A full-spectrum pianist with pertinent ideas: Eliot Wuu in APA Premiere Series

With scintillating performances from Elliot Wuu Sunday afternoon, American Piano Awards neared the

Elliot Wuu brings charm and expertise to APA.

end of its Premiere Series of solo recitals linked to concerto performances at the Indiana History Center.

The fourth of five finalists in the 2025 competition built upon his past success (most notably, 2018 Gilmore Young Artist) when judged against his peers, thanks to his individualistic command of works by Debussy, Schubert, and Chopin. He had something distinctive to say about each.

His program-note teasing about the identity of the best-known piece in Debussy's Suite Bergamasque didn't make much sense, since Clair de Lune was explicitly mentioned in the program. Putting that aside, this concise "greatest hit" received a fresh interpretation Sunday. Taking it quite slowly and maximizing its dreamy resonance, the recitalist made the most of the piano's inevitable tone decay. Only the pedal lengthens that process, which when judiciously applied gets to the essence of the composer's inspiration.

"Clair de Lune" thus lived up to its fame and permanence in the public ear. The suite's other three movements also bore the stamp of personality. The call-and-response manner of the Prelude generated the right rhythmic impulse, so that a feeling of spontaneity was established. Menuet, the second movement evoking the best-known of the baroque dance forms Debussy drew upon, bustled sociably. It was somewhat too loud (until the end), but that served to outline Wuu's departure from the minuet's stereotypical elegance. His point of view was clear and certainly didn't distort the music. 

The finale, Passepied, featured staccato articulation that resembled visual art's offshoot of impressionism in Seurat's pointillism. The balletic bounce of Wuu's interpretation made this movement more a celebration of the dance than its companions. All movements thus bore the recitalist's insightful stamp, and his sense of the profile each one presents.

As for Schubert's "Wanderer" Fantasy, the four linked movements ascended in Wuu's performance to a flamboyant yet well-regulated display of fugal texture leading to a powerful denouement. Along the way, the fanciful nature with which Schubert treated his song "Der Wanderer" got full exhibition, with contrasts of torrential and dreamy handling of the main material.  

The solemn, almost hymnlike portion that hews most closely to the song had an impressive balance of ebb and flow. Later I was struck by Wuu's mastery of the work's virtuoso demands and how those were met with an affectionate adherence to the composer's flights of imagination.

On to the second half: Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, op. 11, opens with a lengthy, majestic orchestral tutti. The Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, guided by music director Matthew Kraemer, signaled its fitness for trimly designed accompaniment from then on. What made Sunday's performance special was the continuous sense Wuu displayed of when his part was folded into the accompaniment, and when the accompaniment folded itself into the solo piano. That's more than just a matter of congeniality in the concerto partnership of solo and accompaniment. 

An especially remarkable example of one-to-one affinities came in the second movement, with the lovely solo playing by principal bassoonist Kara Stolle in parallel with Wuu. On a larger scale, the bright alertness and rhythmic acuity of the orchestra at the outset of the finale showed all the musical minds involved finding common ground. In a secondary theme of that Rondo-Vivace, the violins lost some precision, but on the whole the performance held together splendidly.

Focusing on Wuu, I would question the appropriateness in a competition setting of his playing an encore, as well as giving ingratiating program notes from the stage. In an adjudicated performance, I'm not sure that going beyond the stipulated program puts the jury's responsibility to choose among the finalists on a level playing field. Some restrictions on participant presentation should apply. I will never forget how the storytelling charm of APA's first winner in its jazz competition seemed to eclipse the performance of the tight-lipped pianist who finished in second place. That was Brad Mehldau, who went on to build one of the most distinguished current careers in jazz piano.