NAOKO YOSHINO IN RECITAL AT USC

You probably haven’t marked your calendar, but by mayoral proclamation Harp Week in Los Angeles began Wednesday. Not coincidentally, so did the 23rd national conference of the American Harp Society, held at USC.

Most admirers of the harp seem to love the instrument regardless--or in spite--of its music. But if Naoko Yoshino’s recital Wednesday in Bovard Auditorium is representative, repertory limitations may be more apparent than real.

Her program, generous to a fault, lasted two-and-one-half hours, ranging from a buoyantly stylish Sonata by C.P.E. Bach to the premiere of a Fantasy by Yuzo Toyama. Only at the end did it turn to sentimental or fluffy salon pieces.

Toyama’s Fantasy is a five-movement work of austere, though readily accessible, character. The modal outer movements reflect Oriental musics, while the inner ones are Neo-Classical. In that they compared favorably with Britten’s typically mellifluous five-movement Suite, Opus 83.

Prokofiev’s Prelude in C and a set of Variations by Carlos Salzedo proved direct, vigorous pieces, save in the longueurs of Salzedo’s trill variation. The Bach Sonata is an appreciable work, as is Spohr’s surprisingly pertinent Fantasy.

Yoshino may be remembered from her numerous appearances here a decade ago. Since then she has won prizes in prestigious international competitions.

Her mastery of her instrument was therefore no shock, although anyone accustomed to less lofty levels of technical attainment could only marvel at her control of an instrument that scarcely plays itself in this type of repertory.

Her musicality proved as sure as her fingers. Lines descending into the lower range sounded indistinct, but elsewhere Yoshino balanced melody and accompaniment with a sure hand, and her phrasing consistently enhanced the musical impulse.

A standing ovation brought Yoshino back for three encores--transcriptions of pieces by Falla and Liszt.