SFCM Faculty Recital, January 26, 1982

This was an "All-Russian" concert of varying degrees of success. I've decided to include the second half of the recital, which consisted of an unusual work from Alexander Borodin, and then the marvelous Corelli Variations of Rachmaninoff.

Borodin: Petite Suite	I remember choosing this composition primarily as a break from a rather dense program. It's a cute enough set of pieces, nothing to write home about. The performance is OK, also nothing to write home about. Typical of me at this age (28), I tended to push phrases too hard, and often didn't let an extremely modest piece be modest.
Rachmaninoff: Variations on a Theme of Corelli	Overall this is probably the best solo performance I gave between my student recitals (1976/77) and the Debussy series that I played in 1985. There was a tiny audience in the hall that night, but I was very much on top of this stunning composition and on the whole pulled it off well. In places it's overplayed (as usual) and sometimes my fingers bolted out from underneath me. In louder passages the tone invariably turns ugly and steely -- a problem which I never solved until middle age when I finally stopped being a skinny guy brimming with nervous energy. However, there is more control in this performance than most of my recorded recitals from this time, and barring the occasional raucous passage, it's pretty good.