Rising star Vondracek lives up to his advance billing (October 28, 2002)

A nearly full house assembled at the Wellspring Theatre in the Epic Center Sunday evening to hear 16-year-old pianist Lukas Vondracek perform in the Gilmore Rising Stars Recital Series. The neon-bright accolades preceding the young performer from the Czech Republic were mostly confirmed in his sparkling playing.

Phenonmenal keyboard technique was ever in evidence. Hand and finger dexterity was amazing, allowing for blazing speed and triple fortes when called for - and sometimes when not. Vondracek assertively attacked the very first chords and presto runs of Bedrich Smetana's "At the Seaside," Op 17, the opening work and never looked back the entire evening.

He directly followed with a second Smetana work, the wild and woolly solo "Macbeth and the Witches". Also highly percussive, fast and loud, this piece offered a wilder array of effects, especially many hand crossovers. But like the earlier number, too much sustaining pedal-induced muddiness contributed to a showy, bombastic effect.

Claude Debussy - the only composer on the program not from Central Europe - was represented by "Pour le piano", composed of three short pieces. Vondracek played all three with fine elan, though not with the gracefulness more often associated with Debussy.

Two further Czech works followed, both interesting. Leos Janacek's "In the Mists" features four conventional movements but they display his unique musical voice. The pianist effectively underscored the spicy jazz elements of "Andantino", the third section.

New to me and most of the audience was "Three Pieces for Piano" by Klement Slavicky.

Written to be performed at lightning speed, the separate short pieces displayed fresh musical notions that this pianist knew exactly how to express.

But Vondracek made Franz Liszt's fiendishly difficult "Mephisto Waltz, No 1" his calling card with an unbelievably swift, clean and passionate performance.

This work has been played by several other Rising Stars pianists, but never better. A standing ovation reflected the audience's great pleasure with the outstanding performance.

C.J.Gianakaris  Kalamazoo Gazette

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