Pianist Angie Zhang blends ardor and elegance in Portland Columbia Symphony concert

by James Bash on February 21, 2010

Angie Zhang gave a terrific performance of Chopin’s “Andante and Grand Polonaise Brilliante” with the Portland Columbia Symphony on Friday, February 19, at First United Methodist Church. Zhang, though only 13 years old, played with intelligence and instinct, letting the lyricism of Chopin’s music sing from the keyboard. Zhang also had plenty of power in the passages that required forte and above. In her hands the Chopin sounded natural, unforced, and completely alive.

Following the standing ovation and a parade of bouquets, Zhang returned to the stage to give an encore, a wicked “Tarantella” by Liszt. This time, Zhang expertly contrasted the knuckle-crunching chords and keyboard fireworks with pianissimo tremolos and delicate filigree passages. Overall, Zhang’s playing shaped the piece marvelously and the result was another standing ovation. Zhang is a student in the pre-college division of The Juilliard School, and we’ll have to keep an eye on her

The orchestra opened the concert with the Overture to Otto Nicolai’s operetta “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” Under the baton of Huw Edwards, the piece glowed and sparkled at times, it just needed more crispness to lift the entire enterprise off the ground and get everyone dancing.

After intermission, the orchestra played Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 with the utmost of purpose and energy. There were many fine moments for example, when the violins speedily negotiated the devilishly swift passages in the second movement and the silky smooth playing by principal clarinetist Natalie Lehr in the third. But the orchestra bobbled the intonation here and there and didn’t always play together.

I realize that the members of this orchestra have regular, daytime jobs, and that factor may have caused some of the lapses. Overall, they caught the spirit of the piece, and the audience (which filled most of the church) rewarded them with applause after each movement.

James Bash

James Bash writes articles for a variety of publications, including magazines such as Opera America, Open Spaces, Opera, MUSO, International Arts Manager, American Record Guide, Symphony, Opera Canada, and PSU Magazine. The newspapers include Crosscut, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Oregonian, The Columbian, The Portland Tribune, The Register-Guard, and Willamette Week. James has also written a number of articles for the Oregon Arts Commission. James was a fellow to the 2008 NEA Journalism Institute for Classical Music and Opera. He is a member of the Music Critics Association of North America (mcana.org) and lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife, Kathy.