TO FATE WITH HOPE / NIU NIU Piano Recital / Review

 

TO FATE WITH HOPE

NIU NIU Piano Recital

Victoria Concert Hall

Sunday (31 August 2025)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 2 September 2025 with the title "Pianist Niu Niu finds poetry in Beethoven's stormy Fifth".

For an audience bred on piano performances by the likes of Lang Lang, Li Yundi and Yuja Wang, it was a matter of time when the former child prodigy Niu Niu (牛牛) from China made his Singapore debut. His actual name is Zhang Shengliang (張勝量) but got his bovine stage name by virtue of being born in 1997, the year of the ox in the Chinese zodiac.

Niu Niu's debut album,
released in 2000.

When he was 12, he became the youngest pianist ever to record the complete Etudes of Frederic Chopin. Now at a grand old age of 28, and pursuing a very busy concert career, he clearly still possesses the chops to handle some of classical piano’s most demanding repertoire.

What Niu Niu looks like today,
in his latest album.

Beginning the recital with Felix Mendelssohn’s Rondo Capriccioso (Op.14), beloved by highly skilled youngsters, his was a totally polished reading. Its slow introduction was distinguished by genuine cantabile, later flitting off with feathery light wings in the mercurial round dance for a scintillating conclusion.

This was merely the prelude for the storms to come in Franz Liszt’s transcription of Ludwig van Beethoven’s mighty Fifth Symphony in C minor (Op.67). This is famous for its recurring da-da-da-dum four-note motif which opens its first movement. As expected, its defiant fist-shaking sequence of heavy octaves and chords ruled. Niu Niu’s view, however, was not just into voluminous pounding, but a nuanced one which also luxuriated in its myriad lights and shades.

On a C.Bechstein grand piano, he found poetry in the slow movement’s variations, and then traipsed gingerly into the Scherzo where the earlier four-note motif took the form of martial goose-stepping. The ensuing fugue with left hand octaves was tossed off with complete ease, before the finale’s grand apotheosis in C major romped home with all guns blazing. Notice how he did not ignore the diminutive piccolo’s shrill report towards the end – in sharply executed scales – showing a care for seemingly little but vital details.

Photo: Guan Ziwen

Mirroring the first half, the second opened with an amuse-bouche in Johannes Brahms’ retiring Intermezzo in A major (Op.118 No.2). Its melting lyricism and revealed inner voices silenced the audience into not applauding, instead anticipating the first notes of Franz Liszt’s monumental Sonata in B minor.

The technical prowess witnessed in the Beethoven symphony transcription was replicated in this work, the acme of perfection for piano writing in sonata form. Its four themes were clearly delineated and Niu Niu became the ideal guide in how these interacted with each other as the half-hour work unfolded. Its many digital difficulties seemed like putty in his hands as he crafted a totally coherent and convincing performance which brought out loud and prolonged applause.

As if compensate for the earlier seriousness, his encores were deliberately light-hearted. The first was his original composition Sunny Day, an upbeat and jazzy number in samba rhythm which may be described as Antonio Carlos Jobim meets Nikolai Kapustin. The second was an uproarious improvised medley mashing together nine of classical music’s most famous melodies, which brought down the house.

For the record, the nine melodies in Niu Niu’s medley were:

1. Beethoven Symphony No.5 – first movement

2. Rimsky-Korsakov Flight of the Bumble Bee (Gyorgy Cziffra version)

3. Mozart Rondo alla Turca

4. Brahms Hungarian Dance No.5

5. Chopin Polonaise Op.53

6. Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 – first movement

7. Paganini-Liszt La Campanella

8. Ren Guang Cai Yun Zhui Yue (彩云追月, Colourful Clouds Chasing The Moon)

9. Puccini Nessun Dorma from Turandot

Post-concert photos:

Niu Niu meets with
Singaporean composer Tan Chan Boon
and pianist Cherry Wei Ge

The score of the Beethoven-Liszt
Symphony No.5.

LIU ZIYU Piano Recital / Review

 

LIU ZIYU Piano Recital 

Singapore Conference Hall 

Sunday (3 November 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 5 November 2024 with the title "Young Chinese pianist brings wealth of emotion".

There are so many young Chinese pianists plying their art these days that it is easy to reduce them to Lang Lang, Yuja Wang, Li Yundi and the rest. Now meet 26-year-old Liu Ziyu, who was awarded first prize at the under-the-radar and little-publicised Singapore International Piano Competition in 2019. On the excellent form of his debut recital, presented by Bechstein Music World, he deserves to be far better known. 

Photo: Guan Ziwen

Opening with two contrasting Sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, he brought out a luscious tone from the C.Bechstein grand in the slow, lingering F minor number (K.466). Its melancholy soon gave way to the animated skipping of the E major piece (K.135), so crisply and clearly articulated that one imagined the action of a harpsichord. 

It was very unusual to follow that up with Maurice Ravel’s La Valse, a work far more frequently programmed to conclude a recital. A rumbling waltz rhythm was established from the outset, resembling more of a motor than swirling couples, but the smoke cleared with every move well-delineated. Splashy chords and a surfeit of glissandi were the order of the day, as the dance careened dangerously close to the abyss, but Liu was fully in control, all the way to its final crash. 

To have Ludwig van Beethoven’s final Sonata No.32 in C minor (Op.111) come after that seemed almost insane, but Liu had now fully warmed up. Its opening octaves, chords and scalic runs were delivered with the vehemence of defiance. With its narrative of fist-shaking once established, he never let up for a moment. There was nervous applause, abruptly cut-off by the concluding Arietta’s quiet opening. 

Photo: Guan Ziwen

Considered one of Beethoven’s greatest set of variations, Liu brought a wealth of emotion to this exhausting metaphorical journey. From utter simplicity, through the extreme exuberance of dance (with syncopations that looked ahead to 20th century jazz and boogie-woogie), to its trill-filled and sublime conclusion, the attention was never allowed to wander. 

Just as quietly as the Beethoven closed, the second half comprising just Franz Liszt’s Sonata in B minor opened with bare bones. From just four brief but contrasted motifs, Liszt built up an edifice of monumental proportions. Liu’s keen elucidation of these themes and a very clean delivery made this half-hour behemoth sound both coherent and absorbing. 

Its fusillades of octaves on both hands held no terrors as his finely-honed technique weathered the torrid storms and some more. The lyrical moments shone with luminous clarity while quiet bits with pregnant pauses had one waiting with bated breath in anticipation. The fugato was navigated with much agility and the revelatory final denouement left no one in doubt as to the work’s greatness. 

Photo: Guan Ziwen

Now it had made full sense for Liu not have played Ravel after this. Re-emerging to warm applause, he offered two encores. A deliberate but not draggy account of Claude Debussy’s Clair de lune was followed by living Chinese composer Zhang Zhao’s Numa Ame (努 玛 阿 美) an exultant ethnic dance of Yunnan origin.

Liu Ziyu meeting his fans.

Zhang Zhao's Numa Ame

performed by Liu Ziyu

ILYA RASHKOVSKIY Piano Recital / Review

 

ILYA RASHKOVSKIY Piano Recital 

Victoria Concert Hall 

Friday (5 July 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 8 June 2024 with the title "Pianist Ilya Rashkovskiy plays with facility and clarity".

Much has been written about the rise of Asian pianists on the world stage, but the traditional Russian virtuoso should never be diminished. From the 19th century Rubinstein brothers (Anton and Nicholas) through Serge Rachmaninov to present day greats like Vladimir Ashkenazy, Evgeny Kissin and Denis Matsuev, they still represent a formidable force in music. 

Siberia-born pianist Ilya Rashkovskiy, presently based in Seoul, South Korea, belongs to this illustrious school. The only pianist to have been awarded first prize at East Asia’s two most prestigious piano competitions, Hong Kong (2005) and Hamamatsu, Japan (2012), is no mere common garden virtuoso. 

A true artist is more than a virtuoso. Going beyond the many notes on a score, he is also a visionary with an unusually broad church. In Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Sonata in A minor (K.310), one of two sonatas in the minor key, Rashkovskiy brought an urgency and undertow of agitation on the C.Bechstein grand. 

The technically taxing music was laid bare with unusual clarity. While finding singing lyricism in the slow movement, it was the finale’s Presto that got under one’s skin. Its transition from minor to major key and back, so trenchantly rendered, lent the proceedings an added gravitas. 

Photo: Zi Wen / Bechstein Music World

In Sergei Rachmaninov’s Corelli Variations, Rashkovskiy let the music stew in proverbial Russian juices. Its Iberian theme, the familiar La Folia, was played with deadly seriousness, before unfolding in a series of fantastic variations. The composer infamously excluded variations if he thought his listeners inattentive or distracting. Thankfully, this audience got to hear the work intact despite being noisy in many parts. 

Rashkovskiy pursued its agenda with a single-mindedness which bordered on relentlessness, which made his reading a thrilling one. The cadenza-like prestidigitation of the Intermezzo leading into stately Variation 14 and the gentle quasi-waltz of Variation 15 provided moments of beauty and levity. After 20 eventful variations, he delivered the closing coda with a spirit of quiet devastation. 

The very demanding programme was to get even more frenetic, with Frederic Chopin’s Preludes (Op.28) in the second half. Chopin played a small selection in salons, and to perform all 24 in a single sweep was a tough ask, but Rashkovskiy duly delivered. Alternating between major and minor keys, the set was given a kaleidoscopic overview, yet with each piece polished like an individual gem. 

The poignant E minor (No.4) and B minor (No.6) numbers wore desolation on the sleeve, and the transitions from Nos.14 to 17 (including the famous Raindrop Prelude in D flat major) were a roller-coaster of emotions and disparate nuances. Nothing sounded trite or routine under Rashkovskiy’s fingers, leading to the final Prelude (in D minor), where desperation was given a definitive face with its three concluding low Ds. 

Rashkovskiy’s three encores could not have been more diverse: Johannes Brahms’ lyrical Intermezzo in A major (Op.118 No.2), contrasted with Rachmaninov’s tempestuous Musical Moment (Op.16 No.4) before retiring with Claude Debussy’s elegant The Girl with the Flaxen Hair. That is range for you.

Ilya Rashkovskiy was presented 

by Bechstein Music World.

HAIOU ZHANG PIANO RECITAL / Review

HAIOU ZHANG PIANO RECITAL

Victoria Concert Hall

Saturday (4 November 2023)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 7 November 2023 with the title "Sparkling recital by pianist Haiou Zhang ends with 3 sublime encores".

 

Planning a recital programme is an art, one which a musician attempts to showcase different aspects of artistry while providing a fine balance of sobriety and enjoyment for an audience. In that respect, Germany-based Chinese pianist Haiou Zhang’s solo recital, presented by Bechstein Music World, came close to perfection. Piano fanciers will remember his splendid recital at Esplanade Concert Hall in 2021, during the time of pandemic social distancing restrictions and limited audiences.

 

Almost a full house witnessed a serious first half which topped 50 minutes, opening with J.S.Bach’s Chromatic Fantasy & Fugue in D minor. Originally conceived for harpsichord, Zhang found a rainbow of colours on the C.Bechstein concert grand. His liberal use of pedalling, crisp fingerwork  and generous helpings of rubato might have startled purists but made for very compelling listening.

  

In Mozart’s Sonata in F major (K.332), a thread of cantabile ran through the first two movements, a recurrent theme that characterised the recital. This was contrasted with the finale’s prestidigitation, one of the Austrian composer’s most technically demanding movements. All this set the stage for Beethoven’s late-period Sonata No.30 in E major (Op.109), where Classical era niceties had given way to full-blown Romantic impulses.

 

This encompassed wistful sentimentalism and impetuous dramatics within two short movements, then unfolding gloriously in the finale’s theme and variations. Here, Zhang brought out the full gamut of charged emotions, rising to a voluminous climax before closing the sonata in quiet reverence.

 

The recital’s shorter second half was filled with popular single-movement pieces, ensuring that the many children in the audience did not get too restless. In Franz Liszt’s transcription of Robert Schumann’s lied Widmung (Dedication), the song-like countenance continued, before taking a break in the gushing waterworks of Liszt’s Les jeux d’eaux a la Villa d’Este, a most vivid picture-postcard depiction of the fountains of Tivoli.

 

This was followed by a no less absorbing Chopin group, centred on enharmonically related keys, beginning with the posthumous Nocturne C sharp minor. Its Lento con gran espressione (slow with great expression) description was lived rather than just faithfully observed, and has there been a more sombre reading of the “Raindrop” Prelude (Op.28 No.15) in D flat major? Its repeated G sharp and B natural octaves felt more like stabs to the heart than gentle pitter-patter of precipitation.

 

The familiar Nocturne in E flat major (Op.9 No.2), always a pleasure to encounter in recitals, was performed without further filigree before closing with the heightened pathos of Scherzo No.2 in B flat minor (Op.31). A spectacular close brought out loud cheers, which was rewarded with three sublime encores.

 

The first two were lyrical masterpieces in miniature by Schumann, the posthumous Variation V from Symphonic Etudes (Op.13) and the tender and songful (Zart und singen) movement No.14 from Davidsbundlertanze (Op.6). The scintillating Moszkowski Etincelles, a favourite of arch-virtuoso Vladimir Horowitz’s, provided a suitably sparkling end to an immensely enjoyable recital.

 

LOVE AND HOPE / Pianoduo DUOR / Review

LOVE AND HOPE

Pianoduo DUOR

Singapore Conference Hall

Sunday (13 August 2023)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 15 August 2023 with the title "Pianoduo DUOR delighted with popular favourites in four hands recital".

 

Ever since the Covid pandemic abated, there have been piano recitals galore from visiting international artists, but two pianos / four hands concerts are still a rarity. So credit goes to Bechstein Music World for presenting Pianoduo DUOR, formed by Japanese pianists Takashi Fujii and Yoshie Shiramizu who have been performing together since 2004. Their recital on two Bechstein grands was founded wholly on popular tunes and short pieces, but was a total treat.

 

Both halves of the concert opened with selections from Rachmaninov’s two piano suites. The familiar Romance from Suite No.2 was taken at a very leisurely tempo, allowing a gradual build-up of passion close to breaking point at its climax. Tears from Suite No.1 was built on just four descending notes, over which further coats of sound were layered, literally a flood of lacrimation.

 

Beautiful sonorities were coaxed from the well-matched pianos and when the duo converged on a single keyboard, their fine ensemble work became even more apparent. The four movements from Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite No.1, a perennial favourite, had feeling and nuance. The flowing lyricism of Morning Mood was well contrasted with chordal grimness of The Death of Åse. Rhythmic lilt in Anitra’s Dance was also balanced by deliberate ungainliness in The Hall of the Mountain King, before closing in a relentless drive.  

 

Receiving its Singapore premiere was late Japanese contemporary composer Akira Miyoshi’s very attractive Cahier Sonore (Handbook of Notes), a neo-baroque suite comprising short dance movements not unlike those of Debussy’s Petite Suite or Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin. The use of gentle dissonances and occasionally jazzy harmonies coloured the dreamy Prelude, playful Passepied, animated Courante and the Finale's perpetual motion. The central Romance was literally a rehash of the earlier Rachmaninov romance, but transformed with quirky harmonic twists.

 

The longest work on show was American composer John Musto’s highly effective transcription of Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. Besides barnstorming on the two pianos, this performance was also boosted by Fujii’s tap-dancing shoes taking the place of finger-snapping, a pair of police whistles, and the shouts of "Mambo"! during its most frenetic dance sequence. Fujii's loud and lusty cry received an equal and opposite response in Shiramizu's sultrily seductive one.    

Photo: Guan Ziwen / Bechstein Music World

 

Both halves closed with two Chopin hits, dressed up in fussy finery as to be almost comical caricatures. Waltz du Petit Chien was none other than the famous Minute Waltz, with the puppy going in circles chasing its own tail, but one will still marvel at Shiramizu’s technical mastery of descending thirds. Fantaisie-Impromptu was just as grandiloquent, and did anyone notice the sly quote from Tchaikovsky’s Pathetique Symphony?   

 

Fujii and Shiramizu’s two encores were just delightful. Debussy’s Clair de lune on two pianos and Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No.5 on one piano sent a well-filled house, occupied by many children, home on a happy note.

 

NACHTMUSIK / KOTARO FUKUMA Piano Recital / Review

NACHTMUSIK

KOTARO FUKUMA Piano Recital

Victoria Concert Hall

Friday (24 March 2023)

 

It seems odd that Japanese pianist Kotaro Fukuma, 1st prizewinner of the 2003 Cleveland International Piano Competition, who concertises actively in Japan and Europe, has never performed in Singapore. Until now, so it is a case of better late than never. His recital, presented by C.Bechstein Concerts, was built around the theme of “Night”, a celebration of romance, mysteries and terrors associated with the dark hours.

Photo: Yong Junyi

 

Opening with the serene Bach-Siloti Aria in D major from Orchestral Suite No.3 (better known as the Air on G String), he coaxed a beautiful and luscious tone from the Bechstein 9-footer, an apt prelude for things to come. Fukuma’s own transcription of Mozart’s Serenade in G major (K.525), the familiar Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, was a special surprise. One never thought its string-based melodies and textures could translate so well on the piano.

Photo: Yong Junyi

 

This was no light-footed or prissy account associated with the period instrument movement, but one which relived full orchestral textures, where forte means forte, and outright virtuosity was a means to an end. The opening movement’s robustness was balanced by a Romanze of Rococo charm until  machinations of busy counterpoint took over. Fukuma made it sound so simple, a feat that was reprised in the mercurial finale’s free-wheeling dealings.

 

The Austro-German first half continued with Clara Schumann’s Notturno in G minor (Op.6 No.2), a Mendelssohnian song without words which occasionally strayed into Chopin territory (notably the Andante Spianato). Without a break, its lyrical beauty segued seamlessly into her husband Robert’s familiar Traumerei (Dreaming) from Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), its most natural companion. When reverie turns into tumultuous struggle was the lot of In der Nacht (In The Night) from Fantasiestucke (Fantasy Pieces) Op.12, a work of true Romantic angst filled with disquiet and smouldering tension. Also technically the most difficult of the set, Fukuma faced its thorny pages head on without flinching, and some release was found in the whimsical Traumes Wirren (Dreams Confusion), bringing the Schumann segment to a grandstanding close.

Photo: Yong Junyi

 

There were many children in the audience, but their silence throughout the recital spoke volumes of how Fukuma communicated to all kinds of listeners in his music-making. Their good behaviour was rewarded with Alfred Grünfeld’s Soiree de Vienne, a waltz fantasy built around the popular number from Johann Strauss the Younger’s Die Fledermaus. Its ubiquitous melody kept popping up in a playful game of counterpoint, the result proving a big hit with the audience.

 

The French-flavoured second half opened with three Nocturnes performed without a break. Two of Chopin’s most familiar showcased wide contrasts, the E flat major (Op.9 No.2) in a version augmented with ornamentations of filigreed finery, and the dark and stormy C minor (Op.48 No.1).  In the latter, gentility gave way to full-blooded passion, and no one could accuse Chopin of being soft or effete. What followed was a rarity, as Gabriel Fauré's piano music is not played enough in Singapore. His Nocturne No.5 in B flat major is a gem, which Fukuma polished to a fine sheen. Its melting lyricism contrasted with outpourings from the broken heart was a natural progression from Chopin. New rule: every conservatory piano student must learn a Fauré nocturne (pick any one of 13) for every Chopin nocturne played.

Photo: Yong Junyi

 

Debussy’s Clair de lune from Suite Bergamasque had to be included, its gentle evocation of twilight beautifully rendered, and it was a masterstroke to have its D flat major close flow directly into the C sharp-centred delicate right hand tremolo of Ravel’s Ondine from Gaspard de la nuit. These are essentially the same note on the keyboard, and aurally made perfect sense and synergy. Fukuma’s mastery of the music’s big sweeps and glissandi was awe-inspiring to say the least.

 

The stroke of midnight, with twelve tolls of the bell heralded Saint-Saens’s Danse Macabre in the rambunctious transcription by Franz Liszt. Frightful visions of dancing skeletons and the Devil’s evil laughter came alive in Fukuma’s hands, which even included a furious fugato of clattering bones, bringing the recital to a stirring conclusion. His encore had little to do with night, but who could resist Japanese composer Kozaburo Hirai’s Fantasy on Sakura Sakura? Erik Satie’s delightful valse-chanson Je Te Veux (I Want You) took on a new life in Fukuma’s elaborations, all tarted up and with everywhere to go. Kotaro Fukuma’s return to Singapore will be keenly anticipated.

 

Photo: Yong Junyi