MUSIC REVIEWS : Rosen: Drama Was Lacking

Those seeking the aristocratic Chopin, the heroic, passionate Chopin, the introspective, sensitive Chopin were likely to be disappointed with pianist Charles Rosen’s recital Friday at South Coast Community Church, Irvine.

The problem seemed more a matter of temperament than of technique. Rosen offered strong, respectable, intelligent pianism, but he rarely stormed the heights or stirred the soul.

Admittedly, the unhospitable, deadening acoustics made it difficult to judge fully the distinguished pianist’s range of nuance of tone, delicacy in shading and balance of contrapuntal lines.

Evident, nonetheless, was his penchant for architectural clarity, for accumulating weight over phrases rather than shaping as he went, for restricted contrasts and for rhythmic steadiness rather than exploitation of rubato.

In a superbly attended-to series of five Mazurkas, Rosen ranged from elegance to forceful sweep, from music-box delicacy to bittersweet reverie, conveying all this with a sense of spontaneity. But, though they showed unforced clarity of shape, the Ballades No. 1 in G minor and No. 3 in A-flat suffered from sectional phrasing and a want of drama.

Rosen began the “Polonaise Fantaisie” with stately and magical arpeggios, bathed the work in a delicate charm and evoked a distant call to arms. But all this was at the expense of rhythmic tension and profile. Rosen’s approach to the B-flat Minor Sonata was powerful, bold and strongly propelled. He took the Funeral March, for instance, at an uncommonly quick tempo, suggesting elements of defiance and offering strong, resonant trills in the left hand. But one missed repose, poetry and lyricism, and the experience somehow remained more cerebral than personal.

Rosen will perform works by Beethoven and Bartok with the Irvine Symphony Tuesday at 8 p.m. at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Tickets: $8 to $24. Information: (714) 556-2787.