GEORGE HARLIONO Piano Recital / Review

 

GEORGE HARLIONO Piano Recital 

Victoria Concert Hall 

Friday (30 August 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 1 September 2024 with the title "Pianist George Harliono displays range and charisma in solo recital".

History was made in 2023 when 22-year-old British-Indonesian pianist George Harliono was awarded silver medal at the 17th International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow. Never had a pianist of Indonesian descent placed this high, and that was also the best showing by a Briton since Barry Douglas struck gold in 1986. 

Having given a well-reviewed performance of Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto (with The Philharmonic Orchestra) at Esplanade last year, Harliono followed up with a solo recital that showed he possessed range besides loads of charisma. 

Photo: Ziwen Guan / Bechstein Music World

Beginning with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata in D minor (Op.31 No.2), also known as the “Tempest Sonata”, articulation of utmost clarity and discreet pedalling distinguished his playing. While the music connoted agitation and disquiet, these were mostly internalised, with restraint and fine deportment being strong suits. It was not until the finale’s perpetual motion, with some shackles loosened, that one felt him coming more into his own. 

As expected, Russian music featured prominently in the recital. Two solo pieces by Russian nationalist composer Mily Balakirev showcased Harliono’s sympathy for the Slavic idiom and Lisztian bravura. The transcription of Mikhail Glinka’s The Lark could not have been more lush, with lyrical lines never sacrificed for filigreed detail. The ferocious virtuoso warhorse that is Islamey was polished off with a casual nonchalance that made it sound easy. 

Particularly satisfying was a suite of four shorts by French baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau originally conceived for harpsichord. Harliono showed how idiomatic these sounded on a modern Bechstein grand piano, genteel formality of Les Tendres Plaintes (Tender Complaints) contrasted with swirling eddies of Les Tourbillons (Whirlwinds). Whoever thought that the exotic dances Les Cyclopes (Cyclops) and Les Sauvages (Savages) be crafted with such grace and spirit? 

The choice of the first movement from Franz Schubert’s Three Pieces (D.946) seemed like the odd man out here, but anything that offered a display of passion and musicality in tandem would always be appreciated. 

Back to Russian repertoire, Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s folk-inspired Dumka delighted in Harliono tossing off its short variations with gleeful abandon before culminating in a dizzying cadenza for good measure. Finally, it was all guns blazing for Guido Agosti’s famous transcription of three movements from Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, where the piano recreated all form of orchestral textures. 

An unbuttoned Infernal Dance of King Kashchei swept the keyboard with dazzling colour, while the piquant harmonies of the Berceuse were clearly teased out. Best of all was the intense crescendo build-up for the valedictory Finale which brought out the loudest plaudits. 

Finally, Harliono enthralled his audience with four transcriptions as encores. Grigori Ginzburg’s barnstorming In the Hall of the Mountain King from Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt was par for the course. In arrangements of his own, this absolute charmer also offered up Teresa Teng (The Moon Represents My Heart), Elvis Presley (Can’t Help Falling In Love), and for his legion of smitten Indonesian fans, Bengawan Solo.