A Piano Recital by Simone Sala.

Italian pianist Simone Sala acknowledges the audience after his Bangkok appearance.

Goethe Institut.  Bangkok, Thailand.  May 11, 2012.  30-year old Italian pianist Simone Sala, gave what he said during opening remarks, was a recital divided into two parts:  a heavy part and a light part, and he invited the audience to determine what part they liked best.  The first half “heavy part” consisted of works by Scriabin, Rachmaninov and Chopin, plus a work by an unknown Russian composer A. Liauponov.  Sala is classically trained and has a big technique, but he lacks much of an understanding what it takes to play a classical work of music art.  His playing was heavy-handed, loud, and was characterized by a lack of phrasing, subtly and interpretation.  His right foot could very well have become numb from continuously holding down the pedal.  But, in the second half, during which Sala played his own works and those of George Gershwin and Ennio Morricone, he demonstrated that he is a pleasant and engaging entertainer, who would do very well in a cocktail lounge cabaret atmosphere, where his playing is persistently loud enough to be heard over the clatter of glasses and audience chatter.