Yesterday Merkin Hall witnessed the debut of an exceptional young performer. Italian Michele Garzo showed his talent with a wide-ranging, technically demanding program. He kicked off the concert with a showy piece by Sergei Rachmaninoff, the Prelude in G minor, imbuing the music with great emotional intensity. Then he embarked upon one of the most remarkable masterpieces in the entire piano canon: the Liszt Sonata in B minor, a 30-minute monster piece that few pianists dare to approach, even less in the first half of the recital.
It’s a titanic composition, but Garzo played it brilliantly, accurately and with astonishing technical facility even in the most demanding sections. However, Mr. Garzo’s playing is not just fireworks. The lyrical and slow sections were delivered with unique tenderness, showcasing the intricacy of the counterpoint, the beauty of the melodies and the wholeness of the composition.
Despite his tender age of 23, Mr. Garzo’s artistry emerged as mature and consistent; the audience could hear all the remarkable strengths of the compositions, all the changes in dynamics, the contrasts in textures. After a brief
intermission, the program featured an homage to some of the best known of Frederic Chopin’s compositions, such as the magnificent Ballade in G minor and Nocturne in C minor. Towards the end, Mr. Garzo chose pieces highlighting his virtuosity. The Sonata in D minor, K. 141, by Domenico Scarlatti stands as an emblematic piece of the composer’s innovative approach to the keyboard sonata genre. Mr. Garzo performed the frantic repeated notes at a blistering pace without losing clarity. The piece also features a pervasive use of trills and other ornamentations, challenging the performer’s dexterity and precision.
Later, in the Hungarian Rhapsody in D Flat Major by Franz Liszt, the famous octaves became Michele Garzo’s forte. Any highly skilled pianist can easily tackle the first three episodes but only those with wrists of steel can get unscathed through the fourth episode, all based on octaves. The recital included the hauntingly beautiful melody of Bach’s Adagio from the D Minor Concerto BWV 974, after Alessandro Marcello.
Mr. Garzo finished with a quick and explosive rendition of the Prokofiev Toccata in D minor, an extremely difficult showpiece, proven popular with virtuoso pianists that demands stamina as well as technique. According to the biography of the composer by David Gutman, Prokofiev himself had trouble playing the Toccata.
Michele Garzo gave proof once again of his continuing development as a concert artist and his considerable talent, playing with total commitment.
