Music Review : Pepperdine Hall Overflows With Otten

A new recital series at Pepperdine University continued Sunday with the appearance of Thomas Otten, a prize-winning pianist of international credits and California associations.

The 115-seat Raitt Recital Hall on the Malibu campus may be ideal for intimate music-making, still, Otten’s pianistic ambitions and his broad technique, plus the resident piano--a full-size, resourceful and handsome Baldwin--seem much too large for this room.

On Sunday, all these elements came together uncomfortably.

A generous and far-ranging program filled the space with music. It contained two major sonatas--Beethoven’s Opus 111 and Samuel Barber’s--and was not miniaturized by the presence of pieces by Poulenc, Debussy and Liszt. And, even though Otten did well in modulating his sound down to the near-soft dynamic area, a lot of his well-played performance emerged uncommonly, steadily clangorous.

The pianist’s versatility is admirable. He takes different stylistic approaches as a matter of course--he observes the longer musical line, he tinkers with details without losing momentum. He gives every impression of knowing what he is about.

And his mechanical range is huge, capable of producing clarity in all situations, though that could not happen here--particularly in Liszt and Beethoven--as often as Otten might have wished. As for understanding, every evidence, starting with the fact that he put together such an arresting agenda at all, seemed to suggest an engaging musical mind.

* The Stotsenberg Recital Series at Pepperdine University, Malibu, continues May 7 at 8 p.m. with a performance by cellist Ronald Leonard and pianist Hilda Chun-Ching Wu. (310) 456-4522. $10.