Sandrine Erdely-Sayo Piano Recital at Steinway Hall, Phoenix

Saturday afternoon presented an excellent opportunity to visit the new Steinway gallery in Scottsdale with pianist Sandrine Erdely-Sayo performing a recital of Massenet, Franck, Yiddish music, Liszt, and Saint-Saëns. The Steinway showroom in Scottsdale has been highly anticipated by music lovers in Phoenix, and is the newest of just sixteen galleries across the US.

The piano recital was performed by the French-American pianist Sandrine Erdely-Sayo – a graduate of the Paris Conservatoire – who performed with an exquisite combination of harmonic color, masterful pedaling, and rhetorical phrasing. Sandrine's performance was touching, sincere, and heartfelt, allowing the musical narrative to unfold with sensitivity and panache.

The recital took place in Steinway Hall on a 9-foot Model D, with an audience of just under 75, from children to seniors. It was presented by the gallery manager Henry Welsby, who opened the concert with a fascinating introduction into Steinway's 172-year history in the US, starting from their factory in Germany to producing the highest quality instruments in New York.

Program Highlights

Sandrine opened the recital with Jules Massenet's Méditation from Thais. Her tone was serenely soft and understated, and the plush hammers caressed the string with effortless zeal. The inflections in Sandrine's tone created an ephemeral quality which were wonderfully balanced with intense moments, emboldening the rich bass whilst maintaining the calm and tranquil flow of the work.

The Massenet was followed by a piece by César Franck, and opened with a fascinating story of Sandrine's relationship with the work, involving a score with Franck's fingerings and a plane crash! Sandrine told us that she studied the work in a country house that held the composer's piano. She was later in a plane and had the score with her which contained the composer's fingerings. The plane was going down, and, alas, the score was at risk! Sandrine managed to save the score, and was proud to share this fact with her teacher (who aptly remarked that she did not care about the score)!

During her performance, Sandrine brought out the depth of this work without undue angst, profundity, or verbose virtuosity, but instead always created a sincere tone and rich, soulful interpretation. The low and deep sections evoked an organ in a French cathedral from another time and reverberated through the audience and beyond the walls of this exquisite modern venue. There were many moments during the recital where one could hear the guidance, culture, and traditions of musicians and teachers past, and it was an enlightening experience to witness Sandrine perform this work.

This was also apparent in Sandrine's interpretation of Franz Liszt's Romance, and her technique of lifting the hand and arm off the instrument in long-drawn portato and octave notes allowed the melody to resonate freely and with natural musical shape. Sandrine captured the turmoil and paradoxical emotions of the Liszt Petrarch Sonnet 104 in her opening with thoughtfully placed agitato accents and culminating pedaling followed by use of the una corda for dramatic tonal contrast. The tenor entry was especially bold, and the soprano climax was breathtaking.

The Yiddish pieces told the story of a composer who escaped Vienna for Hollywood, and were full of rhythmic vigor, melodic flourish, and wry harmonies. The second was especially dramatic with notes that seemed plucked and pulled from the instrument followed by fast repeated notes and a powerful accelerando passage. These works invited questions from the audience which were met with warm, friendly, and engaging interaction from Sandrine, who understood the feel of the room, the character of the instrument, and the acoustic of the venue with complete intuition.

Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre

The recital ended with Camille Saint-Saëns Danse Macabre, and Sandrine told the story of the Dance of Death – the dead being summoned from their graves while Death plays the fiddle – with good fun and humor. The macabre dance continues until dawn, when the dead return to their graves as the rooster crows, and the audience appreciated Sandrine lightheartedly demonstrating the cocorico's (i.e. the French rooster's) motif pre-performance.

It felt as though Sandrine continued the story telling as the performance began, and the audience was captivated by the musical narrative. The sensuous melody was performed molto rubato with full pedal and contrasted wonderfully with the secco skeleton-like textures. The tritone violin motif was eerie and cajoling, permeating the texture as the music become almost maniacal. The harmonic pedal effect at the end was incredibly profound, and the cocorico theme was met with laughter from the audience – a great moment which was followed by a hearty standing ovation.

Looking Forward

Sandrine's warmth carried through the end of the concert as she spoke with members of the audience. Her album Majestic Liszt features an exceptional recording of Liszt's Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude, and her upcoming festival Piano on The Rocks: From Paris to Sedona is held April 25-27th in Sedona, and is celebrating its 10th Anniversary.

The fervor of the recital spilled out into the gallery with conversations in English and French, and a young pianist was playing Chopin's Ballade No. 1 on a showcase instrument to the admiration of onlookers. Members of the Phoenix Symphony and a solo pianist perform at Steinway Hall Scottsdale on Thursday March 27th at 6:00 pm.