Rare is a trumpet solo recital, but perhaps unprecedented is what
Sergei Nakariakov presented tonight in Herbst Theater, at the San Francisco
Performances' season closing concert.  With technical brilliance to burn,
the rail-thin 25-year-old, who looks like a shy teenager, chose to make his
instruments (trumpet and flugelhorn) SING instead.

In his program choices, in his tempi and timbre, emphasis on the melody,
and consistent legato, Nakariakov realized musical values over a
"Trumpeter's Holiday" showcase.

The Russian-born Israeli citizen, now a Paris resident, was a child prodigy
pianist when, at age 9, a car accident forced him change instruments - and
so, instead of yet another hot young Russian pianist, we now have a unique
trumpet artist.  Still, when he plays Bach (as he did the Prelude in D
major and Prelude and Fugue in D major), you can hear the piano/organ sound
in the music.

But it's the human voice that seems to be the most important influence on
him and so the highlights of Nakariakov's recital tonight were "Presti omai
l'Egizia terra," from Handel's "Giulio Cesare," Borodin's "It was not the
wind that touched my heart," Rimsky-Korsakov's "none but the lonely heart,"
along with the trumpet-virtuoso "singing" in Oscar Bohme's "Tarantella" and
Tchakovsky's "Neapolitan Dance."

Perhaps still from his pianist past, Nakariakov has a special feeling for
Schumann.  He performed "Fantasiestucke," Op.  73, in a heartfelt, romantic
- but not excessively effusive - manner, making it the most substantial
piece of the evening.

He was to be accompanied by his pianist sister, Vera, but she couldn't
obtained a visa in time, so Peter Grunberg served as a pianist, and did so
well, pushing the volume just a tad too much at times.  To give Nakariakov
a break between performances (something the young musician didn't seem to
need), Grunberg performed piano solos by Bach, Schumann and Mendelssohn.

Janos Gereben/SF
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