Word: sonata
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...opening Sonata, that of Opus 109, Mr. Fischer first demonstrated his strengths and weaknesses. After a somewhat uncertain beginning, probably the result of nervousness, he succeeded in conveying the dolce, expressivo tone of the first movement. The second section, however, seemed rather too prestissimo for his fingers, and the opening of the final slow movement lacked the needed singing quality. The final minutes of the work more than made up for this lack, though, and Mr. Fischer's playing of the final variation, with its incredibly long (and beautiful) trills and arpeggio passages, was nothing less than spell-binding. With...
...Sonata Opus 110 began auspiciously. Mr. Fischer's playing fulfilled two of Beethoven's three descriptions; it was cantabile (the melody line was beautifully brought out), it was con amabilita, yet it fell short of the molto expressive playing called for. Later the lyric and tranquil sections of the piece were handled with more feeling and fidelity to the manuscript. But the more declamatory passages suffered from excessive percussiveness, which often resulted in the submerging of the melody. Indeed, the entire first part of Mr. Fischer's recital displayed his lack of the tremendous ability required to meet the frequent...
...slow movement lacked nuances of expression, and the final fugue was marred by a memory lapse, which, though not a fatal flaw in itself, may have caused the pianist's failure to inject the called-for nuovovivente. Still, the tight-knit cluster of highly emotional notes which closes the Sonata was very impressive...
...Skipper. Born in San Francisco, Pierre Salinger* was a child prodigy at the piano, at the age of six impressed an audience at Toronto's International Exposition by rippling off a Haydn sonata...
Elliott Carter: Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello & Harpsichord (Columbia). One of the most original and least played of contemporary U.S. composers, Carter (now 51) appears in a work of characteristic complexity and charm. After a series of opening sonorities that explode on the ear, the sonata evolves into a dialogue between the harpsichord-querulous and spidery-and the other members of Carter's oddly assorted chamber group. For all its skirmishing, the sonata has no trouble finding its witty way home...