The Santa Rosa Junior College’s Chamber Series brought the world- renowned Johannesburg pianist Anton Nel for a spectacular performance at Newman Auditorium Dec. 7. The musician gave a two-hour performance, dripping with emotion and radiating a virtuosity that could only be described as otherworldly.
With more than 100 people in attendance, many sat right next to the stage to see his hands at work. But with lightning fast movements, economically performed with perfect technique, facing Nel with his emotional expressions and musically inspired body movements was more interesting than the blur of his hands. Starting with “Partita No. 4 in D Major, BWV 828” by Sebastian Bach, Nel came out of the gate quick and unwavering.
After the overture of nonsensical, inharmonious phrases he changed to a pretty, high energy, conversational style with simultaneous melodies. His playing was crisp and flawless, engulfed by his artistry. At the end of the aria he stopped playing, letting the piano ring out. Suddenly, he knifed his fist into the air and in a split second was back at the keyboard playing blindingly fast phrases of Bach‘s Sarabande.
“The Menuet” following was slow and beautiful, as the melodies skipped along in a careless dance. While the bass created tension, where our modern music would jump rhythmically and predictably, the bass constantly moved like a walking bass pattern. Taking us higher or lower in a seesaw of emotions, longing for resolution that never came from the bass’s ceaseless thumping.
As Bach’s masterpiece came to a close during the Gigue, Nel looked to have taken up the extra task of conducting himself. With a melody built of broken phrasing, his hands moved from side to side and up towards his head. The unmistakable arm waving of a conductor, it was unimaginable how his fingers managed to move fast enough to play the slurry of melodic virtuosity in the mere moments when his hands were on the keys.
As “Partita No. 4” closed to a roar of applause, Nel got up to bow and made his first address during the night. Commenting on how this was his Santa Rosa premiere, he discussed the significance of the next three pieces. Nel was cordial, well-spoken and too even-keeled to be the impassioned performer that just moments before had been making twitchy, surprised expressions as he played.
The first piece after addressing the audience was “Pagodes”. Written by Claude Debussy after his attending a Chinese fair, the piece’s abundance of fourths and fifths created the vibe of floating along the Yellow River in a Chinese junk. Starting in straight notes, the song grew into climactic, gong-like crescendos. From there, it fell into a slow, bass rhythm section with twinkling, repeating melodies. The piece was quite short, but he let the ending notes ring out for what seemed like forever.
“La Soiree dans Grenade” was a song inspired by Spanish influences. In fact it led to Debussy being called the finest composer in all of Spain by Enrique Granados, though Debussy wasn’t from Spain. The song was truly an enigma of sounds and emotions. From a spiraling, twinkling sound to a crisp poppy, lullaby, and finally to a creepy low register bass thumping along in a stalking manner. “La Soiree” was all over the place. The last few measures were a schizophrenic mash-up of feelings and parts previously played in the piece.
The third piece in Nel’s Debussy set was “Jardins sous la pluie,” a fast-paced song intended to have a French sound. It was played in a back and forth manner, climbing and falling in two separate, bickering parts. The middle of the piece featured a “Twilight Zone” style melody with a rhythm section pounding along like rock and roll power chords, building up tension for the song’s climax, which gave Nel the chance to show his proficiency beyond any other song. The song ended with blazingly fast rolls up and down the keyboard, showing a new technique or melody within each phrase. The tension built until the pieces final few riffs came, unmistakably climactic, and finished with a reverberating roar of cheers.
The final song before intermission, “Allegro de Concierto” by Enrique Granados, was interesting. Written in seven sharps, the song fit pop music tropes, like a Beatles song for piano sprinkled with a few hundred extra notes for virtuosic bragging rights.
During the intermission there was a drawing for some of Nel’s CDs. Daniel Toledo and his three friends found out about the concert on the SRJC’s website and the group made up about half of the younger audience members. Though Toledo and his friends spoke only fragmented English it was plain that they connected with the music. Just proof that music, the universal human language, can unite us all.
“Anton Nel’s abilities were at the top of the list of performer I’ve seen in the series,” said Judy Hutchinson, a local painter and sculptor who is a regular at the Chamber series. “His playing is marvelous and beautiful, I can’t believe the amount of talent the JC’s Camber Series can bring in.”
Chopin’s piece was exactly what I think of when I think of classical music. Its high degree of difficulty hold emotionally rich tones and inflections, with the 3/4 waltz timing bringing to mind a dance of loving torment, of desperate unwanted conflict.
The Beethoven piece was a wonderful way to end the night’s performance. Gloriously up-tempo, brilliantly high- strung, no other piece moved with such speed and energy, pulsing on a pedal note with overlaid melodies, it was extremely moving.
The concert ended and as the crowd stood in ovation for Nel’s perfect performance, he bowed and beamed with the gratifying feeling of a job well done. He stepped into the door off stage for a moment and as the applause grew louder, he came back on stage. After repeating the process three times, Nel left for good. After the performance Nel greeted and chatted with his audience during a reception at SRJC Robert F. Agrella art gallery. He spent at least 30 minutes mingling with the crowd, who were excited to meet and praise him.
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