BALLERINAS
Lin Hengyue & Wang Ji (2 Pianos)
Esplanade Recital Studio
Tuesday (15 August 2017 )
This review was published in The Straits Times on 17 August 2017 with the title "High-spirited piano recital".
Recitals
of music on two pianos are a rarity, and the sense of occasion is enhanced when
it involves the debut of a new piano duo. Lin Hengyue and Wang Ji are alumni of
the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and their first recital together
featured a sparkling selection of music from ballets, operas and dances.
Beginning
with Busoni's transcription of Mozart's Magic Flute Overture, there was
a hint of hesitancy in its slow ceremonial opening, thought to have been
inspired by masonic rituals. However in the ebullient allegro filled with busy
counterpoint, the ensemble quickly gelled, purring like a well-oiled engine.
This
good start paved the way to an even more demanding work, the eight movements of
Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite arranged by the late Cypriot piano
virtuoso Nicolas Economou. The Miniature Overture was taken at a
sprightly pace, with its fussy figurations clearly articulated. The March,
however, was more problematic towards the end, where for a few moments the
playing nearly came unstuck.
No
matter how hard a piano tries, it could never fully imitate the celesta in the
familiar Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. The duo persevered, and the end
effect was suitably buoyant, contrasted with the rambunctious Cossack dance of
the Trepak. Even better was the Arabian Dance, with its steady
pulsing rhythm over which ornamentations were lightly sprinkled, followed by
the brief but relentless drumming of the Chinese Dance.
A
series of harp-like arpeggios opened the Waltz of the Flowers, the
longest dance of the set, which received a generous warm-hearted reading as one
could have hoped for. Besides blending well together, both pianists had an
innate feel for the waltz rhythm and the technical equipment to pull it off.
 |
| Lin Hengyue, who was the more confident speaker of the duo, also served as the host. |
Singaporean
composers featured next. Both Low Shao Suan's Winterland and Low Shao
Ying's Valse de Printemps (Waltz of Spring) were
French-influenced; graceful, insouciant and tinged with touches of melancholy.
This unabashedly melodious music, played with feeling and sensitivity, could
easily pass as romantic film music.
The
final work of the hour-long recital was also the most showily difficult, the Carmen
Fantasy by the famous American duo of Anderson & Roe (Greg Anderson
& Elizabeth Joy Roe). Skilfully stitching together highlights from Bizet's
opera, it opened with a slow wistful introduction by Wang, followed by a
virtuosic cadenza from Lin before the melodies flowed.
The
lilting Habañera and its ensuing short variations served like a
mini-climax, unsurprisingly triggering premature applause from the audience.
Then the duo went on to emote in the Flower Song before polishing off
the fast and furious Gypsy Dance. Going for broke and throwing caution
to the wind was the best policy here, closing the highly enjoyable concert on a
spirited high.
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