“Vibrant Rhythms” aptly describes both the repertoire on this disc and the young Bolivian pianist José Navarro-Silberstein’s exuberant and incisive fingerwork. In the Suite de Danzas Criollas, the pianist’s idiomatic grasp of Ginastera’s syncopations conveys infectious swing, contrasting with the subtle yet sexy inflections in the introspective first and fourth pieces.
Navarro-Silberstein layers the rolling left-hand chords and persistent right-hand arpeggios throughout the first of the four Villa-Lobos pieces (Plantio do Caboclo) in perfect perspective and without strain, while effortlessly tossing off Dança do índio branco’s repeated notes and madcap glissandos. The first two pieces in Marvin Sandi’s triumvirate Ritmos panteísticos are far superior to the third piece’s disjunctive dissonant vagueness, yet one cannot imagine a more committed performance than this one.
Davidsbündlertänze’s 18 short movements add up to the most mercurial and quirky of Schumann’s piano suites, and can absorb a fair degree of interpretive leeway. Navarro-Silberstein’s daring elongations in the first and seventh pieces demonstrate this point. His supple rendition of No. 6 features nimble interplay of triplet passages between the hands, and rarely has the “stride piano” No. 8 sounded so easy and offhanded. On the other hand, Navarro-Silberstein aggressively turns over No. 4’s melodic apple cart by emphasizing the accompaniment’s offbeats.
Schumann asks one to play No. 12 “Mit Humor”, and that’s exactly what Navarro-Silberstein’s perky chording and in-your-face accents deliver. Would No. 15’s octaves benefit more from heavy pomposity rather than Navarro-Silberstein’s bouncy lightness? Not necessarily. Yet the pianist knows when it’s best to be simple, as his direct and heartfelt rendering of the penultimate No. 17 eloquently proves. All told, an impressive solo debut from a pianist well worth watching.
