There was a sense of local boy done well in the audience as the theater filled to capacity waiting for Adam Neiman to enter the stage. Neiman, who is originally from Fremont, reads as somewhat of a child prodigy.At the age of 9 he won the Fremont Symphony’s Young Artist Competition and went on to tour in Germany and Italy all before the age of 18.Neiman has had quite the successful career, with and Emmy nomination aw well as his music in a documentary.The Fremont Symphony Orchestra is apparently struggling during these tough economic times and is having a $22,500 Challenge grant to raise money.The first half of Neiman’s recital, which was held Feb. 27 at the Smith Center at Ohlone, was all Chopin pieces in honor of his 200th birthday. The Chopin pieces were the highlight of the evening consisting of waltzes, nocturnes and a ballade.The two waltzes were as the name would apply dance music. The Waltz in C-sharp Minor Op. 64 No. 2 was the only tune mostly recognized.The piece had a constant upbeat sound but then dramatically shifted into a slower more melancholy melody only to pick back up at the end.The second waltz was what Neiman described as a “riff” on a waltz because of how fast the song was played.I enjoyed all the Chopin pieces partly due to the emotion that Neiman invested in his playing. During the slow, light parts of pieces his back would be vertical.His hands would bounce off the keys into the air as if jumping for joy, conversely during the fast dark parts he was hunched over and practically throwing his body at the piano in a violent manner.After intermission there was a trio of Erude-Tableaus from Sergei Rachmaninoff that were songs based on paintings.The second song was the only memorable song. Supposedly the song based on a painting of a riverboat man of the underworld.The song was slow, sad and Neiman played the song as if in physical pain.This led into Neiman’s own composed piece “Visions” a song he said came to him in a daydream.While talking about this song Neiman mentioned how, “The best classical music created today is in films.” One of his pieces will featured be in an upcoming PBS documentary. Unlike the previous songs, “Visions” lacked any unnecessary notes and seemed single focused in building up an epic sound. This was different from the Chopin and Rachmaninoff pieces that he played that seemed to go all over the place before finding their primary melody. Neiman ended with a Sonata by Serge Prokofiev that stretched out into the end of the evening. The song was broken into four different segments that all managed to blend into one giant score. Despite the light jokes told between songs, the overall performance was quite long but entertaining.
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