Ballade Piano-Spheres, The Neighborhood Church, March 21, 1995, Susan Svrcek, piano Los Angeles Times, March 23 (?), 1995, Daniel Cariaga Surrounding that there was Chopinesque emotion, first in the genuine article, the D-flat Nocturne, Opus 27, No. 2, then in a dense homage, Frederick Lesemann's revised 1990s Ballade, which the composer - a longtime USC professor, and Svrcek's husband - modeled on the F-minor Ballade. It is a gripping work, thoroughly and atonally of this decade, yet it seems to cram a quarter-hour of original music into 10 brief minutes. Too tight. |