Simon Trpceski, advertised as Macedonia's finest pianist, came to
San Francisco's Palace of the Legion of Honor today, and banged through
Ravel's "Valses nobles et sentimentales." It was quite without nobility
or "tender, romantic, or nostalgic feeling or emotion" that my
Macedonian-English dictionary says is the meaning of "sentiment."

He followed with two Chopin Scherzos that were, truth to tell, fast
enough, approaching double the required triple time.  Once again, there
was nothing "tender, romantic," etc.

Clearly aware of his proclivity for fff in preference to even a borderline
pp, Trpceski added a concert suite from "The Nutcracer" (I kid you not)
and a suite from Stravinsky's "Petrouchka."

A man of steely fingers, Trpceski plays the piano, not the music.
His phrasing is, if pardon the expression, unmusical.  He is unable -
or unwilling - to produce acceptable releases, and the relationship
between notes seems entirely mechanical.

If this seems too harsh, the reason may be a comparison.  Heard
against last night's experience of Eric Schneider's sensitive, "singing,"
oh-so-*musical* accompaniment of Matthias Goerne in Schubert's "Winterreise,"
Trpceski's performance was hard to take.

In fact, one redeeming feature of the concert was the opportunity to
watch Andras Schiff's reaction to the performance.

Fresh out of the hospital where he spent the early part of this week,
instead of playing the "Goldberg Variations" in Herbst Theater, Schiff
came to today's recital, succeeding brilliantly in overcoming the Hungarian
congenital defect of not displaying emotions.  He actually maintained a
polite and collegial poker face; if he winced, I didn't see that, probably
distracted by the terpsichorean activity of my own facial muscles.

Still, the rest of the audience in the Florence Gould Theater, this
reporter hastens to add, responded enthusiastically to Mr. Trpceski.

And so, on to Poland.

But a few feet from the concert hall, stands the Legion's new exhibit,
"Leonardo da Vinci and the Splendor of Poland." Forget Macedonian pianists
and Hungarian critics, focus on the splendid Poles.  You have until May
18 to see the exhibit.

Note that the title is understandably misleading.  There is *one* da
Vinci here, "Portrait of a Lady with the Ermine." The rest is a glorious
hodge-podge of old and new Polish art, Italian works depicting Polish
scenery, and even totally unrelated paintings included in the show simply
because they are owned by the Poles.  Case in point is "Ermine" itself,
coming from Cracow.  But think also Ferdinand Bol, Jusepe de Ribera and,
with a valid Polish connection, lots of Bernardo Bellotto.

Why is this false advertising understandable?  Because "Art from Poland
and one da Vinci Portrait" may not bring in the crowds - and the Fine
Arts Museums need crowds badly, to help pay for the $200-million rebuilding
of the de Young Museum.

If it takes da Vinci to make you acquainted with Jan Matejko, Olga
Boznanska, Jozef Mehoffer, and Aleksander Gierymski, so be it - your
gain either way.

San Francisco is the last stop for the show organized by the Milwaukee
Art Museum; it has just completed a two-month stand in Houston.

Janos Gereben/SF
www.sfcv.org
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