Pianist Shtarkman Shows Flash, Little Charm

Winner of two international piano-competition prizes since placing fourth in the 1989 Van Cliburn Competition, young Alexander Shtarkman made his Los Angeles-area debut in the small concert hall at Santa Monica College nearly eight years ago. He was hailed then. Sunday night, when he returned to the same place, his playing disappointed.

The 29-year old pianist, equipped with speed and facility, produced a monochromatic sound at the keyboard. He played loud and soft, fast and slow, and with admirable musical directness. But the tone he made was hard-edged, brittle and one-dimensional. It offered little variety of the kind that will hold the listener through a recital.

Shtarkman’s program--a brace of Haydn sonatas and the Liszt Sonata--tested his versatility and musical resources. In both, he fell short.

Quirkiness and charm characterize Haydn’s numerous and masterly works for keyboard solo; young Shtarkman usually unearthed the former without revealing the latter. His playing of works in C minor and F and C major were aggressive but not compelling. He has an intelligent command of fast and slow movements, and integrates them well. But it is difficult to get past his constant barrage of unpleasant sounds.

In Liszt’s B-minor Sonata, one of the more emotionally kaleidoscopic of 19th century statements, he simply failed to realize its breadth, despite bombastic and quick playing. This was Liszt in one color--gray--and it told us nothing new about this wondrous Romantic document.