University of Virginia Library

Fiendishly Difficult

After intermission, Anievas
played the Six Transcendental
Etudes after Paganini by Franz
Liszt. The choice of tempi and the
interpretations of these fiendishly
difficult studies were first rate, but
the performances were marred by
the pianist's overpedaling, a fault
that had reared its ugly head during
the first half of the program, too.
The overpedaling was more serious
in the Liszt, for the Paganini Etudes
demand a blinding clarity of
execution as well as interpretative
sensitivity. Anievas provided a
splendid reading of the scores, but
the car struggled for some
definition in the runs, tremolos,
and rapid octave passages.

Anievas's performance brought
the audience to its feet, and despite
the fact that I talked with several
individuals who had many of the
same reservations about the recital
that I did, I still cannot help but
wonder about the possible effects
of that cheese souffle