Brandon Bedore

Music Lit Concert Review

11/1/15
For my classical instrumental concert review paper, I went to see Giuliano Mazzoccante
as a part of the Washington International Piano series at The Catholic University of America. He
played sonatas by Mozart, Haydn, and Chopin as well as 3 other pieces by Liszt. Right from the
start, what marveled me about his performance was his complete memorization of over an hour
of very complex and note-saturated pieces. The Mozart in particular was full of huge scales and
large embellishments that he had committed to memory. Every note was very clear and I never
heard a single misstep of his fingers through the entire performance. The performance was
broken up into two sections separated by an intermission with the first half being very Classical
and Baroque and the second half being more Romantic era with heavy use of Franz Liszt.
Although it was very apparent that Mazzoccante lived through his music, it was obvious that the
music of Franz Liszt was his passion. It was not until after the performance that I noticed in his
bio he specialized in Liszt music. The overall characteristic of his performance of the music was
his use of his body to express the phrase of the music. Whenever he would play an intense line
full of virtuous expression or a slow haunting line full of rich dissonance, he would echo that
emotion in his entire body. He would also return to a similar state as the themes repeated. He was
phenomenal in his performance of the Fantasia by Chopin. I especially noticed that this song had
a strong tonal focus and it had many false endings and cadencial extensions leading me to
believe the song was over before it truly was. I almost clapped in the middle of a dramatic switch
in the piece. The Liszt section of his recital was a stark contrast to the major allegro feel of the
first section. The Funeralles was a great representation of this section because it was literally a

funeral march. It was very slow and dramatic and was full of very expressive chords. It was also
refreshing to hear something different after the more classical portion because classical music
can sound repetitive after a while. The Liszt music also explored more of the piano so you heard
more bass notes that the Mozart or the Haydn neglected. Overall, the performance was very
enjoyable to listen to despite classical music not being my preferable style of music.
Mazzoccante put on an exceptional performance full of virtuous and expressive playing of some
of historys greatest piano composers. His expression radiated from his body and through the
piano especially in the Liszt section where he truly shined. I can see why he is so revered in Italy
because his playing and interpretation was impeccable.