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You are here: Home / Archives for Schubert

Hollywood Romance by pianist Yoonie Han

Monday, December 21st, 2020 by Ken Leave a Comment

Hollywood Romance

Hollywood Romance (Universal Music)

Yoonie Han’s new album

Pianist Yoonie Han (yooniehan.com) is an award-winning concert pianist, currently living in Hong Kong. She first caught my attention at a piano recital in New York in April 2019.

I greatly enjoyed Ms. Han’s recital, and took home a signed copy of her Steinway & Sons CD Le Rossignol Eperdu. So when she told me about her new album Hollywood Romance, I couldn’t wait to explore it.

Hollywood Romance (Universal Music, Nov. 2020)

Hollywood Romance consists of 13 tracks of romantic-style classical music used in Hollywood movies. Some tracks are original piano works. Others are piano transcriptions or arrangements.

This is beautiful classical piano, played by an accomplished pianist. The recording quality is excellent, and the performances lush. Here are some tracks that caught my attention.

Rachmaninoff: Andante Cantabile (Paganini Rhapsody var. 18)

This concerto-like work for piano and orchestra is used in various movies, most notably Somewhere In Time (1980). It is one of Rachmaninoff’s most filmic compositions.

Ms. Han’s arrangement is clean and and convincing. Her interpretation is warm, conservatively paced and characteristically luminous. She stretches Rachmaninoff’s crescendos without breaking them, and closes with serene beauty. Here is video from the recording sessions.

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue

Many pianists play this faster than Gershwin’s molto moderato, but not Ms. Han. Her judicious pacing and restrained crescendos evoke grandeur that I am not used to from Gershwin. The resulting musical experience feels somehow wider and deeper, more movie-like.

Puccini: O Mio Babbino Caro

Before listening to this track, I watched soprano Elisabeth Nefeli sing the aria. That was not a good way to approach this piano arrangement! Ms. Han weaves an elegant tapestry of arpeggios, and Puccini’s soulful melody flows and ebbs under her hands as it should. But Puccini fans waiting to hear heart-wrenching soprano high kicks may be disappointed, because a piano just can’t do that kind of thing.

Schubert/Liszt: Ständchen (Schwanengesang D 957 No 4)

Ms. Han’s liquid touch and Schubert’s flowing melodies work well together. Hear this on YouTube at Liszt: Schwanengesang, S. 560 (after F. Schubert).

Where to get Hollywood Romance (links from the artist)

  • Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gw/album/hollywood-romance/1540051411
  • Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7h7Kr94IxEh48PydgM2mBc
  • QQ Music: https://y.qq.com/n/yqq/album/004PkYOw3sNAi3.html
  • Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/albums/B08NWBZSDJ

The album is available as a CD overseas, but not in US markets at this time.

[Roving Pianist writes independent reviews and has no financial stake in sales of this product]

Filed Under: Pianists Tagged With: elisabeth nefeli, Gershwin, hollywood romance, rachmaninoff. puccini. piano. pianist. o mio babbino caro. liszt, review, Rhapsody in Blue, Schubert, Standchen, universal music group, Yoonie Han

Pianist Suejin Jung at Central Park West

Saturday, February 15th, 2020 by Ken Leave a Comment

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.

  • Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir
  • La sérénade interrompue
  • Ce qu’a vu le vent d’ouest

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.

Filed Under: Concerts, Private Concerts Tagged With: C Curtis Smith, Chopin, Chopin sonata no 3, Dolly Suite, Gabriel Fauré, Gustavo Miranda-Bernales, Ken Turner, le pas espagnol, Liszt, pianist, Robin Shoemaker, Schubert, Suejin Jung, Wanderer Fantasie

Pianist Ivan Gusev plays at Private Event

Saturday, May 18th, 2019 by Ken Leave a Comment

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.

Filed Under: Concerts, Private Concerts Tagged With: Chopin, Grieg, Ivan Gusev, Moscow Conservatory, Mozart, piano, Rachmaninov, Schubert

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