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Asaf Blasberg, Pianist
New York Recital Debut
(Website)
Presented by Artists International Presentations, Inc.
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
(www.carnegiehall.org)
Raechel Alexander, Manager, Public Affairs
April 25, 2004
Program
Franz Schubert: Sonata in C minor, Allegro, Adagio, Menuetto and Trio, Allegro.
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Prelude in D Major, Op. 23.
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Prelude in G-sharp minor, Op. 32.
Pedro Da Silva: Atanos.
Johannes Brahms: Two Rhapsodies, Op. 79, Agitato, Molto passionate.
Olivier Messiaen: Vingt Régards sur L’Enfant Jésus, Régard du Père, Noël, Prémière communion de la Vierge.
Frederic Chopin: Polonaise in A-Flat Major (“Heroic”).
Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower
April 25, 2004 Asaf Blasberg, pianist and composer, was born in Israel. His superb education at Mannes College of Music and Juilliard was enhanced with private study with the finest of pianists and teachers, such as Jerome Lowenthal, Jerome Rose, Sara Davis Beuchner, and Lucille Straub. Mr. Blasberg was a child prodigy, having begun playing piano at four years and composing at ten years. He was a visiting performing artist at Rancho Santiago College in 1992 and performed at Tilles Center on LI. He has participated in festivals and has been awarded several prizes, including the second prize in the Dorothy MacKenzie Recognition Awards Competition. Mr. Blasberg has also won awards for composition.(Program Notes).
Asaf Blasberg is a young, dynamic piano virtuoso, on staff at Piano Piano, a comprehensive piano showroom on West 55th Street, NY, at which one can find the rare and unusual concert grand, as well as the home practice piano. Mr. Blasberg was joined by his colleagues from Piano Piano, the composer Pedro Da Silva, and by friends from near and afar, as well as Carnegie Hall piano enthusiasts, for his New York Recital Debut. Mr. Blasberg did not hold back on his passionate interpretation of his favorite works, especially that of his friend, Pedro Da Silva, Portuguese composer and guitarist, who composed Atanos, featured as the final work, prior to intermission. The entire program tonight was challenging and charged with excitement and energy.
Mr. Blasberg was poised on entrance and presented the Schubert Sonata with lyricism and adoration. The highly technical Allegro merged into driven dynamism with contrasting themes of quietude and thunder. The Adagio was sorrowful and sentimental with an elegant, rapturous resonance. Menuetto and Trio were transitional and brief, followed quickly by the final Allegro, with Mr. Blasberg’s left and right hands equally attacking his keyboard in mirror image themes. The first of the Rachmaninoff Preludes was mature, with romantic yearnings. The second contained moody, meditative passages.
In contrast to the Rachmaninoff works, Mr. Blasberg expertly chose one unusual, new work by an emerging Portuguese composer, Pedro Da Silva, called Atanos. This was a quintessential wild work, at once exciting and electric. With both arms and fists attacking his keyboard, Mr. Blasberg astounded the audience with dissonant chords that filled the Hall. With incredible contrasts in mood and volume, Mr. Blasberg brought his concert grand Steinway to its maximum potential of power. There were passages of rapid racing, flawless and fearless in performance skill.
The Brahms Rhapsodies were at first dissonant, driven, and disturbing and later sensitive and sensual. Messiaen’s Vingt Régards, with its religious connotations, was quite intense and focused. There were moments so soft, like a prayer, contrasted with moments in which Mr. Blasberg pounced on his keys like a panther. As his finale, Mr. Blasberg chose with care Chopin’s “Heroic” Polonaise. Without missing a moment, following the previous work, Mr. Blasberg tore into the Chopin with verve and versatility. This presentation was sometimes feverish and sometimes romantic, and Mr. Blasberg was an obvious master of Chopin. According to Artur Rubenstein (RCA Notes), “…his (Chopin’s) music conquers the most diverse audiences. It is expressive and personal, but still a pure art…”
Kudos to Asaf Blasberg on the evening of his New York Recital Debut. Kudos to Pedro Da Silva for a compelling composition, Atanos.
Pedro Da Silva and Asaf Blasberg
Photo courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Asaf Blasberg and Gerard Binder, President, Piano Piano
Photo courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Asaf Blasberg and Piano Piano Colleagues
Photo courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
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