GOLOVIN PLAYS AT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT

A mere 50 or so listeners occupied Murphy Hall at Loyola Marymount University Thursday evening for a recital by Alexis Golovin.

The Soviet-born pianist, who now lives in Geneva, received his early training at the Moscow Conservatory. His subsequent marriage brought him to Switzerland. He has appeared frequently throughout Europe and has played premieres of two major works by Ginastera.

Golovin shows a strong penchant for Romantic works, particularly explosive ones. It takes a good deal of technique, strength and endurance to perform all four of Chopin’s Ballades. These qualities the pianist has in ample supply. His range of dynamics was impressive, but his aggressive approach usually kept the sound toward the louder end of the spectrum. Although his playing lacked the clarity one might hope for--he tended to use the pedal to excess--he exhibited a consistent and sure sense of direction.

This sense pervaded Rachmaninoff’s six “Etudes Tableaux” as well. Golovin brought headlong determination and fervid passion to the rhapsodic--and arguably turgid--works. But his attention to the large, dramatic gestures, however exciting, left one groping for the details.

He opened the program with a driving account of Mozart’s Sonata, K. 330. Though technically accurate and rhythmically secure, his gelid, businesslike reading left little room for reflective soul-searching.

The stoutish, silver-haired pianist returned for three incisively played encores--two by Scriabin and one by Chopin.