Fingers on Fire

Invited weeks ago, I attended a piano recital by fiancé reminder for Julian Lawrence Gargiulo; and Italian-born classically trained pianist living in New York. When I think of recitals, I go back to the days of elementary school, when the C-Pod would be hallowed out and filled with rows of chairs for supportive parents to come and watch their kids perform on the riser stage. I had pursued the drums so there wasn’t much I could do as a solo artist in the drumming field except annoy the neighbors with my off beat rhythms.

This show was more personal, located at the Yamaha Hall or better known as the Piano Salon in mid-town, a comfortable venue for about 100+ listeners, professionally designed to sound more like Carnegie Hall than an apartment flat. Much like a recital, the audience had close friends, friends of friends, admires of Julian, his work and even his mother. This was the CD release party for his latest of 5 professional recordings.

I’m a fan of most music live; I’ve even been to my share of some country concerts so this wasn’t something I’d be adverse to. Electronic music has it’s roots in classical composition and art as a deep form of expression in sound and rhythm without the necessity of vocals or time constraints tied to the majority of contemporary music. Julian has a solid understanding of the music he’s playing with the charisma of a true performer for people – engaging directly his audience between tunes.

Yes that was me closing my eyes in the 5th row, but only to shut down one of my senses to concentrate on the story of the music. I fully enjoyed the show, and would recommend anyone that’s into classical to check him out. The full program from the recital is below.

Manuel de Falla: Ritual Fire Dance
Felix Mendelssohn: Capriccio No. 1 Opus 33
Claude Debussy: Feux d’artifice
Frédéric Chopin: Nocturne in C-Sharp MInor
Alexandre Scriabin: Vers la flamme
— INTERMISSION —
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 23 Opus 57 in F Minor ‘Appassionata’
-Allegro assai
-Andante con moto – attacca
-Allegro, ma non troppo – Presto