Search - Pacific So, John Nakamatsu, Yakov Kasman :: Foss: Piano Concertos, Elegy for Anne Frank / Nakamatsu, Kasman

Both Foss Piano Concertos were written early in his career, the First under the influence of Hindemith, the Second influenced by Stravinsky. Both pieces are energetic, virtuosic romps, entertaining on a superficial level, but both seem rather synthetic, the product of more thought than feeling. Nakamatsu, a superb musician, plays the First Concerto with perhaps too much artistry, while Kasman is as brash as the Second Concerto he plays. There is more genuine feeling in the six-minute Elegy than in the hour of Piano Concertos. The narration, taken from Anne Frank's Diary and read by the composer's daughter, is touching, but it doesn't connect firmly with the music, so the version without narration seems more of an artistic success. Throughout the disc, the playing of the orchestra (from Orange County, California) is spectacular and the sound quality quite vivid. It's an impressive production (and a very long CD at 77:59), but the overall artistic result is a bit disappointing, except, perhaps, for listeners who get a kick out of hearing fingers move very fast over a keyboard. --Leslie Gerber