by Eugene McBride
Luis MUCILLO: A Hoffman's Tale: The Sounding Crystal. Cesar Vuksic, piano. Saint Peter's Church, NY, NY. Nov. 11, 2001.
MUSICA DE CAMARA presented Cesar Vuksic, pianist in a recital of piano music of Debusy, Liszt and the Argentinean composer Luis Mucillo, on Nov. 11, 2001. Mr. Vuksic is an accomplished pianist with formidable technique, interperpretive skills and imagination; he is also a composer in his own right.
His performance of Debussy's "La Cathedrale engloutie" and Liszt's "Sonata in B minor" showed clearly that Mr. Vuksic is a masterful pianist. Luis Mucillo's "A Hoffman's Tale: The Sounding Crystal" is dedicated to Mr. Vuksic. This composition is a thorny, virtuostic work. Mr. Vuksic explained how the three pieces are related. The Liszt and the Mucillo are both cyclical forms while the Debussy and the Mucillo have atmospheric qualities (though this element is stretching the parallels to the limit). Luis Mucillo's use of motifs for his variation form was displayed to the audience before the performance.
[The rest of the review will appear in the Spring 2002 issue of NMC.