SARATOGA SPRINGS — Pianist Frederic Chiu likes to play meaty pieces, the kind he can sink his emotive teeth into and show off his brilliant technique. That was the impression Friday night when Chiu debuted at Skidmore College’s Filene Recital Hall as part of the Sterne Virtuoso Concert Series.

 

Playing before a near capacity crowd, Chiu chose three works by Franz Liszt: “Petrarch Sonnet 104 and 147” and “Apres une lecture du Dante” both from his “Years of Pilgrimage”; and his transcription of Wagner’s “Liebestod” from “Tristan und Isolde.” He knocked the socks off his listeners as he rolled out the lush romantic harmonies in the Petrarch with his crosshands technique and big sound. Sometimes his tone seemed strident, but that might have been the piano.

 

In the Wagner, Chiu paced the big buildup. It’s hard to capture the grand orgasmic majesty of a full orchestra when all you have is a piano, but Liszt came close. Chiu rattled every string in the piano. But he pushed the piano to its limit in the Dante, which Chiu had said was Liszt’s attempt to describe Hell. Big, loud chords thundered, harmonies were dark, and fast moving unison octaves ruled the day. For a short time, the soul wandered quietly in a contemplative melody before the fires engulfed. Chiu was impressive for his technical command, control and his sustained passion. He connected to the music.

 

He used the same forces in an excellent performance of Chopin’s Etude Op. 10, No. 12 (”Revolutionary”). It had great drama, an exciting use of dynamics, and clear and immaculate technique. But in the other Chopin Etudes from Op. 10, (Nos. 3, 4, 10,11) and Op. 25, No. 1 (“Aeolian Harp”), Chiu seemed elsewhere. The notes were mostly there and he sang the melodies well, but there was little poetry or mystery and almost no pacing. Chiu seemed in a rush.

 

Mendelssohn’s Sonata in E Major was light and sweet, very inventive and well constructed. Chiu showed a clear technique, excellent pedaling, and good drive in the final movement. He also played Mendelssohn’s “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso” with good romantic flair and a facile if not flashy technique in the faster section.