Margarita Nuller

Chamber Concert Series

Saturday, September 26, 2021 at 3:00 p.m.

First Congregational Church, Woodbury, Connecticut

Dazzling Virtuoso Pianist

A concert review by Christopher Shay

Dazzling virtuoso pianist Margarita Nuller presented the inaugural recital of the new Woodbury-Bethlehem Community Music Foundation concert series at the First Congregational Church in Woodbury on September 26.

The astonished audience responded with standing ovations and demanded encores. No one should have been surprised considering that Ms. Nuller has performed solo recitals and concerts with symphony orchestras all over the world; yet everyone exclaimed they simply did not expect that kind of world class artistry in this sleepy rural community.

At a glance, her program looked ambitious.

The concert opened in the classical tradition with a Haydn sonata. The old First Church sanctuary seemed slightly reminiscent of Prince Esterhazy’s Summer palace. Haydn composed the Eb Sonata late in career. It revealed mature craftsmanship and surprising technical challenges that foreshadowed the second half of this program.

The most seasoned members of the audience found themselves in unfamiliar territory with the music of Spanish composer Federico Mompou: “Street, the Guitar Player, and the Old Horse”, “Fountain and Belltower”, “The Lake” all presented evocative vivid images of a colorful Spanish landscape by a 20th century composer who knew how to tease us into more adventuresome musical terrain.

With little time to pack our bags, we were swept off to France by the jazzy music of Darious Milhaud whose “Rag Capriccios” were tinged with Brazilian dance rhythms – sort of a round about reference to American music from a rather different perspective. Anyone who has traveled on international tours knows the enormous impact a brilliant tour guide can make on our appreciation of the culture and history. Margarita Nuller was that kind of tour guide.

Finally, we arrived on more familiar ground with the music Frederic Chopin, a Polish composer residing in France who presented concerts in Leipzig and Vienna etc. The poetry of Chopin’s highly individual style claimed the hearts of music lovers around the world as it certainly did here in Woodbury. During the E major Op.62 Nocturne, I leaned over and whispered to my wife, “This is the Chopin I love!” I suspect others whispered similar intimacies. For all her fireworks and pyro-technique, Nuller devoted her skills to the art of sublime and the subtle, carving phrases that flowed with a gentle organic momentum.

The music lovers in this audience included professional musicians and at least a handful of professional pianists who can attest to the ferocious almost prohibitive difficulty of the Chopin Etudes. Remarkably, Nuller’s performance didn’t draw any attention what-so-ever to these abundant formidable challenges. Rather, she played with the same elegant poetry with which she addressed the Nocturnes; yet her tempi were sometimes even faster than the most celebrated superstar pianists, all tossed off as if she were simply demonstrating to a student how this music is really supposed to go. No fuss, no struggle, simply elegant poetry. Not easy.

After the concert everyone asked, “Who is she? Where did they find her? How come we’ve never heard of her?” Well, she graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia. That helps explain something about her technique. She has the fingers of Vladimir Horowitz and the heart of Artur Rubinstein. In fact, the last time I remember being quite so impressed by a piano recital was that of Rubinstein in 1968. Maybe you remember?

Fortunately, I have season tickets for November 21 to hear Andrew Armstrong, and more concerts on February 6, and April 3. Interested? www.wbcmusicfoundation.org

Christopher Shay teaches music at the University of Connecticut.

Ms. Nuller graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Russia. Since her arrival in the United States in 1990, she has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician in the New York metropolitan area and in New England, as well as in Brazil, Russia, Spain, and Portugal. She has been a soloist with the Arkansas Symphony, Danbury Symphony (CT), Klassika Orchestra (St. Petersburg, Russia), Orchestra Temple Beth El (CT), and Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico. Ms. Nuller played her debut recital at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City as a winner of the Artist International Auditions. Her CD of Russian music was released on L’Art label in 2003. She has attended many summer festivals including the SIPO in Óbidos (Portugal), the Shandelee Festival (NY), and Music in the Palaces Festival (St. Petersburg, Russia). She has taught at the University of Hartford (CT), the Moussorgsky College of Music (Russia) and the Connecticut Conservatory in New Milford, CT. Currently Ms. Nuller has a busy teaching studio in New Fairfield, CT and is on the faculty of the Kent School (CT). She is the organist at the First Church of Christ Scientist in Ridgefield, CT and a regular accompanist at Camerata d'Amici.