by Michael Caruso

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Chestnut Hill, hosted the third in its series of “Five Fridays: Concerts for Community” Feb. 5. The featured artist was Astral Artists pianist Henry Kramer. The young Juilliard School-trained musician was heard by a packed house in one of the most daunting programs of piano music I’ve ever encountered “live” in performance.

The entire first half of Kramer’s recital focused on the music of Frederic Chopin: Three Mazurkas from Opus 50, the “Nocturne in D-flat major” and the “Funeral March (Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor).” After intermission, he played Maurice Ravel’s “Gaspard de la Nuit” and Lowell Liebermann’s “Gargoyles.” Not a single piece in the program could be described as technically or musically facile, yet Kramer interpreted and performed every one with consummate artistry and dazzling technique.

Kramer caught the peculiar quirkiness of each of the three Mazurkas through playing that was characterized by sharply delineated textures, cleanly articulated phrasing and supple yet muscular rhythms. In the Nocturne, he suspended the long-breathed melody above the broken-chord accompaniment with the artistry of the late Dame Joan Sutherland singing “Casta Diva” from Bellini’s opera, “Norma.”

The “Funeral March” is one of Chopin’s greatest accomplishments in which form equals substance in a flawless balance even though not one of the sonata’s four movements follows the classical norm. Kramer projected the narrative drama of the first movement ... and the breathlessness of the fourth with technical aplomb and evocative expression.

“Gaspard de la Nuit” legitimately lays claim to being the most difficult piece of piano music in the standard repertoire. Ravel wrote it down with such detailed notation that interpretation is not the issue. Simply follow the directions, and you’ll be just fine. The problem is in following those directions because the technical demands on the pianist and the piano, itself, are gargantuan. Yet Kramer met every challenge Ravel threw at him, and the church’s vintage Steinway & Sons grand piano responded with an orchestral palette of shimmering tones.

Each of the “Five Fridays” recitals raises money for Northwest Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network and Face-to-Face Germantown. The next concert is set for March 4, 7:30 p.m., and features the Dover String Quartet. Visit www.fivefridays.org for more information.

THE CROSSING

Donald Nally and The Crossing, the chamber choir dedicated to new music he founded a decade ago, will celebrate St. Valentine’s Day, Sunday, Feb. 14, with a concert at 4 p.m. in the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill. The program, entitled “Reprise 2,” is part of the ensemble’s season-long celebration as it enters its second decade.

The roster of music includes “Where Flames a Word” by Philadelphia’s own Kile Smith, “Rigwreck” and “Song (I Gaze Upon You)” by Gabriel Jackson, “Privilege” by Ted Hearne, “It Is Time” by David Shapiro and “I Live in Pain” by David Lang.

“Spend Valentine’s Day reflecting with The Crossing as we sing works about our love for one another, love for our planet and our wish for a more loving culture,” Nally told me. “As in Reprise 1, which we sang in October, we return in Reprise 2 to the signature pieces in the music of Ted Hearne and David Lang; we revisit now-classic works written for us by Philadelphia composers Kile Smith and David Shapiro, and reprise one of our most memorable premieres, Gabriel Jackson’s beautiful ‘Rigwreck.’

“Each of these works received its premiere at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, and it’s fitting that we return to them — older and wiser — in that same fantastic acoustical setting.”

There will be a pre-concert talk with Donald Nally at 3 p.m. in the church’s Burleigh Cruikshank Memorial Chapel. Visit www.crossingchoir.com