MUSIC REVIEW : Pianist Zimerman: Skilled, Emotionally Cool Outing

Krystian Zimerman made his debut here at the age of 21, playing within a two-week span both concertos of Chopin with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Now, at 38, the pianist from Zabrze is a veteran, an icon, a role model.

And Zimerman lives up to his reputation. Yet, among Polish pianists, he follows more the tradition of Jakob Gimpel than that of Artur Rubinstein. That is to say, he is more cool than heated, more analytical than heroic. He thinks a lot, which has his audience raptly following his every musical statement. On the other hand, his projection of feeling is a sometime thing.

Zimerman’s recital at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Tuesday night proved thoughtful and provocative, a showcase of virtuosity. Still, the pianist’s cerebrations held the spotlight.

Reminding us that he won a sheaf of prizes last year for his recording of Debussy Preludes, Zimerman began with that composer’s “Images,” Set I. For clarity and transparency, one could not wish for a more elegant and selfless reading.

The same virtues illuminated Webern’s Variations, Opus 27, which the pianist traversed with a projected and deep understanding and pinpoint dynamics.

Bach’s C-minor Partita was a logical next step, and sounded so, in Zimerman’s well-paced reading. He played with flowing rhetoric and clarified logic and made all tempos, even superquick ones, sensible. The architectonic beauties of the piece emerged, unforced. The only thing missing was the emotional contrasts between movements--one color seemed to fit all.

After intermission, the pianist returned to Bach, and the key of C minor, this time with his own piano transcription of the Passacaglia and Fugue, BWV 582. Uncharacteristically, Zimerman made this into a showpiece, both in the writing and the playing, often overpedaling in the process. Perhaps the piece is truly melodramatic, but for one listener it all seemed in questionable taste.

Larger disappointments lay in wait in Chopin’s B-flat-minor Sonata, where a shortage of both breadth and depth and varied coloration of sound made the work clunky and monochromatic.

The opening movement moved at breathtaking speed, which is not a problem, except that it failed to speak to the listener. The Funeral March lacked imagination and tone-color--its inevitability and repose did not appear. The finale was quiet enough, but lacked mystery.