Olga Kern

[Leslie Bartlett]

Olga Kern played last night at University of Houston, Moores Opera House.
By some strange twist of the fates my wife and I ended up third row, center-
maybe 12 feet from her.  Oh my gracious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   I
flinched a number of times when she crashed into the keys with a force I've
not often seen.  It wasn't one of the school pianos, so had to be adapted to
the environment. Evidently Yamaha sent a tech to do the action work, but
Avery Todd did the tunings.  I have heard a very few tuners in Houston whose
work enters into the realm of "art", and Avery certainly is one of them. I
could have a ball just sitting quietly at a piano he's tuned and listening
to intervals and sounds and balance and all that stuff.    I had to hope
that some little thing might go the tiniest bit out, thus proving that no
piano can be perfectly tuned, and after an hour and a half of incredibly
powerful playing the tuners in the crowd might have noted a note or two
struggling to slip a bit.    It was a totally "wow" kind of evening, not
only aesthetically in terms of music, but in having some small idea of the
level of intuitive work and experience required to present an instrument so
fabulously.    Kudos to those who can regularly walk in those rarefied
technical realms with confidence.
les bartlett

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