A RATHER SPECIAL RECITAL
@ EXTRAORDINARY STUDIO
Singapore is indeed teeming with child prodigy musicians and it is always a pleasure to witness and hear how young minds work, and what aspects of professional musicians they have learnt and assimilated in performances. One is also curious to see which of these might progress to serious careers in music, and who would fall by the wayside (to study medicine and law instead).
A rare opportunity was afforded me to see 14-year-old pianist Toby Tan Kai Rong perform two short recital programmes prepared for the Aarhus International Piano Competition for Young Pianists (Denmark) which takes place in early March. The recital took place in Extraordinary Studio at Ubi Avenue 1, his family-owned piano base, where he is at his most comfortable practising and performing on Steinways, no less.
The first programme opened with one of the competition’s set pieces, Carl Nielsen’s Five Pieces Op.3. These brief character pieces by the 25-year-old Dane (before his famous symphonic output) share similarities with Grieg’s Lyric Pieces, centering on folk music and traditions, and include several dances. Toby performed these with simplicity and sympathy, the inherent salon charm which cannot be underestimated.
Virtuosity would flex its muscles in Liszt’s La Campanella, a more mercurial and intense reading than Toby’s last performance at the Singapore International Piano Competition (where caution was the catchword). Now it even sounds easy in his hands. Following this was Chopin’s Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise Brillante (Op.22), where the nocturne-like opening had genuine cantabile over a smooth legato, gilded with fine ornamental filigree. The closing dance had rhythmic vigour and inexorable drive, bringing the first segment to a brilliant conclusion.
After a brief break, the first movement of Haydn’s Sonata No.52 in E flat major opened with blustery chords, moments when the Austrian sounded most like his student Beethoven. Toby was unafraid to let rip but even this was nuanced as the intervening passages were played with much sensitivity and understanding of the music’s shifting dynamics.
In Ravel’s water-inspired piece Jeux d’eau, Toby’s deft use of the una corda pedal enabled a wider range of sonorities to come forth. The music’s glimmering textures and fluid sweeps with glissandi were very well brought out, and one wonders how he will handle Ondine from Gaspard de la nuit in the near future. Closing the recital was a work from left of field, Schumann’s Faschingsschwank aus Wien (Carnival Jest in Vienna, Op.26) a five-movement work which could easily lapse into caricature, repetitiveness and tediousness.
But no, as Toby has the imagination to shape the varied dances within its extended and frankly over-long opening movement, and make things interesting. Its gentle ribbing of Beethoven and La Marseillaise was not self-counscious and the humour not overdone. The Romanze had a desolate and heartrending quality, the Scherzino beguiling, while the Intermezzo filled with yearning nostalgia. The irrepressible Finale was a romp with all gloves off, bringing the recital to a glorious close. I cannot imagine another teenager in Singapore perform this elusive work with such innate musicianship and authority.
All this stands Toby Tan in very good stead for the competition to come. Success is never guaranteed, but musical values are more than priceless. His teachers, who have included Winnie Tay, Rosemery, Rena Phua, Poom Prommachart and Armen Babakhanian, will be proud of his progress and artistic successes ahead.
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| The Steinway's gilded interior has the autographs of concert pianists who have practised on it. Can you recognise their names? |
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| Toby's impressive collection of performing hats! |
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| Toby Tan with fellow finalists of the Aarhus International Piano Competition Yuri Yasui and Yuhe Jin. |
You can watch Toby's second round performance here:
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