ROVING PIANIST

Ken Turner's blog about everything piano

  • Home
    • Register
    • Log In
  • Concerts
    • Public concerts
    • Private Concerts
    • Quick Takes
  • Pianists
  • Piano Blog
  • Other
    • Old Blog
  • Contact
  • About
    • About The Author
    • Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / Archives for La Valse

Pianist Jocelyn Lai at Central Park West

Sunday, February 24th, 2019 by Ken Leave a Comment

Jocelyn Lai at the Shoemaker Salon, February 2019

On Saturday evening of February 23rd 2019, I was privileged to attend pianist Jocelyn Lai‘s recital at Robin Shoemaker’s residence on Central Park West. The program was an interesting mix anchored by one of Schubert’s last piano sonatas.

Haydn: Sonata No. 55 in B flat Major, Hob XVI 41

In Haydn’s time, Ms. Lai noted, the Sonata would normally be a salon performance. Indeed the tight acoustics of Robin’s salon suited Haydn’s chirpy 1784 work. His twirls twinkled like confetti from Ms. Lai’s fingers, making for a delightful start to our evening.

Jacques Hétu (1938-2010): Variations pour piano, Op. 8

If Haydn was an icebreaker, Hétu’s dissonance-driven work was more like shattered icicles. As Ms. Lai explained, Hétu explores the complete range of expression of the modern piano in just 9 minutes.

Although Hétu was somewhat opaque to me, I take comfort from the fact that a musician of Ms. Lai’s caliber values it. It is a credit to her interpretation that the rest of us could find moments to appreciate in this eclectic work.

Ravel: La Valse (arr. for solo piano)

Jocelyn Lai speaking

Jocelyn described Ravel’s La Valse as a waltz that gradually disintegrates. In her luxuriously lugubrious performance we heard (and felt through the floor) that disintegration. It was a sonic feast on Mr. Shoemaker’s deep-voiced Steinway.

Although the work is often associated with the collapse of Austro-Hungary during the first World War, I heard also in Jocelyn’s performance what Ravel referred to as “the light of the chandeliers bursts forth at the fortissimo”, an early and positive motif that recurs later in the work.

In Ms. Lai’s hands, Ravel’s conflicted masterpiece lurched from order to chaos, joy to anguish and back. And yet in its final downward slump it somehow was triumphant. I could not help but think that the pianist must have felt similarly after such a workout.

Jocelyn Lai with Robin Shoemaker

Schubert: Sonata No. 21 in C minor D 958

Schubert’s Sonata was a huge contrast to the weight of Ravel. After opening with Beethoven-esque drama, the Sonata evolved into more Schubertian territory, with fleeting melodies and, as Ms. Lai noted, a somewhat haunting demeanor. The second movement was absolutely beautiful, and perhaps more haunting than the first.

In her introduction to the Schubert, Ms. Lai described the last movement (Allegro) as “incessant galloping” and joked about its pianistic challenges. However she sailed through all those hand-crossings and gave a rousing performance that had some of us practically dancing in our seats.

Albéniz: Triana from Iberia Bk. 2 No. 3

We laughed at Ms. Lai’s imaginative take on this work (a guy with too much cologne!) and enjoyed her performance. Albéniz’ hand crossings looked harder than Schubert’s, but Jocelyn Lai never let technical challenge get in the way of expression.

In Conclusion

Audiences appreciate when a musician introduces the works in their recital. Jocelyn provided insights that helped us get into the right frame of mind for each item, particularly valuable for the inscrutable modernism of Jaques Hétu, and for Ravel’s mercurial La Valse.

Beyond such professionalism, we saw in Ms. Lai a pianist immersed in her repertoire. Her performance was about Haydn, Hétu, Ravel, Schubert and Albéniz, not herself. This leaves it to your reviewer to note that she is an excellent pianist and her recital was a blast.

You can learn more about Jocelyn Lai on her web site. The site contains her calendar of upcoming events, including information about her participation in the Hilton Head International Piano Competition where there is a page devoted entirely to her.

UPDATE: Jocelyn Lai NYC recital March 4th 2019 – click for detail

Filed Under: Concerts, Private Concerts Tagged With: Albéniz, Haydn, Hétu, HIlton Head, Hunter College, Jocelyn Lai, La Valse, Piano Competition, Ravel, Robin Shoemaker, Schubert, Triana

François-Xavier Poizat Waltzes Through Central Park West

Sunday, May 6th, 2018 by Ken Leave a Comment

Robin and Francois-Xavier

François-Xavier Poizat May 5th, 2018

On Saturday May 5th, 2018, Robin Shoemaker hosted a Salon Concert with pianist François-Xavier Poizat at Central Park West.

This accomplished young Julliard graduate has an impressive CV, and the program for the evening looked enticing.

Années de Pèlerinage, Première année suite, Franz Liszt

Liszt’s weighty suite consists of a series of piano pieces imbued with literary and historical associations. There is self-conscious grandeur in some of these episodes that challenges the pianist with its key-pounding lack of subtlety.

Poizat immersed himself in Liszt’s theatricality, shaking the floor when stamping the sostenuto, attacking Liszt’s parallel octaves with vigor. At more reflective moments he would stare beyond the keyboard, or drop his forehead towards the keybed. This was a strong and heartfelt presentation.

Variations sur un thème de Chopin, Federico Mompou

Mompou’s variations are based on Chopin’s one-minute long Prelude in A major Op. 28, No. 7. It was elegantly played by Mr. Poizat, but I could not help but wonder why a composer would tinker with such a Chopin gem.

Ravel’s La Valse, arr. Alexander Ghindin

Poizat at Central Park West

Poizat introduced Ravel’s La Valse to us as a post-war (World War 1) ‘swan song” to the great Viennese waltz. The composer himself, however, described the work more as a waltz gradually revealed, than as a declining tradition or the symbolic end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Poizat’s virtuoso Ravel contained little sense of decline or loss. He uplifted us with waves of criss-crossing glissandos and stunned us with left fist blows to the bottom end of the keyboard. While he had my head spinning like a dancer in the swirling waltz, he stayed focused on the flow of Ravel’s masterpiece and earned a rousing ovation.

Encore: Waltz No. 2, Shostakovich

After Ravel, Poizat surprised us by returning to the keyboard for an encore.  Since we clearly loved waltzes, he would play another one! I expected a light dessert such as a Chopin waltz, but this was not a Chopin sort of night.

Instead, he served up Shostakovich’s lugubrious Waltz No. 2 in a stunning, unpublished arrangement. This very satisfying conclusion resulted in your reviewer purchasing Poizat’s CD containing both waltzes (http://www.fxpoizat.com/#discography).

 

 

Filed Under: Concerts, Private Concerts Tagged With: Alexander Ghindin, Federico Mompoi, François-Xavier Poizat, Julliard, La Valse, Liszt, Ravel, Robin Shoemaker, Shostakovich

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.