André Watts plays favorite pieces by Beethoven, Chopin in Bailey

Since his now legendary televised appearance at the age of 16 with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, pianist André Watts has become an icon of American classical music. The unabashed virtuoso is now 54 and capturing the hearts of his second generation of music lovers. In his fourth appearance on the Cornell Concert Series, Watts' performance, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m. in Bailey Hall, will feature Beethoven's "Appassionata" Sonata and Chopin's "Sonata in B flat minor." Also on the program are works by Scarlatti and Mozart.

Tickets for the concert, at $14-$28 for adults and $8-$17 for students of any age attending any institution, are on sale now at the Willard Straight Hall ticket office (Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, noon-5 p.m.; 255-3430) and at the ticket center at Clinton House (116 N. Cayuga St., Ithaca; Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., closed 2-3 p.m. Saturday; 273-4497 or 1-800-284-8422). Tickets also are available from the Cornell Concert Series web site at www.arts.cornell.edu/ccs.

A recent review in the Chicago Sun-Times of the same concert program noted that Watts' "balance between cool classicism and passionate romanticism made [the] concert particularly interesting. ...Turbulent scales and chords erupted with volcanic force in the Beethoven sonata's first and final movements, [yet] Watts was unsentimental in wildly romantic movements such as the famed funeral march movement of Chopin's sonata and the slow movement of the Beethoven sonata."

Celebrated for his transcendent technique and bravura style, Watts radiates easy, aristocratic charm off the stage. On stage, he is economical and understated in his approach to the keyboard, belaying his enormous tonal range and sheer power. And though his list of recordings is long and distinguished, Watts prefers live performance. "Studio work is very strange," Watts says, "the redoing, the arbitrary atmosphere. ... There is a certain flow when you play [a] piece live."