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You are here: Home / Archives for Ravel

Pianist Wynona Wang in South Kingstown, RI

Monday, October 10th, 2022 by Ken Leave a Comment

Wynona Wang

Wynona Yinuo Wang at Core Memory Music

Wynona Wang

I first met Chinese pianist Wynona Wang at a house concert in New York in 2021. I was so impressed that when I learned she was to play as a Concert Artists Guild artist in Rhode Island on October 8th 2022, I had to attend.

Core Memory Music

Core Memory Music, Rhode Island

Core Memory Music

The Core Memory Music venue in South Kingstown, Rhode Island is a 3 to 4 hour drive along the I-95 corridor from New York. The time commitment made me hesitate, but fate intervened in the form of a message from Craig Maynard, founder of Core Memory Music. Could I swing through Manhattan and pick up Ms. Wang on my way?

And so early on concert day, I pulled over in Midtown to collect my passenger. I didn’t recognize her at first, because New York is full of young Asians in skinny jeans. But up close she was the same Wynona Yinuo Wang whom I predicted would be signing autographs for us in a few years. I felt the weight of my responsibility to get this remarkable pianist to Rhode Island in one piece, on time, and rested. When she dozed off en route, I felt a sense of accomplishment.

Wynona Wang rehearsing at Core Memory Music, RI

Ms. Wang rehearsing

As we arrived at Core Memory Music, a technician was making final tweaks to the sparkling 9-ft Steinway. Ms. Wang had told me that she finished learning one of the program works just a few days earlier. She needed time on the concert instrument to get ready. Soon enough, she was riffing through elements of the program.

Wynona’s Wang’s Program

The program for this event was unusually focused. It spanned compositions from a period of just 14 years at the start of the 20th century. As Ms. Wang explained to us, these works shared a common theme of grief that each composer interpreted differently.

  • Scriabin: Valse, Opus 38 (1903)
  • Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin (1917)
  • Janácek: Piano Sonata 1.X.1905 “From the Street” (1906)
  • Rachmaninoff: Études-Tableaux Op 39 (1916)
    • No 1 in C minor
    • No 2 in A minor
    • No. 8 in D minor
    • No. 9 in D major

In pre-recital chat, Ms. Wang identified Rachmaninoff as the composer she felt most passionate about. This may explain why I find myself so attuned to Ms. Wang’s interpretations. Indeed the entire program was a feast.

The opening Scriabin Waltz was a flowing, melodious aperitif from a bygone age. In retrospect it served mostly to warm the audience up for what was to come.

Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin is a baroque-style suite written in memory of friends lost in war. Wynona’s interpretation was elegant and restrained. Her second movement (Fugue) was impeccably timed, like jeweled clockwork. And I particularly loved her Forlane, a jazzified dance whose descending minor seconds gave me shivers. The closing Toccata was deftly executed but felt a little out of place.

In contrast, Janácek’s Piano Sonata staggers with pain. Ms. Wang’s slower second movement was spellbinding. At times she appeared immobile, her fingers barely moving. After the last notes faded, the audience was silent for 15 seconds. Partly this was because of the ambience that the pianist had evoked. But also it was because this work is unfinished, and Ms. Wang chose to let the audience feel that.

Rachmaninoff Études-Tableaux Op 39 No’s 1, 2, 8, 9

While Rachmaninoff constituted only a quarter of Ms. Wang’s recital, he overshadows much of the other repertoire with the sheer massiveness of his music (as well as his hands). Some of his works are “Russkaya Dusha” (Russian soul) personified. including these Études-Tableaux.

I hardly know where to begin with the Opus 39 Études Tableaux.  Ms. Wang’s No 1 in C minor rocked us beyond words. She has so much power, and Core Memory Music’s Steinway D has such a magnificent bottom octave, that she left us stunned in our seats.

Then there’s No. 2 in A minor, my personal favorite ever since I heard it played by my friend Ivan Gusev. Ivan, I know a Chinese pianist who takes this work to another level. Her name is Wynona Wang, and you need to hear her. I recorded her performance, here on YouTube.

As if that were not enough, Wynona also gave us No. 8 in D minor and No. 9 in D major. I am at a loss to describe how these works impacted the Core Memory Music audience. In their own words, I heard “wow, yay, bravo, BRAVO!!”. In the words of Craig Maynard, our host, “So, Rachmaninoff is smiling. Wherever he is, he’s smiling”.

Closing Thoughts

Wynona Wang is a confident, impressive pianist who totally wowed the Core Memory Music audience. She plays with such authenticity and conviction that Mr. Maynard and I wondered, were she to make mistakes, whether we would even notice.

Ms. Wang has the passion, musicianship and audience appeal that are essential for success. We hope that her time with Concert Artists Guild will help her evolve to her full potential.

 

Filed Under: Concerts, Pianists Tagged With: Concert Artists Guild, Core Memory, Core Memory Music, Craig Maynard, Janacek, rachmaninoff, Ravel, Wynona Wang, Wynona Yinuo Wang

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

Beatrice Rana Debuts at Carnegie

Wednesday, March 13th, 2019 by Ken Leave a Comment

Beatrice Rana Carnegie Debut March 2019

Pianist Beatrice Rana at her Carnegie Debut March 2019

Beatrice Rana

On Tuesday March 12th 2019, Italian pianist Beatrice Rana made her Carnegie debut at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall.

A 2013 Van Cliburn competition silver medalist (see this photograph) Beatrice at age 25 has been performing in major concert halls around the world for years.

Zankel is a modest venue of about 600 seats, hardly intimidating to an experienced international pianist. But the New York audience is notoriously demanding.

Ms. Rana came on stage in an elegant, floor-length sequined copper gown. If she was nervous, the only hint might have been how quickly she got down to business.

Chopin: Twelve Etudes Op. 25

Beatrice Rana on stage at her Carnegie debut

I love New York!

The drape of the copper gown presaged the flowing arpeggios and modulations of the first Etude (“Aeolian Harp”, A-flat Major). Ms. Rana’s damper work allowed the harp-like sonorities of this etude to glow.

Throughout the Etudes, Beatrice Rana focused intently on the keyboard. She employed no visual theatrics, going little further than the occasional lift of her right eyebrow. Her left hand came nicely forward when voicing called for it. I personally liked her well-managed pedal, however some people would have preferred different handling of harmonics in certain Etudes.

Ms. Rana sailed through technical challenges such as the Op. 26 No. 6 (“Thirds”, G-sharp minor) and particularly Op. 26 No 11 (“Winter Wind”, A minor), where she showed her virtuosity and prodigious power.

The final Etude Op. 26 no 12 (“Ocean”, C-sharp minor) was masterfully executed. During this aptly-labeled Etude Ms. Rana rocked from side to side, following her hands. Swaying is intrinsic to this work, but her dinghy-like rock-and-roll was so pronounced that I wondered if it was intended as a metaphor for Chopin’s waves.

Ravel: Miroirs

Miroirs is an evocative 5-section suite for solo piano, a well-chosen programmatic bridge between Chopin and Stravinsky.

After Ms. Rana’s sublime pedalwork for Chopin, I looked forward to hearing her project the sonorities of Ravel. But although her delivery was fine, I was not entirely satisfied. I can’t point to anything specific, but it felt a little choppy.

Of course, it may be that the disconnect is on the reviewer’s side.

Stravinsky: Three Movements from The Firebird

This exciting piano transcription by Agosti of 3 sections from Stravinsky’s Firebird suite is a concert favorite. Beatrice Rana gave a spirited rendering. No harmonic muddying here! I loved her marcatissimo closing.

Encores

After the main program, Beatrice treated us to two encores by Chopin: Prelude in F# minor Opus 28 and Scherzo #18 in B flat minor. She has an obvious flair for Chopin, so it made for a fun ending to a great evening.

Pianist Beatrice Rana at Carnegie after her debut with Ken Turner

Beatrice Rana at Carnegie with author Ken Turner

Meeting Beatrice

After the recital we went to the Carnegie “Mix and Mingle” event.

To our delight Beatrice (pronounced Bay-ah-tree-cheh) Rana herself came out to join us, friendly and accommodating to her fans.

Of all the questions I had for Ms. Rana, there was time for just one. So I asked her how it felt to walk out on stage at Carnegie for the first time. “Exciting”, she gleamed.

For more about Beatrice Rana, see her web site at www.beatricepiano.com.

Filed Under: Concerts, Public concerts Tagged With: Beatrice Rana, Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Zankel, Chopin, Debut, pianist, piano, Ravel, Stravinsky

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