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Pianist Yun Janice Lu in Rhode Island

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

Yun Janice Lu, portrait by Craig Maynard

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.

Janice plays Prokofiev

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.

https://www.rovingpianist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Janice-Prokofiev-1.mp3

 

Schumann: Kreisleriana Op. 16

Janice Lu at Core Memory January 2020

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.

Filed Under: Concerts, Public concerts Tagged With: Beethoven, Core Memory, Craig Maynard, Debussy, Janice Lu, Kreisleriana, Peacedale, piano, Prokofiev, Ravel, Rhode Island, Schumann, Yale University, Yun Janice Lu

Denis Matsuev Overwhelms Carnegie

Wednesday, October 23rd, 2019 by Ken Leave a Comment

Denis Matsuev

Denis Matsuev strode on to the Carnegie stage on Sunday October 20th, 2019.

Well over 6 feet tall, he looked powerful and solid, the proverbial Russian bear.

Outside Carnegie, a group of protesters chanted in Russian that Matsuev supports war. But surely there are more effective ways to critique Russian foreign policy than harassing a world-class pianist!

Liszt: Piano Sonata in B minor

Liszt’s Sonata opens with a deep pulse in the Steinway’s chocolately low end. Matsuev paced this perfectly. Then it explodes into drama and episodic wandering, interspersed with archetypally Liszt-ian hammering climaxes.

This is a self-consciously great work. It is difficult for the pianist to imbue it with gravitas, because the work is patchy and wanders a lot. In Matsuev’s hands it felt harmonically muddy and sometimes rushed. For comparison, here is a recording of Marta Argerich.

The Roving Pianist Concert Clown award goes to the man who stood and started clapping before the last notes died away.

Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No. 1 S. 514

The Mephisto Waltz gives the pianist more to work with. It is an adventurous, lively work and Matsuev was wholly on top of it, sometimes to excess. Again there was some rushing. To be fair, the audience wanted a virtuoso performance and Matsuev obliged. At times the piano shook visibly from his raw power. This was the Matsuev machine we had come to see, a massive performance that brought the audience to its feet.

Tchaikovsky: Dumka in C minor Op. 59

Denis Matsuev at Carnegie Oct. 2019

Denis Matsuev with flowers Carnegie 2019

Tchaikovsky’s symphonies and concertos are the core of this cinematic Russian composer’s public image. Piano-lovers are familiar with his The Seasons. The Dumka is less well-known. It combines oh-so-Russian descending minor progressions with a dance that alternately sounds like fairies and trolls. Alas the dancers are unable to rise above the beautiful gloom.

From a pianist famed for how much noise he can get out of a piano, Matsuev’s Dumka was an unexpected treasure.

Stravinsky: Three Movements from Petrushka

Here again was a percussive showpiece for Matsuev to strut his stuff. I’ve heard many pianists play Stravinsky, and Matsuev’s rendition was one of the more impressive. But my response was muted because by then my appetite for hammering was overshadowed by the need to hear something more fulfilling.

Encores

Like Yuja Wang at Carnegie in 2016, Denis Matsuev really came alive with his encores.

As I have mentioned to other concert pianists, the audience may not recognize your encores. Even just naming the composer will help us figure it out. But Matsuev did not talk to us, and I recognized only two of his four encores. Later I identified the Sibelius by browsing recordings of Matsuev. Of the remaining unidentified encore, I can only say that it was light and possibly Russian.

Rachmaninov Études-Tableaux Op. 39 No. 2 in A minor

Rachmaninov was, for this reviewer, the highlight of Matsuev’s recital. It was lighter in the left hand than I prefer, but still had that heart-bursting cacophonous climax that I first heard played by the young Russian pianist Ivan Gusev.

Sibelius Etude No. 2 from Thirteen Pieces, Op. 76

I did not recognize this encore, but I could tell it was Russian. Wrong! Although it could pass for a Russian sailors’ hornpipe, it turned out to have been Sibelius. Not so far off geographically, I suppose.

Grieg-Ginzburg In the Hall of the Mountain King

Matsuev’s last encore was the Ginzburg arrangement of In the Hall of the Mountain King from Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite No. 1. Matsuev sauced it up by playing the declamatory first note and extending the subsequent pause while chuckling with the audience. There followed an unashamedly hammered, ridiculously over-speed performance that was breathtaking to watch.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed this concert, but I wish that Denis Matsuev had chosen a more integrated Liszt work, e.g. Harmonies du Soir. Compared with Rachmaninov’s Études-Tableaux, Liszt’s B minor Sonata seemed like a waste of Matsuev’s talent. If his audience wants him to hammer the piano, Rachmaninov offers plenty options.

Filed Under: Concerts, Public concerts Tagged With: Carnegie Hall, Denis Matsuev, Dumka, Edvard Grieg, Etudes Tableaux, harmonies du soir, Liszt, Mephisto Waltz, Petrushka, Putin, Rachmaninov, Russian Bear, Sibelius, steinway, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Vladimir Putin

Gloriosa Trio Recital at Central Park West

Wednesday, October 16th, 2019 by Ken Leave a Comment

Gloriosa Trio with Karen LeFrak and the Gloriosa Trio CD

Gloriosa Trio with Karen LeFrak and the Gloriosa Trio CD

On Tuesday October 15th, 2019, the Gloriosa Trio performed at Robin Shoemaker’s Central Park West salon.

The Trio comprises pianist Yoonie Han, violinist Eric Silberger and cellist Kevin Bate. They recently released their first CD (Centaur Records).

The program consisted of various items by Gabriel Fauré including 3 of Gloriosa Trio’s own arrangements. It also included a work by New York composer Karen LeFrak, who was present at the concert.

Fauré: Sicilienne Op. 78

Cellist Kevin Bate

Kevin Bate in action

This piece was originally written for piano and cello. It was later orchestrated by the composer and became part of his Pelléas et Mélisande suite. Various other arrangements exist, including one by Gloriosa Trio.

The Trio played their own cello-forward arrangement. Piano and violin weaved a poignant atmosphere around Kevin Bate’s strong but tender cello. In this arrangement the violin picked up some phrases that the piano carries in the original, adding a touch more color and sweetness.

LeFrak: Gloriosa

Composer Karen LeFrak with the Trio after they performed Gloriosa

When musicians play your work: Karen LeFrak with Gloriosa Trio

Karen LeFrak’s Gloriosa premiered in 2015. It shares some of the wistful atmosphere of Fauré’s century-old music, making for a good program fit.

The work itself was evocative and at times playful, worthy of further listening.

The composer and musicians embraced after playing her composition.

Fauré: Pavane, Op 50

Fauré’s Pavane seemed tailor-made for Gloriosa Trio. It is sad but not tragic. It is also exquisitely French, beautiful to the edge of sentimentality.

At first the pizzicato-like piano accompaniment felt a little strong. But I came to realize that those staccato arpeggios were the heartbeat of this delightful oeuvre. They bring tension and motion to this otherwise soft and gentle work.

Fauré: Trois mélodies Op. 7 No. 1 “Après un Rêve”

This is a short and beautiful song, arranged by Gloriosa Trio for their instruments. For comparison, here is a link to the vocal version as sung by New Zealand fully lyric soprano Kiri Te Kanawa.

Fauré: Piano Trio Op. 120

The Piano Trio was the only Fauré composition of the evening that the Gloriosa Trio had not themselves arranged. It is a late work, completed in 1923.

Compared with the music played earlier, the Piano Trio was relatively ascetic. This reviewer found it to be pleasant but a little diffuse. It is evidently a composition that requires repeat listening.

Gloriosa Trio

Gloriosa Trio is an excellent piano trio, despite their relatively infrequent collaborations. Their concert at the Shoemaker Salon was delectable, and Fauré’s music seemed tailor-made for them. Their arrangements were clean and true to the original, to the point that they could have been written by composer himself.

We have seen pianist Yoonie Han at the Shoemaker salon before, see this review.

Kevin Bate, Yoonie Han, Robin Shoemaker, Eric Silberger 10/15/2019

Filed Under: Concerts, Private Concerts Tagged With: Apres un reve, Eric Silberger, Gabriel Fauré, Gloriosa Trio, Karen LeFrak, Kevin Bate, Kiri Te Kanawa, Pavane, piano trio, Robin Shoemaker, Yoonie Han

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