by Tim Smith
The Baltimore Chamber Orchestra’s program at Kraushaar Auditorium winding up the ensemble’s 2012-13 season, turned out to be a good one, thanks to Soheil Nasseri’s performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4.
The California-born pianist has enjoyed a plaudit-generating career for more than a decade. It was easy on Sunday to hear why. Nasseri has, above all, a refined command of tone and an intuitive sense of how to sculpt a phrase.
In the first movement cadenza, he unleashed a superb array of colors and dynamics, all the while making the music express something vital, spontaneous, meaningful. There was understated beauty of phrasing in the Andante, a winning combination of drive and gracefulness in the Rondo.
Nasseri’s playing seemed to inspire the orchestra, which, effectively led by Markand Thakar, gave the soloist vibrant support.