Armstrong Auditorium - News
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EDMOND—Virtuosic melodies from the powerful to the sublime delighted an audience of 625 as international piano superstar André Watts took center stage December 5 at Armstrong Auditorium. Watts delivered an all-Liszt program in the first piano recital in the new auditorium.

Performing on the foundation's newest Hamburg Steinway, Watts left the audience spellbound with his signature emotive style and technical brilliance. Opening with the beloved Liszt favorite, "Un Sospiro," Watts continued with the impressionist "Les Jeux d'eau a la Villa d'Este" (Fountains of the Villa d'Este) before addressing the massive "Sonata in B minor" which showcased Watts' stunning virtuosity. Following intermission, the maestro traversed Liszt's late exploratory works including the "Bagatelle ohne Tonart" (Bagatelle without Tonality) and "La Lugubre Gondola No. 2," written after Liszt had a premonition of Richard Wagner's funeral procession on a gondola hearse through the canals of Venice. The set was followed by the dancing melodies of the "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13," which brought the audiece to its feet demanding an encore, which the maestro obliged. 

Chairman Gerald Flurry congratulated Watts on a successful performance and told the maestro, "We hope to keep the Ambassador tradition alive and have you back many more times." 

Watts, 64, was one of the most frequent performers at Ambassador Auditorium during the 1970s and '80s. In an interview with KCSC radio host Kimberly Powell earlier in the day, Watts reminisced fondly of his days at Ambassador.

"I have a lot of history with the hall in Pasadena and Ambassador College," he explained. "I was always treated so kindly, with such acceptance and understanding," he recalled.

Watts commented on the fact that he would be giving the first piano recital in Armstrong Auditorium. "It's kind of like a phoenix to be here," he said, referring to the cultural series finding new life in Edmond after Ambassador closed in the mid-nineties.

He described Armstrong Auditorium as "gloriously beautiful" and said the theater decor reminded him of Ambassador.

"It's certainly a beautiful hall, beautiful-looking and beautiful-sounding. You have some belief when you are on stage that what you produce is what will be heard, that it won't alter," he said. Watts added that he hopes the series "expands and has big success."

Watts' Armstrong Auditorium performance is scheduled to be rebroadcast on classical radio station 90.1 FM KCSC on Sunday, January 2, at 5:00 p.m. CST on Performance Oklahoma.  The broadcast can be heard online at www.kcscfm.com.