Beethoven Archives - ROVING PIANIST

Mateusz Mikolajczak at Kosciuszko Foundation NYC

Saturday, March 29th, 2025 by Ken Turner

Mateusz Mikolajczak at Kosciuszko Foundation

On March 26, 2025, the Kosciuszko Foundation presented a piano recital by Polish pianist Mateusz Mikolajczak. The event was held in the concert hall at their headquarters a block from Central Park.

The concert hall was itself a work of art, its wood-paneled walls covered with fine paintings.

The Steinway grand piano looked like a well-used music academy instrument, but sounded great.

Chopin: Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 1

I loved Mr. Mikolajczak’s performance of this, one of my favorite Chopin’s Nocturnes. I caught myself thinking here I am, listening to an accomplished Polish pianist play this riveting work written 189 years ago. Maybe it’s time I made a pilgrimage to Poland.

Liszt: Sonetto 104 del Petrarca from Années de Pèlerinage

I had mixed feelings about Mikolajczak’s Liszt. While the pianist swayed back and forth with the phrasing and made artful gestures with arm and hand, the piano did not convey such emotional weight. I speculate that perhaps body language was at the expense of pianistic expression. Readers might compare Yunchan Lim’s performance.

Chopin: Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat major, Op. 61

The Polonaise-Fantaisie can feel a bit rambling. However Mikolajczak’s delivery gave me a new respect for the piece. I became fascinated by how Chopin’s themes and motifs would leave and later return with renewed magic.

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.23 “Appassionata” Op. 57

Tantalizing fragments of Beethoven echoed down the stairwell while Mikolajczak was rehearsing.

But nothing could prepare me for sitting in the front row while he performed Beethoven’s Appassionata. He was compelling.

So much vigor and drama, such crisp, virtuosic delivery! We loved it, giving the pianist a standing ovation.

Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in B-flat major, Op. 84

I am amazed that anyone can play this elaborate work from memory. But Mateusz Mikolajczak seemed to thrive on Prokofiev’s unusual tonalities and relentless, driving rhythms. However I noticed toward the end of the last movement that the tips of the pianist’s fingers had become dark pink.

My favorite moments in this work were the tantalizingly evanescent “ocean swell” phrases, when Mikolajczak made us feel like we were on a ship in heaving seas, the pianist rising from his bench to stay in control.

Closing Thoughts

The pianist’s profile and curly hair made me think of European aristocrats from a bygone age. His interactions with his audience were correspondingly gracious, but brief.

Much of the time at the piano, his hair fell over his face. I wanted to know more about who this fascinating pianist was, but he was immersed in his art so that would have to come later.

Mateusz Mikolajczak is a classy performer with immense concentration, impressive technique and a flair for drama. I would be interested to hear his interpretations of Bach/Busoni or Bach/Liszt.

The Kosciuszko Foundation

The Rotunda at KF

The membership-supported Foundation promotes educational and cultural exchanges between the United States and Poland. Their premises at 15 East 65th Street provided the perfect venue for this recital.

The Foundation, its people, and the good work that they do thoroughly impress me.

Special thanks to Ewa Zadworna for facilitating my attendance and discreet use of a camera.

Prizewinning Pianist Jack Gao’s Concert of Contrasts

Wednesday, January 10th, 2024 by Ken Turner

Jack Gao playing on Sunday January 7th 2024

I was thrilled to see Jack Gao perform at a salon concert in New York on January 7th. The concert was a co-presentation by host Robin Shoemaker and the Center for Musical Excellence, Director Min Kwon.

Ms. Kwon enthused about how well Jack played at the 2023 Gina Bachauer Piano Competition at Juilliard, where he won First Prize. More recently, he placed first at the 2023 Naumburg International Piano Competition.

She also noted that Jack will make his Carnegie Debut on February 5th 2024.

J. S. Bach: French Suite No. 5 in G major

Jack’s opening Allemande was elegantly phrased and captivating. I also enjoyed the contrast-laden Loure, whose halting tempo was sustained by effortless ripples and spiralling vortices.

But by far my favorite part of the Suite was Jack’s sublimely spiritual Sarabande, which at times hinted at Bach’s Goldberg Aria.

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90

I wasn’t sure what to make of this unusual sonata. The first movement was both pleasant and disturbing, light and dark, beautiful and dreadful. And yet there was always a sense that yin and yang would eventually resolve.

I liked how Mr. Gao evoked these contrasting moods. I liked when he unleashed Beethoven’s anguish and then let it fade. And I loved how he created those ethereal pianissimos. But I need to listen to this work again in order to grasp it better.

Liszt: Transcendental Étude No. 5, “Feux Follets”

After Beethoven’s relatively gloomy sonata, Liszt’s brash Etude allowed the pianist to have some much-needed fun. Jack’s delivery was a crowd-pleaser, entertaining and virtuosic.

Bartok: Piano Sonata

This Bartok was not an easy listen for me. While at times it was boisterously festive, at other times it felt like biting on eggshell in your omelet. This was no fault of the pianist, who played with power and conviction.

Min Kwon and Jack Gao play Brahms

Brahms: Hungarian Dances No. 1 and No. 4 for four hands

For the first Brahms dance, Jack played Secondo (left side), powering Brahms’ lush, romantic main theme. Ms. Kwon took Primo, sprinkling the room with upper register twinkles.

For the second dance, the pianists switched roles. I found myself laughing as Jack played mischievous seconds. It was a spirited, entertaining performance.

Gao, Lowenthal, Kwon

Surprises

Wrapping up the evening, Min Kwon introduced two distinguished members of the audience: pianist Ursula Oppens and pianist Jerome Lowenthal.

Mr Lowenthal joined Ms. Kwon and Mr. Gao to play Rachmaninoff’s Romance for 6 hands, a beautiful work that felt all the more special because it was being performed by pianists from 3 generations.

Unfortunately it also meant that this fascinating concert of contrasts was coming to a close.

Postscript

After the recital I spent a few minutes with Jack Gao. When I asked him how he felt about his Beethoven sonata, he lit up with enthusiasm and started explaining its construction. Jack is a versatile musician who clearly loves what he is doing, and his future looks bright.

Host Robin with Jack Gao and Min Kwon

Stephanie Tang at Core Memory Music

Wednesday, August 17th, 2022 by Ken Turner

Stephanie Tang in Rhode Island, August 2022

Stephanie Tang

On Saturday August 13th, 2022, I visited Craig Maynard’s Core Memory Music venue in Rhode Island to see London-based Chinese-American pianist Stephanie Tang.

Some pianists (Roving Pianist included) prefer to isolate prior to performing. But Ms. Tang’s innate confidence allowed her to mingle with ease, describing her program and fielding questions from us during the pre-concert discussion.

Thus, when she took her seat at the 9-foot Steinway concert grand, the audience had already warmed to her.

Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonata in F major K.445

Domenico Scarlatti’s K.445 Keyboard Sonata in F major is, well, very Scarlatti. Of the 500+ sonatas that he wrote, it is fairly typical. Rippling, twirling runs leap between the pianist’s hands, framed by recurring left-hand punctuation.

This piano was well-suited to Scarlatti. The low end was clean, reminiscent perhaps of Beethoven’s time, although more powerful. And Stephanie used the lightest pedal, ensuring that the brightness of the instrument did not blur her nimble fingerwork.

Stephanie after Beethoven

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10 No. 2

Ms. Tang described this early Beethoven work as humorous and cheeky. And throughout her performance, her appropriately theatrical facial expressions were priceless.

We are not accustomed to thinking of Beethoven as entertainment, but under Ms. Tang’s hands this overtly mundane Sonata was in fact a lot of fun.

To judge by her expression afterwards, she enjoyed it at least as much as her audience did.

Stephanie Tang plays Chopin in Rhode Island

Stephanie playing Chopin

Chopin: Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat major, Op. 61

Stephanie guided the audience through Scarlatti and Beethoven, but everything changed when she transitioned to Chopin. The artist was a different pianist for Chopin, becoming the medium instead of the message.

Chopin spoke directly to us through Ms. Tang, making for an enchanting performance. Her pacing was so naturally fluid that the concept of rubato seems unnecessary.

In the moments of silence after the last notes, I felt the entire audience sigh.

Schubert: Four Impromptus, D. 899

After such sublime Chopin, anything else would seem anticlimactic. Ms. Tang solved this by closing with Schubert Impromptu’s.

These mostly well-known concert pieces are quintessential Schubert: lavishly romantic and with sufficient drama to support some entertaining pianistic flair.

Ms. Tang’s flair was to throw in keyboard theatrics. Most notably she pulled the “Lang Lang Whip”, a shamelessly flashy gesture where the pianist whips her left arm down and away from the keyboard. Now I can call it the Lang Tang Whip.

Encore: Schumann Davidsbündlertänze Op. 6 No. 2 Innig

The concert closed with this very short, serene work by Schumann.

Stephanie Tang in Rhode Island

Meeting Stephanie

The glue that made this event special was not the venue, the piano or the music. It was Stephanie Tang herself. Friendly and at ease with her audience, she was generous with her time and fun to be around.

This hard-working, multi-faceted pianist has a busy calendar and a bright future.

Closing Thoughts

Core Memory Music is Craig Maynard’s labor of love. Concerts take place at his solar-powered home which contains a casual, high-ceiling performance space with excellent acoustics and comfortable seating.

The piano is a full-sized C&A Steinway D (see What is a Steinway C&A piano). It has glittering silver pins, a translucent upper mid-range and sonorous bottom octaves that excel as pedal notes in e.g. Bach/Liszt Prelude and Fugue in A minor BWV 543.

I share these details because Core Memory Music is a piano-lover’s paradise. Craig recruits excellent young musicians from Yale, Boston and now from the Concert Artists’ Guild. This was the third concert here that Roving Pianist has attended, and it won’t be the last. See https://corememorymusic.com/ for information about upcoming events.