Birmingham News
Michael Huebner’s blog and column
June 14, 2007
First, let’s dispense with the qualifiers:
For an ophthalmologist, Drew Mays is an outstanding pianist. For an amateur, he’s … an outstanding pianist.
The best, in fact, according to two panels of judges at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, which he won June 3 in Fort Worth, Texas.
On Wednesday morning, the doctor performed glaucoma surgery in Birmingham, then saw patients until 3 p.m. Later that day, the pianist performed Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, Ravel and Liszt in Tuscaloosa. Not a typical day for medical — or musical — personnel, but it revealed a heart and mind of extraordinary capacity.
Mays’ pianistic strengths lie in unexpected places. Whereas many competitive amateurs focus on technique, Mays has gone much further — honing his musical instincts to a high degree.
Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in G major wasn’t techically perfect. Nor was the opening movement of Beethoven’s “Waldstein” Sonata. Coupled with the egregiously out-of-tune Steinway in Moody Concert Hall on the University of Alabama campus, the recital began less than auspiciously. But like many mature pianists, Mays rose above the fray, delivering moment after moment of exhilarating musicality and exquisite beauty. The tide turned for good in the “Waldstein” finale, its angelic melody wafting breathlessly above beautifully sculpted layers of scales and arpeggios. It ended with throbbing intensity, Mays’ musical vision fully realized.
He drove through Schumann’s “Toccata” in C major, a monstrous technical tour-de-force, with sheer fortitude. In Ravel’s “Jeux d’eau,” vivid swashes of color and light played out around a shining inner melody.
Whether or not Mays had a victory strategy in mind for the Cliburn competition, ending with Liszt’s “Mephisto Waltz” No. 1 was a brilliant move. With power and muscle on his side, Mays likely sealed the win with this piece. This was an appropriately delirious and devilish rendering, its thick textures delivered with authority and transparency. The audience jumped to its feet in appreciation. Mays responded by crediting Amanda Penick, his piano professor through two degrees at UA, for his early grounding and late successes.
Mays is slated to perform in Birmingham on Jan. 27, part of the UAB Piano Series.
mhuebner@bhamnews.com
