Sunday, January 23, 2011

Sara Daneshpour



I saw Sara Daneshpour in concert at the United Church. She opened with Haydn's Piano Sonata in F major. She played with the sparkle, delicacy, and elegance that Haydn requires. Dressed in a long black jacket with a white blouse with a great ruffle, she was perfectly dressed for 18th century music. With any luck a record label will give her a contract for all of Haydn's sonatas.

Also on the program was Chopin's famous Sonata no.2 in B-flat minor. She played the third movement's funeral march with the haunting emotion that it requires. The final Presto followed perfectly from the third movement, and the selection of Chopin's Etude op. 10 no. 12 was in C minor was the perfect choice to follow the famous Sonata no. 2.

After intermission we were treated to Schumann's ABEGG Variations, which was played with the caressing warmth you want to hear in Schumann. She played Frank with wonderful emotion, if you like Frank, which I don't.

She finished with a riveting, disturbing, and compelling performance of Prokofiev's Toccata.

Clearly we will be hearing more from Sara Daneshpour.

2 comments:

Jane Weir said...

We have heard Sara twice in concert at Downtown Piano Works in Frederick MD where she has played stunningly. We are currently watching Sara Daneshpour compete in the Tchaikovsky competition LIVE from Moscow. If you go to the website there is a link for streaming video of all the artists. She has succeeded in the first round and will move onto the second round 1 p.m. Monday June 20, 2011...her second round concert will conclude with the Toccata No. 11 by Prokofiev that you wrote about in your blog.

Jane Weir said...

We have heard Sara Daneshpour in concert twice at Downtown Piano Works in Frederick MD. We love her! Currently she is competing in the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow and if you want to watch LIVE webcasts of the artists you can do so from the website. Sara has made it through the first round and is currently scheduled to play second round at 1 p.m. our time, Monday, June 20th. Her performance will include her most thrilling Toccata No.11 by Prokofiev!!