Intimate classical music venue emerges 
By PEG GOLDBERG LONGSTRETH, special to the Naples Daily News
October 13, 2004 

At the same time the Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts was filled to near-capacity Sunday afternoon for an outstanding organ concert, a music patron nearby was opening his private home to a select group of about 70 other fans of classical music. 

A vastly different setting; a wonderfully intimate opportunity to hear an amazing young talent. 

The patron was William Noll. The former child prodigy, now 26, was concert pianist Misha Dacic. 

Dacic (pronounced Da Chick), a native of Yugoslavia, was born into a family of musicians. He made his piano debut at 11, and has been dazzling with his piano virtuosity ever since. He made his American debut May 2003 during the Discovery Series of the Miami International Piano Festival, and is now studying with highly regarded musicologist Frank Cooper. 

Monumental talent aside, Dacic has a lot going for him, not the least of which is his appearance: he "looks like" an artist, his darkly handsome features and intense, brooding eyes are those from an earlier century, another lifetime. 

Performing on Noll's Imperial Concert Grand Bosendorfer, a work of art itself, I arrived midpoint in the concert, just as Dacic was in the midst of giving a liquid silver performance of Chopin's "Introduction et Rondeau, Opus 16." 

It took no more than hearing the first few runs and watching Dacic's hands leap over the keyboard with effortless facility to see why he dazzles audiences. 

He finished with two selections by Rachmaninoff — "Andante in B Flat Major" (the 3rd Movement from his "Cello Sonata Opus 19"), followed by one of Rachmaninoff's minor masterpieces, the all-too-brief "Polka Italienne" — and a final selection, Franz Liszt's (arr. Horowitz) "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 19 in D Minor." 

As the crowd relaxed, Noll elaborated on his ambitious plans: He said he was committed to showcasing young virtuoso pianists, prodigies if you will, here in Naples, in a smaller, more intimate setting than the Phil or the Sugden. A venue in which seating is purposely limited, such as a private home — the way many of music history's greats launched their careers. 

Noll also said he was working with Giselle Brodsky, a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and founder of the Miami International Piano Festival, to secure a second setting for tthe same festival in Naples. 

For information about the series, call Ron Friedman or Gay Argyros at (239) 593-3352.

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