Russian Pianist Skanavi Performs With More Finesse Than Feeling

Technically adept, effortlessly musical and charming in an unformed artistic way, Katia Skanavi is a 27-year-old Russian pianist of high promise. Her accomplishment brought her to the finalists’ circle in the 1997 Van Cliburn International Competition; where it will now take her is an open question.

In her local debut recital Wednesday night in the Ruth B. Shannon Center for the Performing Arts at Whittier College, Skanavi impressed with her facility, her composure and her dynamic palette. But she failed to reveal a personality of any compelling traits, or the authority that major-pianists-to-be usually exude. She reminds one of Edith Chen, prizewinner of the Pogorelich Competition in 1993: a model student of genuine pianistic finesse but small individuality.

Skanavi’s program, which showed her versatility, was elegantly framed in G major: first, Chopin’s Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise; last, a Handel Chaconne. Both displayed fluidity of statement and an admirable sense of continuity.

Chopin’s A-flat Ballade and B-flat-minor Sonata completed the first half engagingly, the former offering apparent spontaneity, the latter, technical ease and good contrasts. Still, one waited in vain for signs of personal involvement, of emotional urgency caused by great music. In their place, blandness and correctness reigned. Bach’s “Italian” Concerto and the Carl Vine Sonata (1990) also proved the pianist’s eclectic interests but elicited no deep personal responses.