Wisconsin may be justly famous for its cheese, but that’s not the Badger State’s only fine export. They also produce some pretty talented pianists there, apparently churning them out by the all but indistinguishable pair.
Or so it seemed Saturday afternoon at the Lesher Center for the Arts, where Chamber Music San Francisco’s Walnut Creek series was brought to a slightly melodramatic but altogether charming close with a piano recital by Michelle and Christina Naughton, 19-year-old identical twins from Madison who are wrapping up their freshman year as full scholarship students at the Curtis Institute of Music.
A sister team such as theirs runs the risk of being branded a novelty act, and to be sure, there were elements of some good-hearted, homespun hokum in their presentation. Twin No. 1, for instance, materialized first, dressed to the nines in a satiny, sleeveless gown of iridescent turquoise, her long, chestnut-brown hair pinned back by a barrette. After introducing herself (“Hi, I’m Michelle”), she dashed off an impressive Mendelssohn Fantasy in F sharp minor, betraying not a whit of timidity at the relentlessly feverish tempos of its third movement and, after one curtain call, disappeared.
Next up was Twin No. 2, gliding onstage in a satiny, sleeveless gown of iridescent turquoise, her long chestnut-brown hair — well, you get the picture. Her equally ingenuous declaration (“Just in case there’s any confusion, I am not Michelle”) was followed by a rendering of Chopin’s Introduction and Rondo in E flat major that was tenderly expressive where it needed to be and lithe and lively as called for.
In a very cleverly constructed program, the sisters next demonstrated their prowess at four-handed piano, each occupying her own bench at the Steinway grand to collaborate on Mendelssohn’s Andante and Variations in B flat major and those muscular, rigorous, thoroughly invigorating Six Hungarian Dances from Johannes Brahms. Here to my mind was the very beating heart of their program. To see these lovely young women with such obvious affinity both for their music and for each other leaning in together to caress a phrase, drawing back as if one to renew an attack, was nothing short of a revelatory joy.
We returned from intermission to find a mahogany Yamaha nestled into the Steinway so the sisters could face each other for Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, begun on the same soft chord and delivered with lovely athleticism and precise articulation and finished off with a scampy little romp of a Molto Allegro. Next came Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Haydn, with that majestic St. Antony Chorale tune given its deserved dignity and then treated to every possible permutation of tempo, mood and elaboration. For their closer, the Naughtons chose a more modern piece, Darius Milhaud’s frothy, playful, jazz-inflected Scaramouche, and they flew through it with nimble fingers and a great sense of fun.
The recital settled the question of the gimmickry versus the art. As endearingly awkward as these two were taking turns at the microphone to introduce each piece, the Naughtons at the keyboard were the very picture of poise, professionalism and purity of purpose. They have a great future awaiting them.
Reach Sue Gilmore at sgilmore@bayareanewsgroup.com.