RESOUNDING / SEE NING HUI Piano Recital / Review

 

RESOUNDING

SEE NING HUI Piano Recital

Esplanade Recital Studio

Sunday (22 February 2026)

Piano recitals are often conceived on themes of form or programme, such as sonatas or stories and histories, thus it was refreshing to encounter young pianist See Ning Hui’s recital built upon resonances and sound textures. The lecturer at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts has a knack of programme building, and her recital entitled ReSounding exploited a myriad of sounds by the drawing of pairs: a pair of Debussy Preludes, a pair of women composers, a pair of Singaporean composers, a pair of sonata forms... all these coalescing into a very satisfying whole.

The recital opened with voluminous sound, as Debussy’s Ce q’ua vu le vent d’ouest (What The West Wind Saw) from Preludes Book One generated torrents of gail-force proportions. Easily the Frenchman’s most violent number, the wide wash of sonorities sweeping the entire extent of the keyboard was awe-inspiring, later settling down for Singaporean composer Ng Yu Hng’s The Memory Mansion at the End of Time (2021).

A dreamy soundscape was conjured by mostly occupying the upper half registers of the grand piano. Bell sounds emanate from the right hand while left hand ostinatos are gently obscured by generous pedalling generating a misty mystique. Time moved leisurely, expanding broadly instead of working itself into a frenzy. Senses are assailed in the politest way possible, and Ning Hui’s persuasive manner convinces one that the memory of all that is only temporal. An ephemeral experience and was gone.

The major work of the recital was Fanny Hensel’s Ostersonate (Easter Sonata), composed in 1828 but unperformed till 1972, and assumed to be by her illustrious and more famous brother Felix Mendelssohn. Ning Hui recounted the first UK performance (rightfully under her name) in 2017 by Sofya Gulyak, and her performance left one wondering how it could have been mistaken to be Felix’s all these years. The opening movement displayed a harmonic daring and adventurousness that far outstripped the prim and proper Herr Mendelssohn himself.

The spirituality of Bach imbued the slow movement’s lament, and with the ensuing fugue one began to imagine the scores of Cesar Franck from decades later. Only in the Scherzo third movement’s lightness and fleetness did the Mendelssohn siblings find some shared parity. The tumultuous finale saw Fanny possessed, with rumblings which agitate with the passion of Robert Schumann’s sonatas. Lil’ bro Felix was being left behind, and when A minor suddenly turned to A major, a Bachian chorale rang out a la Franz Liszt for the sonata to close on a quiet but sublime and elevated high. Fanny was a Romantic pioneer and visionary of sorts, and Ning Hui’s convincing reading made that clear for one and all.

Opening the second half with Debussy’s Les Collines d’Anacapri (Hills of Anacapri), its tarantella rhythm and penchant for song came into the fore. This paved the way for Chopin’s Fantasy in F minor (Op.49), where the accents were focused on its Polishness, the nationalism manifested in its march rhythm and that central chorale. Its sonata form had became secondary to the sound created.

Birdsong filled the air in the world premiere of Toh Yan Ee’s Within A Cage of Echoes. Her inspiration were the bird-singing communities of Singapore’s heartland neighbourhoods. Like the earlier local work, the right hand playing in the keyboard’s treble registers dominated, with a counterpoint provided by other captive songsters. With the dissonances, repeated notes and echoes of long held harmonies, one was reminded of Messiaen (inevitably) but also the Oriental sound worlds of Takemitsu and Peter Sculthorpe. Both these local works deserve to be heard again and soon as well.

The formal programme closed with the African-American vernacular of Florence Price’s Fantasie Negre No.2, a Singapore premiere. Why have we not heard such soulful music before? Where the world of Negro spirituals (I won’t avoid the “n” word here) meets with the gospel idiom, we have another sound world that felt comforting and at home. Here, Ning Hui’s masterly programme had brought the disparate sound worlds of musical impressionism, foreign and local cultures, birdsong and spirituality together in a sonorously unforgettable whole.

Her sublime encore of three selections from Robert Schumann’s Etudes in Variation Form on a theme of Beethoven (the second movement of his Seventh Symphony) felt otherworldly. We were no longer thinking of Beethoven or Schumann, but looking and hearing somewhere far into the future.

PIANO LIBRARY: DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON EDITION (YELLOW BOX) / Review Part 1

PIANO LIBRARY (YELLOW BOX)

DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON EDITION

DG Eloquence 484 3089 (22 CDs)

During the early 1980s, when I was building a library of recordings on vinyl (those were the days before compact disc), I chanced across a selection of piano recital albums issued by Deutsche Grammophon under the Concours series. These were priced a few dollars lower than the premium series (featuring the famous likes of Pollini, Argerich and Barenboim), comprising recitals by young pianists who had been winners in recent international piano competitions. 

None of their names were known to me, but I took a chance on one such album by Boris Bloch from the Soviet Union, who had won the 1977 Busoni Competition in Bolzano.

His unusual programme included Beethoven’s short and humourous Sonata in F major (Op.10 No.2), several Rachmaninov Etudes-Tableaux, Rachmaninov’s Lilacs and Vocalise (as transcribed by the uncredited Zoltan Kocsis), Busoni’s Turandots Frauengemach (the best transcription ever of Greensleeves) and the Liszt-Busoni Fantasy on Two Motifs from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. The then-unfamiliar music and virtuoso playing simply blew my mind, and I became determined to purchase several more from the series.

Eight such albums, hitherto unavailable on CD, have been reissued by the Eloquence label of Universal Australia as part of a 22-disc boxset titled Piano Library (Deutsche Grammophon Edition). I just prefer to call it the Yellow Box, to distinguish it from the 21-CD Blue Box also issued at the same time. Listening to these recordings were a walk down memory lane, seeing old names (many of whom have been lost through time), admiring original album covers and savouring performances which honestly do stand the test of time.

Who were the other pianists? Another LP I had bought was devoted to the Cuba-born Jorge Luis Prats, prizewinner at the Marguerite Long Competition. His more standard competition-fare programme saw excellent performances of Beethoven’s late Sonata in A major (Op.101), Schumann’s Toccata (Op.7) and Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit. I did not own the Argerich recording then, but Prats was as good as it gets.

Another LP in my collection was that of the American pianist David Lively (winner of the Dino Ciani Prize of La Scala, Milan in 1977) who later settled in France. His very attractive dance-themed programme coupled Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin with Stravinsky’s Three Movements from Petrushka, Tango and Ragtime. For some unknown reason, this box-set has omitted Munich’s ARD Competition laureate Hans-Christian Wille’s disc of Mussorgsky, Ravel and Ginastera.

Still actively performing today is the German Alexander Lonquich (prizewinner at the 1976 Casagrande Competition in Terni, Italy), the youngest pianist in the boxset, represented by Schoenberg’s Three Pieces (Op.11) and Schubert’s Sonata in A minor (D.845). While the atonality of Schoenberg is soft-edged, the contrasts presented are stark. 

The Pole Ewa Poblocka (finalist at the 1980 Chopin Competition, the edition of Pogorelich infamy) showed she was not just a Chopin player, displaying width and breadth in both books of Debussy’s Images and J.S.Bach’s Aria Variata. A superb Chopin Scherzo No.1 (Op.20) was included for good measure.

The Soviet Mikhail Faermann (from Moldova) was the first prizewinner of the 1975 Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition, and showed his considerable chops in Prokofiev’s Sixth Sonata and Brahms’ Paganini Variations, with typical Russian flair for technical exactitude. He defected to Belgium in 1978, but strangely never made a further recording after this.

Some of the featured pianists have since passed on, including the South African Steven de Groote (1953-1989), winner of the 1977 Van Cliburn Competition, who died of delayed complications from injuries sustained in a self-piloted plane crash. His patrician programme paired Schumann’s Etudes Symphoniques (Op.13, without posthumous variations) with Beethoven’s Eroica Variations (Op.35), a very satisfying listen all round.

The late Brazilian pianist Diana Kacso (1953-2022), 2nd prizewinner to Michel Dalberto at the 1978 Leeds Competition, is represented by a strong and characterful Liszt Sonata in B minor, matched by an equally epic Chopin Polonaise-Fantasy (Op.61) and Etude in A flat major (Op.10 No.10) as encore. I did not buy the original LP as it split the Liszt sonata over two sides but am glad to have finally caught it on CD.

Youri Egorov

The Dutch-Soviet pianist Youri Egorov (1954-1988), prizewinner at the 1975 Queen Elisabeth Competition, tragically died of AIDs in the Netherlands at the height of a fast-rising career. His Schumann Carnaval, not issued as part of the Concours series but a strong fill-up for the Faermann album, serves as a loving memory of what could have been.

Continued in Part 2:

pianomania: PIANO LIBRARY: DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON EDITION (YELLOW BOX) / Review Part 2

PIANO LIBRARY: DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON EDITION (YELLOW BOX) / Review Part 2

 

PIANO LIBRARY (YELLOW BOX)

DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON EDITION

DG Eloquence 484 3089 (22 CDs)

Continued from Part 1:

pianomania: PIANO LIBRARY: DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON EDITION (YELLOW BOX) / Review Part 1

The best-known name of all is the 17-year-old Vladimir Ashkenazy, whose recorded live performances at the 1955 Chopin Competition in Warsaw include the Second Piano Concerto (with orchestral tuttis cut, as it was traditional but errant) and solo pieces (including Ballade No.2, two Etudes, two Mazurkas and Scherzo No.4) which constituted his very auspicious debut album. The fill-ups were a selection of Rachmaninov Etudes-Tableaux (Op.33) recorded in 1956 by his then Moscow Conservatory teacher Lev Oborin (1907-1974), himself a Chopin winner in 1927.

Vladimir Ashkenazy

The next Chopin competition in 1960 (won by Maurizio Pollini) saw the Belgium-born Michel Block (1937-2003) awarded a special prize by Arthur Rubinstein despite finishing in eleventh place. His splendid recital from the competition includes the Second Sonata (Funeral March Sonata), a Waltz, three Mazurkas and the Heroic Polonaise (Op.53).

Michel Block congratulated
by Arthur Rubinstein in 1960.

Still on Chopin, there are two discs by Hungarian pianist Julian von Karolyi (1914-1993), another prizewinner of the Warsaw competition in 1932. The earlier, from the early 1950s, includes all four Ballades, four Impromptus and the Berceuse (Op.57), while the 1964 recording has the Third Sonata, Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise (Op.22), a Mazurka, a Waltz and the rarely heard Bolero (Op.19), all in serious good fun.

Julian von Karolyi

The Italian pianist Dino Ciani (1931-1974), student of Alfred Cortot, was a rising star when he died at a tragically young age in a car accident. He eclectic tastes extended to a disc which includes the Second and Third Sonatas by Carl Maria von Weber, with early Romantic era piano writing combining bel canto and finger dexterity, a forerunner of Chopin’s style. A second disc includes a previously unreleased recording of Debussy’s Preludes (Book One) from 1971, coupled with the Children’s Corner Suite. Comparisons with Michelangeli in this repertoire are inevitable, with Ciani sounding warmer and more engaging than his legendary peer.

Continued in Part 3:

pianomania: PIANO LIBRARY: DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON EDITION (YELLOW BOX) / Review Part 3

PIANO LIBRARY: DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON EDITION (YELLOW BOX) / Review Part 3

 

PIANO LIBRARY (YELLOW BOX)

DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON EDITION

DG Eloquence 484 3089 (22 CDs)

Continued from Part 2:

pianomania: PIANO LIBRARY: DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON EDITION (YELLOW BOX) / Review Part 2

Veronica Jochum von Moltke (born 1927, still living) is the eldest daughter of German conductor Eugen Jochum. Her Klavierabend of Schumann mixes the familiar with the unfamiliar, early and late music; the Second Sonata in G minor (Op.22) coupled with three Fantasiestucke (Op.111), four Nachtstucke (Op.23) and a single Novelette (Op.21 No.8). Her sense of lyricism allied with technical prowess make this an hour well spent.

Veronica Jochum with her father Eugen.

Not the most attractive of covers?

Of an similar but older vintage is Elly Ney (1882-1968), infamous for being a loyal Nazi and anti-Semite, is represented by four popular Beethoven sonatas spread over two short discs. The Pathetique (Op.13) is coupled with the late A flat major Op.110, while the Moonlight (Op.27 No.2) is paired with the Appassionata (Op.57). The playing is solid and idiomatic, and a curiosity is the inclusion of a repeat in the finale of Op.57, which extends the movement by a further three minutes.

Previously released as a single CD on the Australian Eloquence label was an unusual coupling of two variations sets by two pianists who made a single recording each with DG. The German Erik Then-Bergh (1916-1982) is heard in Max Reger’s Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Telemann, a relative rarity, recorded in 1951. A very secure performance of a curiosity, which cannot be said of the established classic that is Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, recorded by Swiss pianist Paul Baumgartner (1903-1976) in 1952. Lots of competition for this but Paumgartner more than holds his own. Got to love those "boring" stylised yellow DG covers of old.

The American pianist Zola Shaulis (1942-2021) made her DG debut in 1971 with J.S.Bach’s Goldberg Variations, recorded with absolutely no repeats and playing for some 36 minutes, even swifter than the legendary Glenn Gould recording of 1955. As if to showcase her versatility, a very good performance of Prokofiev’s Seventh Sonata is the unusual coupling. My late grand-uncle owned the original LP, and that was my first exposure to both works. Her 1974 recording of five Bach Toccatas (BWV.911-915) cemented her reputation as a Bach specialist.

The Frenchman Claude Helffer (1922-2004), well-known as an avant-gardeist, recorded Pierre Boulez’s atonal Second Sonata and Alban Berg’s Sonata in 1970. Both are released on CD for the first time, the former being overshadowed by Maurizio Pollini’s famous recording of 1978. This astringent music is incongruously coupled with the fun and games of Darius Milhaud’s Carnaval d’Aix, a 1964 recording partnered with the Monte-Carlo Opera Orchestra led by Louis Fremaux.

Claude Helffer

The Brazilian Roberto Szidon (1941-2011) has been well represented by DG in his complete sets of Scriabin Sonatas and Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies, but his contribution in this boxset comes left of field. This was my first jaw-dropping introduction to Charles Ives’ Second Sonata (or the Concord Sonata), a seminal work of modernist American pianism. This recording includes the rarely-heard obbligato flute and viola parts in the first and fourth movements, representing Emerson and Thoreau respectively. The album is completed with Ives’ Three-Page Sonata, an anarchic melange of disparate ideas.

Roberto Szidon

This box-set has given me immense satisfaction, with hours of enjoyable listening and the realisation that great music can still be heard from the lesser-known and forgotten names of 20th century pianism. Their priceless art should not be forgotten.

TIFFANY QIU PIANO RECITAL / Review

 

TIFFANY QIU Piano Recital

Esplanade Recital Studio

Wednesday (11 February 2026)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 13 February 2026 with the title "Pianist Tiffany Qiu plays with extremes of dynamics in eclectic programme".

With Polish pianist Rafal Blechacz’s concert last week, the Singapore piano recital season has begun in earnest. This week saw the local debut of Ireland-born Chinese pianist Tiffany Qiu, whose eclectic recital built upon two Romantic era sonatas played to a small but discerning house.

To follow Blechacz in Frederic Chopin’s music was a tall order, but Qiu’s sense of rhythm and feeling for nostalgia had much to recommend in the Pole’s Five Mazurkas (Op.7). The first, in B flat major is the most familiar, being regularly played by children. She imbued it with a robust sonority, not least in the rustic drones of its central section.

She also found the requisite melancholy and sprightly spirit that occupied these short peasant dances in three-quarter time, where Chopin’s yearning patriotism was worn on the sleeve. Robert Schumann described his Mazurkas as “cannons buried in flowers”, where seemingly innocent dances concealed a burning nationalism.

All this set the stage for Chopin's Sonata No.2 in B flat minor (Op.35), better known as the “Funeral March” Sonata, which Schumann referred to as “four of Chopin’s wildest children under the same roof”. Extremes of dynamics inhabited Qiu’s view, with vehemence and violence sitting comfortably alongside lyricism and poetry.

This was most apparent in the Scherzo, which rumbled and raged, but tempered by the song-like central section. Similarly the eponymous Funeral March built up a head of steam before being tamed by some of Chopin’s most tender music. The relentless but mercifully brief Finale, redolent of cold wind sweeping over a graveyard, brought the first half to a tumultuous close.

Sergei Prokofiev’s Prelude in C major (Op.12 No.7), delighted in rippling arpeggios and glissandi. Its apparent innocence heralded the Asian premiere of Singaporean composer Elliot Teo’s Intervening Moments (2023), a suite in six movements.

Tiffany spoke about Elliot's work
and how it was far from easy to perform.

A significant addition to the small canon of Singaporean piano repertoire, it headily relived the atonalism of Arnold Schoenberg’s Sechs Kleine Klavierstucke (Op.19), except there was nothing kleine (little) about these pieces.

Bell sounds, dance rhythms and resounding chords a la French composer Olivier Messiaen occupied its pages, and there were even hints of jazz and funk colouring a score that was constantly shifting and never allowing interest to wane. The fifth movement’s passacaglia were perhaps the most memorable, a droll right hand theme (which could have become a fugue in Dmitri Shostakovich’s pen) being assailed by left hand interjections but still having the final word.

Both Tiffany and Elliot receive applause.

Qiu’s dedicated and trenchant advocacy of her husband’s new work was both moving and touching. That same passion continued into Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata in D minor (Op.31 No.2), or Tempest Sonata, a performance that both full-blooded and riveting. She brooded in the Sturm und Drang (storm and stress) of the opening, then articulated the slow movement with utmost clarity, before unleashing a perpetual motion that consumed the finale till its quiet end.

Reliving more bell sounds, Qiu’s encore of Franz Liszt’s La Campanella was most apt, and eagerly received by the audience.

The local community of composers and artists
came to support, including Toh Yan Ee,
Hoh Chung Shih, Jonathan Shin and Samuel Phua.

With family and friends.