American pianist Simone Dinnerstein began her April 17 Sherwood Auditorium recital in what seemed rather idiosyncratic fashion, with two pieces by Anton Webern from his Variations for Piano, Opus 27. The intellectual and emotional remove of the music set the tone for an icy, remote evening. Not that the young pianist did not have the requisite facility for the works of Robert Schumann, Franz Schubert and Johann Sebastian Bach that composed the rest of the program, it’s just that she seemed downright unhappy during her playing. Even Schumann’s “Kreisleriana,” Opus 16, seemed bogged down in darkness, and in Schubert’s Four Impromptus, D.899, the left hand, overly polite, failed to give impetus to the right. Dinnerstein ended her program as oddly as it began, with Bach’s French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816. Only the last movement, Gigue, seemed to hint at a bit of joy and humor lurking somewhere in this technically facile young artist who at times plays so softly and slowly as if longing to be inaudible. Or was she merely demanding attention from the audience of coughers? Following the Webern and at the other end of the dynamic spectrum, Dinnerstein’s playing of Kreisleriana’s thrillingly dense Ausserst beweght and pure and melodic Sehr innig und nicht zu rosch sections were among the evening’s high points. The music seemed the fulfillment of Webern’s stark and angular sketchiness, though that is impossible because Webern wrote 100 years later. A tepid reaction to most of the concert experience causes one to doubt one’s own longing for something more fervent and warm, something that made one feel more like a travel companion than a waif, waving from the wharf as the sleek and elegant ship sailed without provisions. Maybe it was an off night for the listener. Dinnerstein wowed the musical world in 2005 with her self-release of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Telarc followed up with a 2008 recording titled “The German Recital.” Apparently Dinnerstein felt thwarted in her earlier career ambitions, and took matters into her own hands by self-financing that first recording four years ago. She is playing in all the right places these days, and good for her. Simone Dinnerstein’s recital was part of the Frieman Family Piano Series produced by La Jolla Music Society. LJMS presents the Jerusalem Quartet at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 2, at Sherwood, and violinist Yi-Jian Susanne Hou, as part of its Discovery Series, at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 3, at the Neurosciences Institute auditorium. On its dance series, LJMS also presents Ballet Preljocaj at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 16 at the Birch North Park Theatre. For additional programming, go to www.lajollamusicsociety.com or call (858) 459-3728.
