URGENCY AND DRAMA

Dora de Marinis plays Beethoven
at the Regent Hall Summer Festival,
enjoyed by MALCOLM MILLER

The final lunchtime concert of the 2008 Regent Hall Summer Festival presented by the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe on 8 August was an All-Beethoven Recital given by the Argentinean pianist Dora de Marinis and featured two Beethoven sonatas, Op 7 and Op 13. A specialist in Latin-American music of which she has a notable discography of some fifteen CDs, Dora de Marinis is based in the city of Mendoza where she is Professor at the National University of Cuyo.

Her Beethoven interpretations displayed some of the fire and intensity, as well as seriousness of purpose of some of the composers whose music she is associated with, such as Ginastera. This was particularly the case in the third movement of Op 7, where the swirling Trio was almost orchestral in its richness and passion, as was the C minor episode of the Rondo finale, where her frenetic left hand was evocatively countered by a fluorescent glow in the Rondo theme itself.

It was the Pathetique sonata which most tellingly displayed her very mature and formidable pianistry. Though there were few surprises, it was a performance full of urgency and drama. The contrast of full-toned chords and gentle lyricism in the Grave introduction was immediately arresting, her reading immersed in the power and eloquence of the music. A spirited tempo imbued her repeat of the exposition with additional excitement, and tension did not abate until after the final chord. With its mellow tone and alert triplets, the slow movement was never over-sentimental, nor dry, but infused with life experience, and a mellow tone. The finale conveyed both verve and delight, for while the left hand textures remained light the structurally recurring falling scales, each linking to the next Rondo theme, pursued their direction with fervour.

No wonder the sizeable audience greeted this artist with warmth and enthusiasm, and one hopes for a return visit to a London concert platform in the not too distant future.