LIU ZIYU Piano Recital / Review

 

LIU ZIYU Piano Recital 

Singapore Conference Hall 

Sunday (3 November 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 5 November 2024 with the title "Young Chinese pianist brings wealth of emotion".

There are so many young Chinese pianists plying their art these days that it is easy to reduce them to Lang Lang, Yuja Wang, Li Yundi and the rest. Now meet 26-year-old Liu Ziyu, who was awarded first prize at the under-the-radar and little-publicised Singapore International Piano Competition in 2019. On the excellent form of his debut recital, presented by Bechstein Music World, he deserves to be far better known. 

Photo: Guan Ziwen

Opening with two contrasting Sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, he brought out a luscious tone from the C.Bechstein grand in the slow, lingering F minor number (K.466). Its melancholy soon gave way to the animated skipping of the E major piece (K.135), so crisply and clearly articulated that one imagined the action of a harpsichord. 

It was very unusual to follow that up with Maurice Ravel’s La Valse, a work far more frequently programmed to conclude a recital. A rumbling waltz rhythm was established from the outset, resembling more of a motor than swirling couples, but the smoke cleared with every move well-delineated. Splashy chords and a surfeit of glissandi were the order of the day, as the dance careened dangerously close to the abyss, but Liu was fully in control, all the way to its final crash. 

To have Ludwig van Beethoven’s final Sonata No.32 in C minor (Op.111) come after that seemed almost insane, but Liu had now fully warmed up. Its opening octaves, chords and scalic runs were delivered with the vehemence of defiance. With its narrative of fist-shaking once established, he never let up for a moment. There was nervous applause, abruptly cut-off by the concluding Arietta’s quiet opening. 

Photo: Guan Ziwen

Considered one of Beethoven’s greatest set of variations, Liu brought a wealth of emotion to this exhausting metaphorical journey. From utter simplicity, through the extreme exuberance of dance (with syncopations that looked ahead to 20th century jazz and boogie-woogie), to its trill-filled and sublime conclusion, the attention was never allowed to wander. 

Just as quietly as the Beethoven closed, the second half comprising just Franz Liszt’s Sonata in B minor opened with bare bones. From just four brief but contrasted motifs, Liszt built up an edifice of monumental proportions. Liu’s keen elucidation of these themes and a very clean delivery made this half-hour behemoth sound both coherent and absorbing. 

Its fusillades of octaves on both hands held no terrors as his finely-honed technique weathered the torrid storms and some more. The lyrical moments shone with luminous clarity while quiet bits with pregnant pauses had one waiting with bated breath in anticipation. The fugato was navigated with much agility and the revelatory final denouement left no one in doubt as to the work’s greatness. 

Photo: Guan Ziwen

Now it had made full sense for Liu not have played Ravel after this. Re-emerging to warm applause, he offered two encores. A deliberate but not draggy account of Claude Debussy’s Clair de lune was followed by living Chinese composer Zhang Zhao’s Numa Ame (努 玛 阿 美) an exultant ethnic dance of Yunnan origin.

Liu Ziyu meeting his fans.