CD Reviews (The Straits Times, February 2014)

DEBUSSY. RAVEL. SAINT-SAENS

PASCAL & AMI ROGÉ, 2 Pianos

Onyx Classics 4117 / ****1/2

The second album by French pianist Pascal Rogé and his Japanese-Indonesian wife Ami mines the rich vein of French orchestral music arranged for piano four hands. The chief attraction is the duo’s own transcription of Claude Debussy’s La Mer (The Sea), which is a joy from start to finish. Orchestral textures do not always translate well for the piano, which essentially serves as a percussion instrument in ensembles. In its three evocative movements, the imaginative scoring and pianistic touches ensures that one rarely misses the orchestra, unlike in Debussy’s own four hand arrangement which sounds disappointingly monochromatic. 

This criticism also applies to his own transcription of Prelude to the Afternoon of the Fawn, where the harp arpeggios are surprisingly omitted. Trust his colleague and rival Maurice Ravel to infuse both colour and urgency in Fêtes (from Three Nocturnes), and whose own Mother Goose Suite and Rapsodie Espagnole (Spanish Rhapsody) are both vibrant and idiomatic. The unusual inclusion here is Saint-Saëns’s little known Scherzo, which delights in its play of modernisms, including using the whole tone scale and augmented triads to shock and tickle. Fun and marvellous stuff indeed. 

EIGHT

The Teng Ensemble / ****1/2

Eight is the debut album of The Teng Ensemble, the stylish local Chinese instrumental crossover group. The figure also refers to its number of members and tracks on the disc, all of which composed or arranged by its guitarist Benjamin Lim Yi. The music is decidedly accessible, founded on oriental melodic writing with a strong flavour of film music augmented by electronica. Well-known melodies like Guan Shan Yue and Xiao Bai Cai (Little Cabbage) get a contemporary update without losing the spirit or flavour of the original.

Leader Samuel Wong’s pipa and Darrel Xin’s erhu, both prize-winning virtuosos, are highlighted in most of the tracks, while countertenor Phua Ee Kia’s vocals lights up Korean drama-influenced Vals (Waltz), vigorous dance number Zi Ye Ge and the titular Eight to good effect. There is a nod to Japanese anime in Un Dia De Septiembre which highlights Patrick Ngo’s yangqin, Johnny Chia’s guzheng and Gerald Teo’s cello. Yang Ji Wei’s sheng completes the hip octet. This is high class easy listening which does not dumb down.

 

This CD is available at Teng Ensemble concerts and on iTunes.

The Joy of Music Festival 2011: Chamber Gala Concert

Every three years, The Joy of Music Festival merges with the Hong Kong International Piano Competition for a mega-musical extravaganza. The jurors of the competition, themselves pianists of great repute, stay back to perform chamber music and concertos. The Chamber Music Gala on Monday 1 November featured Pascal Rogé and Cristina Ortiz with the string quartet, formed by members of the London Chamber Orchestra.

The quartet led by Andrew Haveron opened Joaquin Turina's Bullfighter's Prayer, a single-movement work of Spanish flavour tinged with French impressionist shades. It also played Haveron's transcription of the Blues from Ravel's Violin Sonata. Much in the spirit of the scherzos from Ravel and Debussy's string quartets, the violin part was generously shared with second violinist Magnus Johnston and violist Louise Williams, and Pierre Doumenge was the rock steady cellist.

The outrageous looking "Flaming Red" Steinway, which sat forlornly unperformed for the the entire duration of the competition, was eventually played by Pascal Rogé in Ravel's Piano Trio in A minor with Andrew Haveron and Pierre Doumenge. It has a nice and mellow tone, which suited the music well. The performance was one of great passion and care for intimate detail.

The concert concluded with Cristina Ortiz joining the LCO quartet in Cesar Franck's Piano Quintet in F minor. This is the singularly most performed work in The Joy of Music Festival, having been played a grand total of three times (the other two performances were with Pascal Rogé). 

It nonetheless is a great work, which reveals new insights every time it is heard. Ortiz has recorded it twice (most recently on Naxos), and hearing it live certainly beats any recording however good. Its cyclic form with recurring themes is better grasped, and its tension generated wirh each harrowing turn is also better experienced this way. A memorable concert, as always, but one simply cannot wait for the final Gala Concert with four piano concertos!

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, October 2010)

CHOPIN Piano Concerto No.1
Twelve Études Op.10 / Berceuse
NOBUYUKI TSUJII, Piano
Fort Worth Symphony / JAMES CONLON
Harmonia Mundi 907547

*****

History was made when 20-year-old Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii, who had been blind since birth, shared 1st prize at the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009. These “live” recordings from the preliminary and final rounds captured something special - the triumph of the human spirit over handicap and adversity. Tsujii, who learnt his Chopin by ear with the help of a teacher, communicates with much urgency and immediacy. There is nothing that is mechanical or over-studied in his playing, even if his steadiness is at times unnerving.

In the concerto, he is attentively partnered by the Texan orchestra, and together they draw tumultuous applause from the audience. He whips off the Études, cruel finger-twisters even for the sighted, with a natural ease and stunning accuracy. Those who seek “perfection” will favour studio recordings of these works, but the spontaneity displayed here – in spite of some rough spots - is close to miraculous. One will already have favourites in Argerich, Pollini, Zimerman or Perahia, but this is worth keeping if only to remind us of the joy of being alive.

WEDDING CAKE
PASCAL & AMI ROGÉ, Piano Duo
Onyx Classics 4047
****1/2

This lovely album (subtitled Fours Hand & Two Hearts) celebrates the musical union of French pianist Pascal Rogé and his Indonesian-Japanese wife Ami Hakuno, who were married in 2009. Wedding photo shots have been reproduced in the booklet, but that should not distract from the quality music making. French fare, a Rogé specialty, is presented as light and intimate (Fauré’s Dolly Suite and Debussy’s Petite Suite), sometimes frothy and giddy (Saint-Saëns’ Wedding Cake Waltz and Poulenc’s La Embarquement Pour Cythere), but not without drama and well engineered chaos (Dukas’ Sorceror’s Apprentice and Ravel’s La Valse).

New to the catalogue is the World Premiere recording of the five movement Ami Suite by Japanese-American Paul Chihara (born 1939). Much in the spirit of the French, its dance and popular music-derived numbers, quoting innumerable sources such as Debussy, Poulenc and Wagner, are high on the fun quotient. The Rogés are having a right ball, and listeners have been invited to the party.

SHOSTAKOVICH Preludes & Fugues
KEITH JARRETT, Piano
ECM New Series 1469/70 (2CDs)
*****

Dmitri Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues Op.87 were composed for his young compatriot Tatiana Nikolayeva after she won the Bach International Piano Competition in Leipzig in 1950. A tribute to Bach’s genius, he follows the schema of The Well-Tempered Clavier, opening in simple C major and closing in sombre D minor. So what has legendary jazz pianist Keith Jarrett have to say about this music?

Initial scepticism turned into revelation in these thorny little gems. Many of the Preludes sound improvisatory in character, suiting Jarrett to a tee. Shostakovich used to dabble in jazz and popular styles as a pianist in silent movie theatres himself. The rigorous counterpoint in the fugues are masterly overcome, some (No.12 and 15 in particular) with stunning velocity and panache. Most importantly, he retains the irony and droll wit that is sine qua non Shostakovich. Alongside celebrated readings by Nikolayeva, Ashkenazy and Scherbakov, all Russians, Jarrett’s 1991 recording is no slouch.

THE JOY OF MUSIC FESTIVAL: Pascal Rogé Piano Recital / Review

THE JOY OF MUSIC FESTIVAL 2010
PASCAL ROGÉ Piano Recital
City Hall Concert Hall, Hong Kong
Thursday (14 October 2010)

The French pianist Pascal Rogé (left) is no stranger in these parts, having performed in every The Joy of Music Festival since its inception in 2006. This was however his first solo recital, which is the extended version of his recital programme Poetes du Piano on CD, issued on the Onyx Classics label. Much of this was also heard in his 2009 recital at the Singapore International Piano Festival, but that mattered little as much pleasure was afforded by the playing.

In all he played 24 short pieces by five French composers (including Chopin who never returned to his native Poland) grouped according to form and genre – from nocturnes, waltzes, mazurkas and études in the hour-long first half, and preludes and ballades in the shorter second half. Chopin was the ever-looming presence and influence. Has any Romantic piano music not been touched by Chopin’s inimitable blend of passion and poetry?

Three nocturnes by Gabriel Faure (No.1), Chopin (Op.48 No.1) and Francis Poulenc (No.1) opened the concert, moving from shades of moody grey clouds, through red hot-blooded pathos to pastel pink. Then three short numbers from Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales lit up the aural palette like glittering facets of a cut diamond, contrasted with the bittersweet Chopin Waltz in C sharp minor (Op.64 No.2). The first Debussy to be heard his early Mazurka (1891), so derivative that it might have been written by Chabrier or Chopin himself. A Chopin Mazurka, also in the same key of B minor but melancholy and wistful, also followed.

A bolt from the blue came in Debussy’s Étude pour huit doigts (for eight fingers), its veritable whirlwind swept the stage with a furious onslaught of glissandi, an astonishing soundscape pacified only by Chopin’s graceful Aeolian Harp (Op.25 No.1). Debussy’s Étude No.11 (Pour arpeges composes) carried on this trail of legato before a stormy close with Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude (Op.10 No.12). If one thought that Rogé had begun his recital somewhat tentatively, this impression had completely evaporated into the ether. By now, this recital took on an epic journey of wonder and discovery.

The second half was a son et lumiere show like no other. Debussy’s early Ballade (1890) was no great masterpiece but it effectively book-ended a wonderful selection of Préludes. Chopin was represented by his Raindrop Prélude (Op.28 No.15) and the pensive little number in B minor (Op.28 No.6), while the Debussy set of six revealed Roge as a master colourist par excellence. 

There can be no simplicity as touching as his view of The Girl with the Flaxen Hair, or the spare harmonies of Canope. An aural version of chiaroscuro lit up La terrasse des audiences au clair de lune while one could feel the tickling breeze of Le vent dans la plaine. Rhythmic exuberance filled Les Collines d’Anacapri while Ce qu’a vu le vent d’ouest became the perfect storm. 

The master storyteller that Rogé was completed his yarn with the longest piece of the evening, Chopin’s Fourth Ballade. in a performance that built gradually from its gentle opening to a tumultuous close. It was the perfect end to a perfect evening.

THE JOY OF MUSIC FESTIVAL 2010, Hong Kong / Evening One / Review

THE JOY OF MUSIC FESTIVAL 2010

The London Chamber Orchestra group

with PASCAL ROGÉ, Piano

City Hall Concert Hall, Hong Kong

Monday (11 October 2010)

The Joy of Music. Can anything quite express these feelings of sheer exhilaration on encountering the wonder and magic that is music, one of the purest forms of art? All this is distilled within a week-long festival in Hong Kong, organised by the Chopin Society of Hong Kong. In its fourth edition since 2006, held during the gap years between the Hong Kong International Piano Competition (also organised by the Society), more gems emerged. 

The first evening, helmed by a quintet from the London Chamber Orchestra, opened with positive rarities. Leopold Mozart and Michael Haydn are probably better known for their famous relatives, but their music can stand proud on the strength of craftsmanship rather than sheer inspiration. The elder Mozart’s Frog Partita is a short divertimento-like work, both light-hearted and engaging, featuring violin, cello and bass. The younger Haydn’s Divertimento in E flat major, for viola, cello and bass, began with a Theme and Variations of no uncertain charm. While not masterpieces, the works enjoyed excellent ensemble work and immaculate intonation throughout from the London group.

First violinist Andrew Haveron (left) then broke off on his own to give a fearlessly virtuosic account of Eugene Ysaye’s Third Sonata (Op.27 No.3), also known as the Ballade. He mastered the complex polyphony, cruel dissonances and concluding fireworks with great aplomb, befitting the finalist of the 1997 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition, once named after Ysaye himself. This unusual departure provided a vital link to the next piece, Debussy’s String Quartet, which in 1893 was premiered by Ysaye’s own quartet.

The Debussy, is simply, a masterpiece that was accorded the gravitas it deserved. At once, the quartet produced a muscular but warm sound, marked by its incisiveness of attack. Within its pages, the quartet negotiated flawlessly between in-your-face fortissimos and intimate pianissimos. The Scherzo’s pizzicatos and ostinatos were deliciously lapped up, Debussy’s interweaving rhythmic and gamelan effects vividly realised. 

Joel Hunter’s viola excellently shaped the slow movement’s opening statement, and the paced relaxed but there was little let up in the emotional quotient. The finale began with Pierre Doumenge’s cello theme, which set the tone for the powerful showdown, reprising the first movement’s main themes. Debussy looked far into the future with this quartet, its chromatic though not atonal language placing it firmly within the pantheon of great 20th century works.

Everything listening of Cesar Franck’s Piano Quintet in F minor reveals new vistas and truths. Its dour and oh-so-serious demeanour belies a tender and vulnerable heart. The quartet’s descending opening theme starkly contrasted with pianist Pascal Rogé’s relaxed, almost casual musings. This juxtaposition of fire and ice, both scorching in their intensity, made for a gripping performance, which grabbed one by the scruff of the neck and did not let go till its 35 angst-filled minutes passed. 

Tension reigned high throughout, and even in the calm of the central slow movement, it laid the seeds for the finale’s assault on the senses. Shaded in dark grey, the music moved ever so menacingly. Unrest in the strings and bare piano octaves ratcheted the sense of anguish ever so unremittingly that it threatened to boil over. This performance topped the 2006 reading of the same work at this same festival, by Rogé and a different set of LCO string players. The joy of chamber music is in living the moment, and the quintet on stage fully rose to the occasion. That’s how it should always be.

Note: Matthew Ward replaced Magnus Johnston on 2nd violin for all the concerts involving the LCO quintet group.

THE JOY OF MUSIC FESTIVAL 2009: Pascal Rogé with the LCO Quartet

Pascal Rogé (extreme right) with members

of the LCO Quartet - Magnus Johnston,

Andrew Haveron, Joel Hunter &

Pierre Doumenge at M on the Fringe.

THE JOY OF MUSIC FESTIVAL 2009
PASCAL ROGÉ & LCO QUARTET
City Hall Concert Hall, Hong Kong
Thursday (15 October 2009)

The formula of this excellent music festival is simple: invite top pianists and competition winners for recitals and pair them up with the chamber group in residence, members of the London Chamber Orchestra (LCO). Some very memorable concerts have resulted in previous years and this one was little different.

The LCO quartet – violinists Andrew Haveron and Magnus Johnston, violist Joel Hunter and cellist Pierre Doumenge – opened the proceedings with two Waltzes (Op.54) by Dvorak. These are transcriptions of his simple piano pieces, and have a rustic charm, a pleasant prélude to more serious things to come.

Gabriel Fauré’s Second Piano Quartet in G minor (Op.45) is far less familiar than its predecessor because it is a far darker work. Romantic impulses reigned, but with more subtle melodies, mild dissonances and unexpected harmonic shifts, the music proved somewhat unsettling. Rogé and his partners thrived in this sonic milieu, trading sabre-like jabs in the hectic and turbulent scherzo, a musical high tension wire where sparks flew unabated.

Violist Joel Hunter’s plaint-like solo in the slow movement set the tone for the work’s emotional core, with the ensemble rising to an impassioned high. The melody finally arrived at Rogé’s fingers, and when accompanied by the strings, the result was a magical moment to be savoured. Balance was also excellent in the energetic finale, which bounded with almost unrestrained vigour, mixing inner rage with unspoken ecstacy. The performance on a whole had an inevitability that suggested that it could not have been better performed.

Another relative rarity was Shostakovich’s First String Quartet (Op.49), cast in the sunny key of C major. Deceptively happy on the surface (the composer referred to it as a “springtime work”), the compact work bristled with the usual underlying unease and tension. The solos were very well performed, heightening the irony and wit inherent in the score. Hints of sardonic smiles appeared fleetingly as the ensemble careened like a Formula One driver from one comedic turn to another. Perfect chemistry made this cheeky piece work.

The autumnal Clarinet Trio in A minor (Op.114) by Brahms closed this varied and enjoyable concert. Clarinettist Timothy Orpen (left) produced a full and mellow sound which went down very well with ever-busy Pierre Doumenge’s cello (he played in all four works!). It was the latter who opened the work with a gorgeous melody, one that defined the aesthete of late Brahms. The exchanges between clarinet and piano in the second movement were simply lovely, only topped by a section towards the end when the clarinet’s fragmented themes were filled in by his partners.

The congenial waltz-like 3rd movement – full of jollity - also provided contrasts with a tempest-tossed finale, where another gypsy flavoured romp sat cheek by jowl with some of Brahms’ alternating irrepressible and reposeful moments. Another vigourous and life-affirming reading, and another concert in the wealth of chamber riches that is The Joy of Music Festival. Long may this continue!

The Joy of Music Festival is organised by The Chopin Society of Hong Kong.

THE JOY OF MUSIC FESTIVAL 2009: Piano Masterclass by Pascal Rogé

PASCAL ROGÉ Piano Masterclass
Tom Lee Auditorium, Megabox
Wednesday (14 October 2009)

Part of the programme in The Joy of Music Festival includes masterclasses by eminent pianists who are also jurors at the Hong Kong International Piano Competition. French pianist Pascal Rogé featured on two mornings, proving to be a most adept communicator when it came to French repertoire.

Young Hong Kong pianist Chau Lok Ping performed all three movements of Ravel’s jazzy Piano Concerto in G major, accompanied by Peggy Sung on 2nd piano, much to Rogé’s delight. “This is my favourite piano concerto,” he quipped, and went on elaborate on how to create the necessary contrasts to make the piano to stand out from the orchestral collaboration. “Light and rhythmical” was his credo. The notes should be played dry and short almost like staccato, a technique often employed by jazz pianists. 

Less pedalling is better in this case, as “the orchestra provides the pedalling”. Strong articulation is also needed in the rhythmic sections in order to create the desired jazzy effect. The first movement cadenza sees the melody performed by the left thumb, and this should be accentuated. The right hand’s trills are to be kept soft, providing a shimmering sort of resonance. Rogé conceded that not all the notes needed to be heard, but only the sound effects.

Rogé pointed out that the inspiration for the second movement was Mozart, rather than Chopin. The emphasis was on clarity. While dreamy and waltz-like (it was not strictly a waltz), he felt that the movement should be kept simple and pure, and as “classical as possible”. No rubato and 19th century effects were needed here. Rogé also added that he was at an age old enough to have performed it from Marguerite Long, the dedicatee of the work.

He was also happy that the finale was taken at a good tempo, that is “not too fast”. For the toccata character of the movement to work, he advised that the right hand should play non legato, for a crystal clear sound to transcend the orchestra. Pedalling should take place after the note rather than on the note, in order to clear the earlier harmonies. To simulate the effect of pedalling, he also suggested holding on the bass notes of the left hand to retain the harmony. For the passage of triads, keeping a stiff wrist was the best way to go towards achieving marcato. Overall, he was very satisfied with the performance.

Peggy Sung then returned to perform the Bach-Busoni Chaconne in D minor. Roge candidly admitted to his dislike of the piece. Why? “Because I love Bach!” was the reply. He also hastened to admit that this wasn’t going to be a “good masterclass”. First he was at a loss whether to approach it as a Baroque work or a Romantic one. Should it be played like Bach, Liszt or Busoni? Should pedal be used generously or sparingly?

There were passages where the piano could play like a violin, simple lines unadorned by extraneous harmonies, and he asked her to find those possibilities when they arose. Another advice was to avoid too much pedalling, and not try to be a caricature of the original work. After that, he threw up his hands in despair and apologised, “I’m going to give up… as I’m not going to be much help!” However he felt that Peggy had done as such as she could for the music, and cautioned, “Next time, play me some Debussy!” With that, I took my leave.

The Joy of Music Festival is presented by The Chopin Society of Hong Kong.

FAMILIAR GROUND: Singapore International Piano Festival 2009 / Review

FAMILIAR GROUND
16th Singapore International Piano Festival
Victoria Concert Hall
Thursday to Sunday (25-28 June 2009)

An edited version of this review was published in The Straits Times on 30 June 2009.

As the former Artistic Director of the annual piano festival, this reviewer enjoyed the wry in-joke of this year’s theme, a welcome return from the “unfamiliar” piano repertoire and artists of the past five festivals. A parallel may be drawn with the fortunes of the Singapore Arts Festival, as this edition posted a return to higher attendances with its roster of mostly Russian pianists playing music of the most usual suspect – Frederic Chopin.

On the first evening, the Russian-American Vladimir Feltsman (left) probed the bittersweet vistas of two less-played Op.26 Polonaises. Between violent eruptions, Chopin’s vulnerability was poignantly bared, with self-conscious attempts at lightness and jollity in the latter dance an unexpected highlight. The popular Ballade No.3 built to its heady climax, with delicious inner voices brought out along the way.

Feltsman’s evening began with a romanticised view of Bach’s Partita No.1 in B flat major, its dances tastefully ornamented but not without indulging in tantalising rubatos. Liberty from the written score distinguished one of the most interesting readings of Mussorgsky’s Pictures At An Exhibition in memory.

Generous pedaling ensured that each run of the Promenade theme sounded like clangourous carillons, while the work’s weird and wonderful characters vividly leapt off the walls. Never a dull moment, the witch Baba Yaga’s bloodthirsty swoops, claw and fang-laden, led directly into The Great Gate of Kiev, which began subito piano rather than the anticipated fortissimo. With Feltsman, surprises never cease.

Equally personal and provocative was Nikolai Demidenko’s (left) account of Chopin’s 24 Préludes Op.28, painted with every possible shade of dark grey. His world-weary journey accentuated the somberness of minor keys while inflecting major keys with touches of melancholy. The mysterious A minor Prélude was unveiled as a funereal procession, while bells of doom replaced raindrops in the familiar D flat major number. When the music afforded sunshine and a smile, out came clouds and scowls.

The thaw came with Schumann. Faschingsschwank Aus Wien (Carnival Jest In Vienna) had jollity and ecstasy in equal measure while Demidenko’s variegated touch relived the humour and high spirits of Carnaval. Its 22 short character studies flitted quixotically between with bipolar extremes of Florestan (passionate) and Eusebius (withdrawn). Like Rachmaninov before him, Demidenko performed the movement nobody ever plays: the bare enigmatic notes of Sphinxes, Schumann’s only flirtation with atonality.

Surely the most refined pianist was Pascal Rogé, whose hour-long collage of Nocturnes, Préludes and Études by Fauré, Poulenc, Chopin and Debussy – played uninterrupted – stood firm in the memory. Every note and nuance was coloured with sensitivity and beauty. 

His Debussy was peerless, from the arch-simplicity of Girl With The Flaxen Hair to the torrential squall in What The West Wind Saw. Several Chopin Préludes were heard again, and the effect was like night and day. Where Demidenko had brooded, Rogé shone and illuminated. In Chopin’s Revolutionary Étude, he showed that Frenchmen could barnstorm with the best of Russians.

Rogé was joined by his Japanese-Indonesia wife Ami (above) in 4-hand works by Schubert and Ravel. The former’s Fantaisie in F minor was a study of balance and intimacy, most eloquently marrying Biedermeier prettiness with contrapuntal mastery. The sensuality exuded in the latter’s Rapsodie Espagnole was never in doubt, the rhythms alternating between hypnotic and exuberant. The Rogés, matched in complementary black Chinese outfits, sounded and looked a most handsome couple.

Young Sudbin is a new giant 

of the keyboard (Photos: Collin Tan)

Although still in his twenties, the Russian Yevgeny Sudbin (above) who closed the festival was a throw back to the great pianists of the Golden Age such as Horowitz and Friedman. His suite of four Chopin Mazurkas rejoiced in rhythmic vitality and rich bass-notes, evincing varying degrees of nostalgia and moodiness. Two Scarlatti Sonatas and Haydn’s E minor Sonata (Hob.XVI:34) also elegantly revealed tragicomedic elements that belied their staid titles.

Sudbin left his boldest stamp in music of his homeland; two Medtner Fairy Tales exuded the ironic mix of fantasy and pathos that only a Slav could express, and the relentless pulverising force of Prokofiev’s Seventh Sonata left one stunned, numbed and later enlightened. Its precipitous finale began on a frantic pace, and plunged headlong without let up till its fateful end. With artists like these, the future of the “live” piano recital is never in doubt.

The Singapore International Piano festival was presented by Singapore Symphonia Co. Ltd.