Music Reviews : Pianist Istomin Returns to Ambassador Auditorium

Still quietly authoritative at 64, Eugene Istomin plays the piano as he always did: in a solid, accomplished and reliable way. The American pianist’s return to Ambassador Auditorium on Wednesday night may have provided no great moments at all for thrill-seekers, but it was reassuring.

Without the wings of inspiration, however, performing musicians remain earthbound and, in perspective, can seem like non-achievers. Without the power to lift their listeners above the mundane, what ultimate purposes do their efforts serve? The question seems imponderable.

In practical terms, Istomin’s recital of works by Beethoven, Schubert and Chopin--with two, added, familiar encores--demonstrated serious, if not charismatic or compelling, attention to important music. Startling or memorable insights did not materialize, spontaneity appeared seldom, and hearts remained untouched. This was a bread-and-butter recital spread with a dull knife.

Beethoven’s seldom-heard Fantasia in G minor, performed without the bite of compulsion, introduced a first-half devoted also to the same composer’s sonatas in C-sharp minor and A-flat, Opus 27, No. 1, and Opus 110, respectively. Istomin played all three pieces conscientiously, but without the contrasts, linearity and passion all require. There is more life here than he found.

Two Impromptus of Schubert--those in G-flat and E-flat from Opus 90--emerged pleasant and noncommittal. Signs of feeling arose in the pianist’s smooth and nicely motivated performance of Chopin’s F-sharp Impromptu. One had to admire the handsome tone and legato touch that Istomin brought to this piece.

Elsewhere in the recital, he produced, on a very poor instrument brought in just for this concert--where were those wonderful, Hamburg Steinways just when we needed one of them most?--mostly a monochromatic and neutral sound.

Finally, Chopin’s B-minor Scherzo provided a virtuoso close to the event, though one stubbornly understated.

The encores were Debussy’s “General Lavine--excentric,” and one of Mendelssohn’s “Songs Without Words.”