned to Denver with a fetching new hairstyle — her long, blond tresses replaced by a fashion-forward raven bob — and dressed to kill in a little black dress and blood-red spike heels.
In step with Jeffrey Kahane’s spot-on direction of the dramatic, flashy work, Paremski and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra pounded and glissandoed through the four movements, each a study of athleticism and technical tricks.
Cornerstone of the CSO’s final Masterworks program this season, the ingenious musical fabric of Corigliano’s 1967 concerto has stood the test of time.
While clearly a modern work, engaging harmonies are interwoven throughout this ambitious exploration of compositional techniques, including 12-tone rows and arresting tone clusters, plus hints of minimalism and counterpoint.
Despite the concerto’s furious pace, Paremski managed to extract a warm, resonant sound from the piano’s keybed. This was especially notable in the uncommon cadenza with percussion accompaniment. Kahane kept steady the momentum and complex timing of the musical dialogue among families of instruments.
The CSO’s fine percussion section shone again in Aaron Copland’s substantial, assertive Symphony No. 3. Kahane led the tightly calibrated orchestra in a stirring rendition of the work’s elevating “Fanfare for the Common Man.”
Also on the program that showcased American composers were two works by Leonard Bernstein — the sprightly overture to “Candide” and “Chichester Psalms.” While the former served to whet the appetite for the weightier works to come, the lush and lovely “Psalms” for orchestra and chorus made the concert’s first half seem unduly long, somewhat detracting from the concerto and symphony that followed.
But director Duain Wolfe’s clear reading of the lyrical score entranced the audience, as did the smooth and soaring solo from boy soprano Benjamin Tooke. In all, this setting of the 23rd Psalm was rendered with utmost care, precision and due reflection.
As part of the National Performing Arts Convention, Paremski rejoins the CSO on June 11 in repeat performances of the Corigliano and Bernstein works, along with Giya Kancheli’s “Styx.”
