By Danielle Bettendorf, Living and Arts Editor
Charisse Baldoria, director of the piano program at Bloomsburg University, performed a recital entitled “Ballads and Fantasies” on April 18 in Stretansky Concert Hall.
Baldoria performed “Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23” and “Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52” by Frederic Chopin, “Gamelan” and “In the Kraton” of “Java Suite” by Leopold Godowsky, “The Horizon from Owhiro Bay” by Gareth Farr and “Fantasia Baetica” by Manuel de Falla.
Throughout the performance, Baldoria highlighted the theme of storytelling in the pieces chosen.
When introducing “Ballade No. 1,” Baldoria said, “the piece is very lyrical to me as a performer. I feel like it tells a story: the introduction opens with something like a narration.”
“It’s in G minor, but the introduction is in a different key, almost as if he makes us wonder where we are,” Baldoria continued. “Then the main theme comes in, which is like one of the main characters in the story.”
“It builds up toward the end where there’s an explosive coda, kind of like the climax of the story,” Baldoria said.
In between pieces, Baldoria spoke with the audience about the history of each piece and how they fit with one another.
Prior to “Gamelan” of the larger work “Java Suite,” Baldoria said, “pianists know that the etudes are difficult in themselves, but Godowsky, with his morbid sense of humor, made them even more challenging in his own way.”
“Many of the etudes he arranged for left hand alone [are] things that are difficult to play even with two hands,” Baldoria continued.
Another main theme Baldoria highlighted in her recital was southeast Asian culture and folklore. Baldoria also spoke about her background and experiences in relation to this theme.
“[‘Gamelan’] is like a musical chronicle of the stragglers around the island of Java back in 1923, when [Godowsky] was there for a concert tour that brought him around Asia, north Africa, Latin America and even the country where I was born: the Philippines,” Baldoria said. “Java fascinated him so much for its culture [and] its architectural and natural beauty, but especially for its music.”
The repertoire Baldoria chose also drew inspiration from other parts of the world, which was the case for “The Horizon from Owhiro Bay.”
“Gareth Farr is a composer from New Zealand,” Baldoria said. “His inspiration is Owhiro Bay, which is the bay that he sees from his music studio.”
“He tried to capture the different undulations of the waves and the way the waves would suddenly swell and die down,” Baldoria continued. Audience members noted these themes in Baldoria’s performance and how they brought awareness to life outside of the United States. “There are pieces that I definitely have not listened to before and I think that they definitely enlightened me on different cultures,” sophomore Brennan Rudy said. “Especially what she brought from her own culture, being from the Philippines.”
“It was surprising to me that she teaches right at Bloomsburg University: to have that so close to home, yet have a connection so far away,” Rudy continued.
Baldoria was invited to campus by associate professor of music Naomi Niskala, whom Baldoria has collaborated with musically before.
According to the program, Baldoria has performed in five continents and has won numerous competitions in multiple countries. Outside of piano, she has incorporated poetry, video, live drawing and dance into her concerts.