Pianist Kuerti’s Playing: Solid Yet Detached

The first half of Anton Kuerti’s Schoenberg Hall recital on Sunday afternoon was a nourishing meal of Beethoven, beginning with appetizers in the six Bagatelles of Opus 126, a hearty musical salad in the beloved “Andante favori,” and a familiar main course, the “Appassionata” Sonata. It was, by the way, the same first half he had delivered at a Caltech recital 14 years ago.

It worked well technically, again, and the Austrian-born Canadian pianist played with his usual authority and solidity. Still, something was missing, a certain personal identification, a genuine confrontation with the content of each work, a warmth.

The second half of this UCLA appearance, devoted to three of the Impromptus of Schubert’s Opus 90, and to excerpts from Schumann’s Novelettes, Opus 21, emerged equally cool and detached. One had to admire everything the 62-year-old veteran did at the piano while remaining generally untouched by his efforts.

Throughout, Kuerti’s playing reproduced each composer’s style faithfully, his musical integrity and mechanical accuracy were utterly reliable and one heard the music unfettered by mannerisms or meddling. Yet, there was so little connection between the pianist and his listeners that the performance became irritating rather than satisfying. One waited for communication, and it did not arrive.