In Santa Monica, a Young Piano Virtuoso Presents His First New Composition
/By Truman C. Wang
2/18/2023
(L to R) Clarinettist Boris Allakhverdyan, pianist Talon Smith, cellist Ben Hong in Santa monica.
Photo credit: Talon Smith Music
At Santa Monica’s First Presbyterian Church last Sunday, February 5, twenty-year-old pianist and composer Talon Smith was joined by two members of the L.A. Phil in a recital. In reality, it was an event organized by Trionfante Music to promote Mr. Smith’s new 24 Preludes (with score signing following the concert), as the Op.114 Brahms Clarinet Trio lasted only twenty minutes, leaving the remaining hour and a half to the ‘Talon’ Show.
The rarely heard Op.114 Trio for Clarinet, Piano and Cello received an enjoyable reading from L.A. Phil’s Principal Clarinet Boris Allakhverdyan and Associate Principal Cello Ben Hong. It may not plunge the emotional depths of the better-known Op.115 Clarinet Quintet of Brahms, but here it offered a diverting and relaxing prelude, as it were, to the ensuing drama of the piano recital. As a chamber musician, Mr. Smith’s playing was measured and assured, and unfailingly lyrical.
The second part of the program saw Mr. Smith playing works by Chopin (G-minor Ballade), Stravinsky (Op.7 Etudes) and Ravel’s fiendishly difficult Gaspard de la nuit. Once again, the young virtuoso placed his technical mastery at the service of poetry and the singing line. Vladimir Horowitz famously said “There is no shortage of pianists, only a shortage of composers.” In the new 24 Preludes by Talon Smith (Op.1) – an astonishing collection of pieces with varying styles and emotions – one had a renewed hope for the future of new music, music that speaks to the hearts of the common men and women, unencumbered by the demands of academia.
Truman C. Wang is Editor-in-Chief of Classical Voice, whose articles have appeared in the Pasadena Star-News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, other Southern California publications, as well as the Hawaiian Chinese Daily. He studied Integrative Biology and Music at U.C. Berkeley.