Ken, Author at ROVING PIANIST

Pianist Suejin Jung at Central Park West

Saturday, February 15th, 2020 by Ken Leave a Comment

Suejin Jung at Central Park West 2/15/2010

Suejin Jung, 2/15/2020 at Central Park West

Suejin Jung and Gustavo Miranda-Bernales

Pianist Suejin Jung brought a guest pianist to her February 15th recital at the Shoemaker Salon at Central Park West. Chilean pianist Gustavo Miranda-Bernales and Suejin took turns at the piano, ending with a four-handed duet.

Curtis Curtis-Smith: Etude No. 9

Gustavo Miranda-Bernales opened the recital with Curtis Curtis-Smith’s Etude #9 “for the Independent Rubato of the Right Hand”. A millenial work published in the year 2000, it quickly revealed its own unique and pleasant harmonic spatter. There were also hints of jazz and new age piano.

Debussy: Feux d’Artifice

Gustavo Miranda-Bernales plays Debussy

Debussy’s Feux d’Artifice (“fireworks”) is a swirling, percussive drama. Mr. Miranda-Bernales gave a clear, jagged rendition, climaxing with a gut-punch from the bottom A of the Shoemaker Steinway, followed by a searing glissando and then fading away over a distant thunder of rolling bass.

Published in 1913, the work now appears to herald the opening salvos of the First World War.

Debussy: Étude 7 pour les degrés chromatiques

Suejin Jung played this challenging étude with ease. Musically, it felt somewhat harsh and unrewarding, but as a technical exercise it was impressive.

Debussy: Préludes, Book 1

Suejin Jung played the following well-known preludes from Book 1. I particularly appreciated the first, Les sons et les parfums. Apropos of nothing, Les sons ends with the same bottom A that I mentioned in Mr. Bernales’ Feux d’Artifice.

Franz Schubert: Fantasie in C major Op. 15 “Wanderer”

Schubert’s restless, charming Fantasie contains hints of the darker edge of his later sonatas. But even in Gustavo Miranda-Bernales’ commanding hands, it could not rise to the level of e.g. the great D 960 sonata in B flat Major.

Nevertheless, MIranda-Bernales’ compelling execution of this difficult work earned him raucus applause.

Frédéric Chopin: Sonata No. 3 in B minor

Robin Shoemaker, Gustavo Morales and Suejin Jung

Robin, Gustavo and Suejin

Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor Op. 58 is like a tray of jewels spread in front of the listener. How can one describe such glittering beauty and magical craft?

I was struck by how balanced Suejin Jung’s presentation was. Each movement and every section felt not too hot and not too cold, but just right. Her Largo was exquisitely paced and luminous, Chopin at his most sublime.

And even the galloping Presto, which opens with weighty romanticism reminiscent of Schubert, was reined back sufficiently by Suejin that it morphed from manic to majestic.

For this reviewer, Suejin Jung’s Chopin was the highlight of the evening. It was still playing in my head on the long ride home.

Encore: Fauré Le Pas Espagnol

Le Pas Espagnol is the last section of Faure’s Dolly Suite for four-hand piano. For this rousing Spanish dance, the pianists sat together with Gustavo playing the primo (upper) part. It was a delightful way to close the evening, leaving everyone with a smile on their face.

Pianist Ivan Gusev at Tenri New York

Tuesday, February 11th, 2020 by Ken Leave a Comment

Ivan Gusev playing C. P. E. Bach in New York

Ivan Gusev plays C. P. E. Bach at Tenri Cultural Institute

On February 8th 2020, Ivan Gusev gave a piano recital at the Tenri Cultural Institute in New York. The event was organized by the Leschetizky Association in honor Theodor Leschetizky (1830-1915).

Mr. Gusev has been featured in this blog before.

However this was the first time we saw him play works written by a composer born before Mozart.

C. P. E. Bach: Rondo in C Major H 260; Sonata in A minor (Württemberg)

At the Tenri Institute, the ceiling was high and square, and the walls were bare. Acoustically, conditions were challenging for the performer.

Nevertheless, Gusev’s Rondo was a delightful morsel which the pianist evidently loved playing. But the A minor Sonata felt less clear, possibly due to acoustics.

Beethoven: Sonata No. 14 in C# minor Op. 27 No. 7 (“Moonlight”)

Gusev’s Adagio Sostenuto worked well with the room’s resonance. His stately pacing had a slow pulse that pulled the listener inexorably to the closing arpeggios.

The lighter Allegretto functioned as a measured transition from reflection to action. Gusev exploded into a riveting Presto Agitato that, despite the occasional glitch, felt glorious and triumphant.

Debussy: Preludes, Book 1

After the intermission, Ivan Gusev presented a set of Debussy preludes. It included favorites such as La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin. Gusev certainly has a flair for Debussy. This reviewer was so entranced that he forgot to take mental notes for his readers.

Encore: Minute Waltz and Liebestraum

Ivan Gusev’s first encore was Chopin’s crowd-pleasing Minute Waltz. I’ve heard him play this as an encore before. On this evening I preferred his second encore, Liszt’s Liebestraum S. 541 No. 3.

While Ivan Gusev appears to relish showpieces, his talent shines brightest in more atmospheric works such as the Debussy of this program, or his Rachmaninov Études-Tableaux cited in a prior Roving Pianist review.

Leschetizky Association

Assn. President Zelma Bodzin, Ivan Gusev, VP Alison Thomas

Students of Theodor Leschetizky founded the non-profit Leschetizky Association “to perpetuate his ideals and principles of piano playing and teaching”.

The Association offers performance opportunities for members and their students. Also, they organize concerts, masterclasses and a concerto competition for young pianists.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Leschetizky Association’s concert featuring pianist Ivan Gusev. The venue was warm and pleasant, the organizers friendly, and the refreshments good.

While the performance space had acoustic challenges, Gusev adapted well. Also, the walls were too bright. When taking photographs, I was “shooting against the light”.

For more about the Association, consult www.leschetizky.org. The .com site www.leschetizky.com is unrelated.

Pianist Yun Janice Lu in Rhode Island

Wednesday, January 8th, 2020 by Ken Leave a Comment

Yun Janice Lu, by Craig Maynard

Yun Janice Lu

On January 4th, 2020, I visited Craig Maynard’s Core Memory venue in South Kingston, Rhode Island for a recital by pianist Yun Janice Lu.

Born in Taiwan, Ms. Lu is currently a postgraduate music student at Yale University. I had never seen her play, but Core Memory hosts excellent artists so I had high expectations.

Shortly before the recital began, I noticed a young woman sitting nearby, reading sheet music on an iPad. It took me a few moments to recognize our soloist, sitting with her audience while preparing.

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 24 in F Sharp Major Op. 78

Yun Janice Lu opened with Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 24 Op. 78, one of his shortest. (Sir Andras Schiff gave an excellent lecture about this work.)

She played an abbreviated version of the first movement, so the entire sonata lasted less than 8 minutes. It was a good introduction to Ms. Lu’s low-key, immersive approach. From the serene opening of the Adagio to the flirty call-response phrasing of the Allegro vivace, her Beethoven was fluid and convincing.

Yun Janice Lu playing Prokofiev

Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 7 in B Flat Major Op. 83

The jagged dissonance of Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 7 was in striking contrast to Beethoven’s harmonious sonata, taking us across time from the Napoleonic wars to World War 2.

Ms. Lu appeared to relish Prokofiev’s edgy rhythms, at times rising from the bench with her hair flying. It was a striking performance that mesmerized the audience. Afterwards, someone commented that her fingers must be glowing.

Despite the virtuosity that Prokofiev demands, Janice most impressed me in the opening of the second movement. Here, Prokofiev sets aside his personal idiom and borrows a progression from Schumann’s “Wehmut”, composed a century earlier. This was rendered with haunting beauty by Ms. Lu, as you can hear in the following audio snippet.

Schumann: Kreisleriana Op. 16

Yun Janice Lu at Core Memory, Rhode Island

There was a lot to like in Yun Janice Lu’s Kreisleriana. My favorite part was the second movement (“Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch”), which contains one of Schumann’s most beautiful melodies.

Here Ms. Lu’s graceful phrasing and artful pedal painted Schumann’s intertwining voices on a rapturous canvas of harmonics that seemed to rise over us.

Encore: Ravel Jeux d’Eau

Watching Ms. Lu’s nimble performance of Ravel’s melodious work, it seemed that she really liked it. At least once, a hint of a smile crossed her face. And a couple of times Ravel really got her bicycling (see Closing Thoughts).

Encore: Debussy Etude No. 11

New to me, Debussy’s Etude No. 11 was full of `sound-alike moments reflecting rhythms and harmonies from his other compositions. Like the preceding Ravel, Ms. Lu seemed to have a special affinity for this work and gave an evocative performance, full of impressionist sparkle.

Closing Thoughts

I greatly enjoyed our time with Yun Janice Lu. Sociable and at ease in the spotlight, she is not the kind of pianist to swagger at the keyboard or cue her audience on what to feel. Her performance had an unforced, natural flow, and she had a way of making everything look easy.

The only expressive flair that I noticed from Janice was her “bicycle”, which seemed to come out mostly during musical peaks. You can see it in the following snippet from her Beethoven.