Pianist makes lemonade out of a lemon of a piano

Sometimes you can tell more about an artist from seeing him in adverse conditions than on a night when everything's going fine. Years ago, the soprano Diana Damrau won me over forever when she found ways to give a wonderful recital in spite of suffering from a cold. On Saturday night, the pianist Soheil Nasseri had a similar problem: His instrument -- a Yamaha piano -- couldn't make the sound he wanted. And like Damrau, he faced the challenge and gave an impressive, expressive performance.