Roberto Plano Next Guest at USU's Wassermann Festival

The sole international performer at Utah State University’s Wassermann Festival 2009 is Roberto Plano. Italian pianist Plano is in demand internationally, and he is also a friend of the festival where he is a return guest.

Plano’s solo recital is Thursday, March 19, 7:30 p.m. at the USU Performance Hall (approximately 1090 E. 675 North, Logan).

Tickets for all Wassermann Festival recitals are available through the Caine School of the Arts Box Office, (435) 797-8022, or online. Reserved seating (per concert) is $15, and student tickets are $7.50.

Plano is among a group called “young hot-shot pianists” by festival director Dennis Hirst. The New York Times said Plano plays with “… artistic maturity beyond his years.”

Plano first appeared in Logan the year following his appearance at the 12th annual Van Cliburn International Piano Competition where he was a finalist. He’s been the first prize winner at the 2001 Cleveland International Piano Competition, a Laureate of the 2003 Honens International Piano Competition and the 2006 AXA Dublin International Piano Competition.

“Roberto has one of the richest tonal palettes of anyone I’ve ever heard play,” Hirst said.

To Hirst, tonal palette includes the mixture of volume, touch, timing and the intangible “sense” of a music selection.

“Someone with a rich tonal palette can, in 10-seconds of playing, evoke an enormous range of emotional responses from a listener,” Hirst said. “Roberto is truly a master at that.”

Plano’s recital program is very diverse, opening with a major work by Schuman, the Davidsbundlertanze, Op. 6. The work includes 18 character pieces that provide music for dancing, artistic elevation, romantic love and longing, and the exploration of the recesses and contradictions of one’s mind, an online description of the work said.

Schumann wrote with different musical voices or personalities that he labeled Florestan and Euseblus. In Davidsbundlertanze, the “Florestan” pieces are faster and animated, while the “Euseblus” flavored works are soft and expressive. The Schumann work fills the first portion of the recital.

Following an intermission, Plano returns with works by Mozart and Bartok and concludes his recital with Concert-Etude in B-flat Minor, Op. 28, No. 4 by E.v. Dohnanyi.

The next Wassermann Festival recital features American pianist Kevin Kenner Tuesday, March 24. For information on the Wassermann Festival, visit the Web site.

 

Writer: Patrick Williams (435) 797-1354, patrick.williams@usu.edu
Contact: R. Dennis Hirst (435) 797-3257, dennis.hirst@usu.edu