Egbert Fischer, Pianist

No one in Paine Hall Tuesday evening at the conclusion of Egbert Fischer's piano recital expected any encores, and for good reason: absolutely nothing can follow a program consisting of the monumental last three Beethoven Sonatas. Indeed, few pianists have the courage--one might say the audacity--to offer such a program, for these are extremely difficult works, not only for their many technical intricacies, but for the many problems of musical interpretation they offer. Mr. Fischer, a Cleveland pianist and a Harvard alumnus, put himself to this ultimate test--and the result was a recital that was curiously uneven, both technically and musically, and yet very rewarding.

In the opening Sonata, that of Opus 109, Mr. Fischer first demonstrated his strengths and weaknesses. After a somewhat uncertain beginning, probably the result of nervousness, he succeeded in conveying the dolce, expressivo tone of the first movement. The second section, however, seemed rather too prestissimo for his fingers, and the opening of the final slow movement lacked the needed singing quality. The final minutes of the work more than made up for this lack, though, and Mr. Fischer's playing of the final variation, with its incredibly long (and beautiful) trills and arpeggio passages, was nothing less than spell-binding. With the final return to the simple theme, the audience breathed again.

The Sonata Opus 110 began auspiciously. Mr. Fischer's playing fulfilled two of Beethoven's three descriptions; it was cantabile (the melody line was beautifully brought out), it was con amabilita, yet it fell short of the molto expressive playing called for. Later the lyric and tranquil sections of the piece were handled with more feeling and fidelity to the manuscript. But the more declamatory passages suffered from excessive percussiveness, which often resulted in the submerging of the melody. Indeed, the entire first part of Mr. Fischer's recital displayed his lack of the tremendous ability required to meet the frequent and sharp changes in the moods of the Sonatas.

This weakness was not in evidence in the allegro molto movement of Opus 110; Mr. Fischer's touch was alternately feather-light and hammer-heavy, in the right places. Things went down-hill from there on in, however. The slow movement lacked nuances of expression, and the final fugue was marred by a memory lapse, which, though not a fatal flaw in itself, may have caused the pianist's failure to inject the called-for nuovovivente. Still, the tight-knit cluster of highly emotional notes which closes the Sonata was very impressive.

It was after intermission, with the playing of the final Sonata Opus 111, that Mr. Fischer really electrified the audience. His playing was percussive in the opening torrent of notes; he moved effectively from lyric to appassionato passages; his fingers flew over the keyboard in the long runs and octave passages. I was rather disappointed that he skipped the repeat of the first section, but one cannot expect everything; the remainder of his playing was more than satisfying. It is not easy to play the first section of Opus 111 at all, let alone well, and Mr. Fischer's excellent technique was matched by his interpretative skill. The concluding Arietta was similarly excellent; his performance in the incredibly difficult, incredibly fast L'istesso tempo section was hair-raising. The same can be said of the final pages of the Sonata; with his playing of these beautiful, immensely complex measures Mr. Fischer concluded his recital on a note of melodic grandeur.