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Pianist Suejin Jung at Central Park West

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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

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.

Rosa Chang, Carlos Arcos perform with Ivan Gusev in NYC

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On May 23rd, 2019 I was privileged to attend an opera recital at the Shoemaker Salon on Central Park West in New York. The event featured Korean soprano Rosa Chang, Ecuadorian baritone Carlos Arcos, and Russian pianist Ivan Gusev.

Ms. Chang previously sang at this venue in January 2018, which I reviewed here. Mr. Gusev recently gave a recital that included some of the works played this evening, reviewed here.

Rosa Chang: Rossini, Liszt and Fauré

Rosa Chang

Ms. Chang introduced each program item before singing it. This was informative and at times entertaining, making for a lively evening.

Rosa Chang’s La Promessa was a treat. Gusev’s sparkling piano intertwined with her conversational phrases in a charming duet. The aria closed on a sustained octave leap, which Ms. Chang hit and held flawlessly.

Throughout the evening Ms. Chang showed fine control over every aspect of her performance: her voice, expressions and gestures.

Carlos Arcos: Tosti, Reynaldo Hahn

Carlos Arcos

Mr. Arcos’s Tosti showcased his passionate delivery and magnificent voice. An Ecuadorian, he convinced me that he had become Italian for Tosti’s Non t’amo piu.

Carlos Arcos’s A Chloris opened with a harmonic progression on the piano that is reminiscent of Pachelbel’s Canon. Indeed after his performance, a member of the audience asked Arcos about possible influences.

Ivan Gusev plays Rachmaninov

Ivan Gusev: Rachmaninov, Paganini-Liszt

Rachmaninov’s Études Tableaux in A minor (“The Sea and the Seagulls”) is one of the composer’s crowning achievements.

Gusev’s performance was mesmerizing. I looked for a comparable performance on the Internet and found just one, by Vladimir Ashkenazy.

The work opens in a dream-like state. The right hand crosses the left to punctuate Rachmaninov’s reflective arpeggios with a slow bass motif..

This morphs into waves of excruciating collapse at 2:20, 2:50 and beyond. Then it transitions to a major key, only to slip back to the opening calm. These timings are with respect to Gusev’s 2018 Youtube video.

Gusev also played Liszt’s La Campanella, a demanding work that is as much fun to watch as it is to listen to.

Rigoletto, Don Pasquale, Camelot, La Traviata

After a short Intermission we heard three more excellent arias from Rosa Chang and one song from Carlos Arcos.

I don’t have room here to give a run-down on each item. However I would single out Mr. Arcos who, supported by pianist Gusev, gave a heartfelt rendition of If ever I would leave you, the show-stopping romantic ballad from Camelot.

Encores

Ivan Gusev, Robin Shoemaker, Rosa Chang, Carlos Arcos

Carlos Arcos sang Pampamapa by Carlos Guastavino. The piano accompaniment for this Argentinian song at times imitates the strumming of a guitar.

Rosa Chang sang Puccini’s O mio babbino caro, The aching beauty of this aria is so typical of Puccini. Ms. Chang’s refined vibrato and her perfect attack once again resulted in an exquisite performance.

Ivan Gusev closed the evening with a virtuoso performance of Chopin’s Minute Waltz. I loved how he played with pacing in order to magnify the accelerando of the waltz.

Closing Thoughts

In these troubled times it is reassuring to see such diverse musicians collaborate to present an evening of great music.

Rosa Chang stood out as as a superlative soprano who could perform for the most discriminating audience.

Carlos Arcos pulled off a win despite joining the program at short notice.

And pianist Ivan Gusev played tirelessly through the entire evening, both as an accompanist and as a soloist.

Pianist Ivan Gusev plays at Private Event

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Ivan Gusev

Pianist Ivan Gusev was born in Kazakhstan. He has two degrees from the Moscow Conservatory, an institution that produces pianists of the pedigree of Emil Gilels, Sviatoslav Richter etc.

So when I received an invitation to attend Ivan’s recital in a private home, I was thrilled. A Russian School pianist playing Rachmaninov! I couldn’t wait to hear him play.

The program opened with some light Mozart. Thereafter the recital grew progressively more intense, closing with fireworks in the form of a virtuoso Rachmaninov prelude.

Mozart: Sonata No. 12 in F Major K322

Mozart’s Allegro opens friskily, bouncing back and forth to minor key arpeggios, with glimpses of Beethoven-like drama. Gusev glided through this with confidence.

The gentle Adagio over a clockwork (Alberti) bass introduced us to Gusev’s signature head-back eyes-closed happy face. Mozart can have that effect on people!

The closing Allegro Assai was a little more rambunctuous, giving Gusev room to show some pianistic flair.

Schubert: Four Impromptus, Op. 90

Gusev addressing the audience

Schubert’s weightier warmth allowed Gusev room to be more expressive. Here, as throughout the recital, I was struck by how focused he was and how rich his sound. The deep low end of the house Steinway helped.

Grieg: Six Poetic Tone Pictures, Op. 3

These short Grieg works are, as Gusev noted, very romantic. He played them with passion, but to me the works themselves were incoherent.

Here and there we heard echoes of a folk dance or a lullaby. At other times, Grieg sounded like Chopin having a bad practice day.

Rachmaninov: Three Etudes-Tableaux

Of the selected Etudes-Tableaux, I most enjoyed the first (A minor Op. 39 No. 2 “The Sea and the Seagulls”). Gusev’s resonant harmonics glowed. His right hand crossed his left in a slow, mesmerizing arc for the bass motif. Indeed his presentation of Rachmaninov’s cacophonous layers was so riveting that I momentarily forgot to breathe.

The E-flat minor had more of a movie-theme feel. It was expansive, pounding and appropriately slushy. After the opening drama and subsequent clatter the theme returned, crumbling into dissonance. Again Gusev projected emotion with controlled intensity.

Gusev gave an expansive, weighty performance of the C minor Op. 33 no. 3 (compare with Yuja Wang, Berlin 2018) . When the big theme came forward over a dominant low end, the result was quite different from what you hear in other performances. I loved it.

Rachmaninov: Prelude in B-Flat Major, Op. 23 No. 2

From the resounding opening through dazzling two-handed descents to glittering right hand swirls, Gusev threw everything he had into this showpiece. He appeared enraptured, playing with such vigor that the piano shook.

This was a remarkable performance, larger than the pianist and the setting. While one could nitpick here and there, I felt that this was Rachmaninov as he should be played. As the final chord faded, someone shouted “yeah!”. The pianist stood up with a huge grin. He knew that he had nailed it.

Encores: Chopin Waltzes

The first encore was Chopin’s Waltz in A minor Op. Post. This is a forgiving work that pianists can easily put their personal stamp on. Gusev’s Waltz was adventurous, with liberal rubato and fast upper register runs.  Finally, Gusev played Chopin’s Minute Waltz Op. 64 No. 1.

Russian soul?

Ivan Gusev’s performance style is low-key. Sometimes he leans into the piano or tilts his head back. At other times, he raises an arm to punctuate a phrase. His facial expressions are not theatrical. They are those of a pianist immersed in creating an authentic musical experience.

With the exception of Grieg (for which I hold the composer responsible), Gusev’s entire recital was enjoyable. But his Rachmaninov outshone everything else. It was simply stunning.

Was this because Gusev is, as he explained to me, culturally 75% Russian? Or is it more a product of his Moscow Conservatory education? From either perspective, I miss only the vodka and zakuski.