Dan Franklin Smith Performs from the Heart
…this music came directly from Smith’s heart to our ears.
Last March, 2010, pianist Dan Franklin Smith played a generous and beautiful program for Hemet Community Concert Association. In honor of Chopin’s 200th birthday this year, the entire first half was devoted to this icon of piano music. It must be difficult for any pianist to choose a mere handful from the hundreds of masterworks by Chopin, but Smith’s careful selections showed us every aspect of the great composer. After starting with a sigh-inducing performance of the Barcarolle, Op. 60, he then moved us through two contrasting Valses, the Impromptu in Gb Major, Opus 51, and three charming Mazurkas.
Smith’s comments throughout were to the point and entertaining, enhancing our experience rather than impeding it. His playing was full of the song and dance which are at the heart of this virtuosic music. The Chopin feast ended with a magnificent performance of the Ballade Nr. 1 in G Minor, Opus 23, Smith’s sensitive yet muscular technique always serving the music, which inspired a standing ovation — rare for the end of the first half of a concert!
It was Smith’s intention to give the audience a mini-seminar in American piano music for the second half, and his casual yet informative remarks guided us smoothly from a polka by Gottschalk to the rarely heard South American Sketches by Andre Previn. In between were stylish and colorful performances of Gershwin’s popular Three Preludes; three beautiful pieces by Copland; and Brubeck’s jazz classic Blue Rondo a la Turk. Smith’s idiomatic performances made the connections between the classics and jazz crystal clear.
The entire concert was a pleasure to the ears of novice and connoisseur alike, familiar and rare pieces all played with emotional commitment and technical security. One truly had the impression that this music came directly from Smith’s heart to our ears.
—Diane Mitchell, President, Hemet Community Concert Association, 2010
SOME AUDIENCE COMMENTS:
I loved Dan’s recital…sensitive musician, charming personality. (Retired music teacher)
Amazing! (nine-year-old boy at his first concert)
Phenomenal! (retired artist from New York)
No other concert could surpass Smith’s perfect performance! (subscriber/pianist)