Piano virtuoso on-the-rise/ Notes on ‘The Triple Threat’

Seventeen-year-old Chance Elan Israel is not quite of medium height; thus the cliché “small but terrible” is a fitting compliment to him. After his first recital a year ago, I described him as a future virtuoso. At his recent recital at Abelardo Theater’s Mini-Hall, I went away so impressed that I shall now dab him a young virtuoso-on-the-rise.

Among the pieces he interpreted was Chopin’s Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaised Brillante. The Spianato (smooth) section was not beyond the capacity of the average pianist but the Grande Polonaise is regarded by music academicians “too difficult for any except the strongest and the most agile virtuoso; it is entirely beyond the reach of the amateur.” With firm, assured, nimble fingers and audacious confidence, Chance raced through the most daunting passages in a tempo so breathtakingly rapid that the most gifted dancer could not have kept pace with it.

An even more diabolically forbidding piece was Liszt’s Waldestrauschen (from two concert etudes). Liszt is known to the music world as a showman, an exhibitionist composer-pianist of the first order whose bombastic pieces draw from last resources for their own sake.

Chance’s prodigious rendition of Liszt’s work explains why, as a sophomore scholar at Lynn U. Conservatory in Florida, he is under the tutelage of Roberta Rust who only exceedingly  talented students. The other Chopin composition, Prelude No. 4 in E Minor, had unusually rapid runs for the left hand; Rachmaninoff’s Etude Tableaux No. 1 in C Minor had similarly rapid chords for the right hand. Chance met both challenges with equal dexterity, as he did Rachmaninoff’s two other infinitely formidable compositions! Moment Musicaux No. 4 in E Minor and Etude Tableaux No. 8 in G Minor. In this regard, Rachmaninoff, like Chopin and Liszt, was an extraordinary pianist who composed works that had to meet his own supreme standards.

Initial pieces were Bach’s Toccata in C Minor and Haydn’s Sonata in E Minor, both relatively simple, with their main focus on form or structure. It was in the tremendously labyrinthian pieces wherein Chance asserted his technical brilliance as well as sensitive expressivity, interspersing sound and fury with soft, gentle nuances.

The recital concluded with Earl Wild’s contemporary Etude No. 4 built around the beautifully melodious popular song “Embraceable You”. It consisted wholly of flowing, harmonious, repeated runs through the entire piano register. Chance played the piece twice although no wrong notes had been struck, the first rendition having missed certain portions, as he declared. The song was a refreshing diversion from the ponderous compositions.

The piano sounded a bot metallic, particularly the upper register, but this did not hinder Chance from giving overpowering, indeed, electrifying interpretations, or from living up to his second name Elan, a word that characterized his recital.

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When I started writing reviews decades ago, I covered music, theater and dance, having acquired a background in all three disciplines through studies here and in Harvard U. There were not too many professional presentations then. As the years rolled by professional productions proliferated thus, in the last few years, I have devoted reviewing mainly music events, particularly classic concerts, and occasionally dance and theater, my hectic schedule permitting.

Understandably in the early days, I often saw Audie Gemora perform with the Rep, he being one of its initial members. I deeply regret missing his recent solo performance as part of the “Triple Threat” series. Audie is not only supremely talented but also extremely versatile.

Likewise, I missed seeing Nonie Buencamino. He was captivating in “The King and I”. He, too, gives more than sufficient reason for inclusion in the “Triple Threat” series, as does Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo — an excellent actress, singer, dancer, director. She is set to do her solo on Aug. 15 at the same venue, the CCP Little Theater, 7:30 pm.