David Beyer

David Beyer, a comparative newcomer in Harvard music circles, gave a piano recital Sunday afternoon that was, in nearly every respect, competent and satisfying. His touch was sufficiently heavy and sold for the more somber passages of Brahms' Variations on a Theme by Handel, but he could also produce the light, fragile tones so necessary for his group of Scarlatti sonatas.

The program opened with two chorale-preludes by Bach, neither of which made any great technical demands, Beyer easily solved the major interpretive problem of emphasizing the chorale melodies without obliterating the important supplementary material.

The Brahms Variations, long and repetitions, need a varied, carefully proportioned performance if their basic grandeur is to get through. Beyer's contrasting treatment of the heaven-storming passages and the more flippant variations was enormously effective. He sometimes injected a bit of ham by excess rubato and uncalled for rolling chords, but at least it was obvious that his interpretation was the result of careful thought.

Chopin's Sonata in B Minor gave Beyer a chance to display his virtuosity. Except for the final movement, the Sonata is not Chopin at his best, but it is full of complicated runs and octave passages, which Beyer handled impressively.

The playing of excerpts from Debussy's Children's Corner was almost convincing, but not quite. The grace was there, the technique adequate, but the element of inmgination was missing. More extensive use of the soft pedal, and more relaxation would have helped Beyer here.