Sony Lopez Gonzalez with celebrated Broadway actress Lea Salonga
The frequency which Scarlatti’s relatively easy Sonata in E Flat Major opens piano recitals seems to suggest it as a warming-up piece. The rest of Hiyas’ program consisted of virtual bravura pieces. Beethoven’s Sonata in E Flat Major and his 32 Variations in C Minor immediately demonstrated Hiyas’ mastery of the keyboard; compositions demanding a left hand as fluent as the right, remarkably dexterous, nimble fingers with power matching masculine strength for the thunderous chords. The foregoing works were followed by three Chopin Etudes, one of them converted into the popular song “No Other Love”.