31ST SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL PIANO FESTIVAL: ROBERT LEVIN Lecture-Recital / ROBERT LEVIN IN RECITAL / Review

 

31ST SINGAPORE 

INTERNATIONAL PIANO FESTIVAL

PERFORMING MOZART

LECTURE RECITAL BY ROBERT LEVIN

Victoria Concert Hall Dance Studio

Saturday (28 June 2025)

ROBERT LEVIN IN RECITAL

Victoria Concert Hall

Sunday (29 June 2025)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 1 July 2025 with the title "Improvisation jazzes up Robert Levin's lecture and recital".

In a rare lecture-recital organised as part of the Singapore International Pianist Festival, American pianist Robert Levin, a leading Mozart scholars, asserted that musicians today have become too dogmatic in the performance of the classics, particularly Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s keyboard music. By strictly and unwaveringly following printed scores, they have lost the spirit of risk-taking, experimentation, and ultimately, spontaneity.

Mozart, had he lived in the 20th century, would have aligned with jazz greats like Duke Ellington and Count Basie, rather than concert pianists Artur Schnabel or Edwin Fischer, who were renowned for their puritanical faithfulness to the last note. Mozart improvised freely and often did not notate these in manuscript or musical shorthand. When he did so, it was purely for the benefit of students.

With numerous examples demonstrated on a grand piano, his illuminating lecture was full of humour and erudition, wholly tying in with his recital, the first all-Mozart concert in the festival’s 31-year history. Levin opened with a generically-titled Piano Piece in C major (K.42), which he had completed, a spirited Rondo-like number, which segued into the first of four Preludes, an improvisatory caprice that modulated into in B flat major.

This led directly into the well-known Sonata in B flat major (K.333), illustrating the art of preluding, which is all but lost in today’s music making. The exposition was performed straight, as written, but its repeat was where all the fun began.

Added notes appeared, as did ornamental details and decorative devices, with passages even altered as imagination overflowed the confines of black and white. At Mozart’s mercurial speeds, much of these appeared like a magician’s sleights of hand. In slow movements, these became mellifluous arias crafted by singing divas.

This sonata is remembered for being the only example with a fully written-out Cadenza Ad Libitum by Mozart, in its third movement. Here, Levin left it unchanged, trusting instead Mozart’s judgment, a demonstration of good taste and letting things be.

Photo: Nathaniel Lim

Another Prelude, this time in B flat major, morphed into the Sonata in E flat major (K.282). This early sonata saw Levin adding repeats where there were originally none, and its finale had several added bars of improvisation. Did it sound better? Levin’s persuasiveness was the only affirmation one needed.

After the intermission, Levin selected four themes volunteered by the audience and improvised in the style of Mozart for a solid ten minutes. What began like the austere Fantasie in C minor (K.475) soon broke out of its strait-jacket for a breathtaking excursion which included three other sonata themes thrown into the mix. This is what jazz people do for a living.

Mozart’s reduction of his Overture to The Abduction from The Seraglio was obscure despite the familiar Turkish-flavoured tunes, but there was room for further embellishment before arriving at the final work, the popular Sonata in C major (K.330). By now, everyone was familiar with the drill, and would soon be rushing home to try out new keyboard doodles.

Following encouraging applause, Levin’s encores included an unpublished little piece in G major which only existed as part of an oil portrait of a 14-year-old Mozart when he toured Verona, Italy. As expected, Levin filled in the bits cut-off at the edge of the canvas. The other encore was the Minuet in D major (K.355), known for its striking dissonance, which had its final sequence of notes reversed. This sounded better, of course.

31ST SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL PIANO FESTIVAL: PAUL LEWIS IN RECITAL / Review

 

31ST SINGAPORE

INTERNATIONAL PIANO FESTIVAL

PAUL LEWIS IN RECITAL

Victoria Concert Hall

Saturday (28 June 2025)

British pianist Paul Lewis has performed in Singapore on multiple occasions since his PianoFest debut in 2012 (the edition held at the School of The Arts). His latest recital was conceived with two C minor Sonatas by Beethoven – one early and one late – as bookends. 

Young Beethoven

He opened his recital not with the Pathetique (Op.13) but Op.10 No.1, which deserves to be better known. Also premised on the classic C minor triad, it shares the same Sturm und Drang tropes as its famous successor, into which Lewis poured his heart. With its big chords applied without apology, this was a no-holds-barred reading, tempered with moments of questioning and levity. Like the Pathetique, the central slow movement was also in A flat major, providing much lyrical respite before the Presto finale, with a resumption of storming and stressing.

Photo: Nathaniel Lim

Lewis then gave the Singapore (possibly Asian) premiere of Austrian composer-pianist Thomas Larcher’s Sonata for Piano (2024). It is so new that no performances have even appeared on YouTube. The accompanying programme notes by the composer just state:

What is a thought, an idea, an invention?

Where does the stream of developments come from, and what feeds it?

What is it, an idea? Where does it come from?

Whose ideas have triggered mine? And whose triggered theirs?

When composing, one is an interface in an infinite and never-ending circuit of connections.

Thomas Larcher (b.1963)

While listed in the programme booklet as a Bergian 11 minutes, it was more a Lisztian 31 minutes, with a Mahlerian scope to encompass everything and the kitchen sink. While contemporary in ideas, it was gratifyingly tonal, so no Singaporean audience had to endure some Boulezian monstrosity. 

In its pages, one (meaning this pair of ears) could hear Minimalism, Oriental (Japanese) influences, Cowell and Cage (with the innards of the Steinway struck and stroked), more Cage as National Day Parade rehearsal fireworks were heard as counterpoint in the quieter sections (Victoria Concert Hall is not sound-proofed), jazz and tone clusters (fisting and forearm smashing galore).

Given its multifarious ideas and influences, this may be included with Charles Ives’ Concord Sonata (yet to be performed here), Frederic Rzewski’s The People United (premiered in this festival in 2008!) and anything by K.K.Sorabji in the pianistic house of oddities. Lewis gave a performance which can scarcely be bettered. Would I hear it again? Yes, but with score in hand the next time around.

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897):
Pre-mortem und post-mortem

The second half began with Brahms’ Three Intermezzi (Op.117), a wonderful follow-through of Kate Liu’s traversal of the Four Ballades (Op.10) from two nights before. Brahms the old man was pretty much the thoughtful thinker as Brahms the young man. The A-B-A schema was relived in these three pieces with the return being transformed again. A beautiful hymn of No.1 gave way to the smouldering disquiet of No.2, before the dirge-like plainchant that opened No.3 becoming more elaborate with every turn. This was Brahms’ “lullaby of sorrow” laid bare in a most eloquent way possible.

Old Beethoven

Concluding with Beethoven’s Op.111, Lewis’ reading was borne of anger, grief, reckoning and finally transcendence. All one needed was to allow the natural born storyteller to do his thing, and be part of a receptive audience. There was close to a half minute of reflection after Lewis sounded the last chord, and a rapture of applause only after he stood up. What could possibly follow a performance of this concentration and intensity? Nothing, only silence. 

This concert was dedicated to the late great Alfred Brendel, Lewis’ long-time teacher and mentor.

Alfred Brendel (1931-2025)

31ST SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL PIANO FESTIVAL: KYOKO HASHIMOTO Piano Recital / Review

 

31ST SINGAPORE 

INTERNATIONAL PIANO FESTIVAL:

KYOKO HASHIMOTO IN RECITAL

Victoria Concert Hall

Friday (27 June 2025)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 30 June 2025 with the title "Kyoko Hashimoto's recital a masterclass in sound, colour and nuance".

Japanese pianist Kyoko Hashimoto, originally listed to perform at the Singapore International Piano Festival in 2022 but had to cancel because of Covid, finally made her belated debut here. Her recital, comprising mostly short 20th century works and reminiscent of Frenchman Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s recital in 2023, was a revelation.

Gabriel Faure (1845-1924)

The first half was wholly devoted to preludes by French composers, beginning with three of Gabriel Faure’s Nine Preludes (Op.103) dating from 1909-10. The rarity of these miniatures were matched by the masterclass of sound, colour and nuance provided by Hashimoto. Late Faure is elusive because of chromaticisms and paucity of outright melody, but she made one listen with intent.

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)

Following these, three of Olivier Messiaen’s Eight Preludes (1928-29), each carrying descriptive French titles, became far less forbidding. These were essentially extrapolations of Claude Debussy’s sonic palette into the future, and with the imagination piqued, Instants defunts (Departed Moments) simply evoked sorrow and regret.

Photo: Clive Choo

Bell-like registers and frequently altering rhythms in Les sons impalpables du reve (Impalpable Sounds of a Dream) were made to sound catchy and inviting, while Cloches d’angoisses et larmes d’adieu (Bells of Anguish and Tears of Farewell) took hurt feelings and frazzled emotions to another level.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

The selections from Debussy’s First Book of Preludes (1909-1910) were the evening’s most familiar music. Most impressionist and atmospheric was Sounds and Scents Mingle in the Evening Air, its feel of mysticism contrasted with the infectious tarantella rhythm of The Hills of Anacapri. The build-up for The Engulfed Cathedral was epic in Hashimoto’s hands, while The Dance of Puck provided moments of comedy which considerably lightened the proceedings.

Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996)

The recital’s second half opened with Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu’s most famous piano work, Rain Tree Sketch II (1992), composed in memory of Messiaen. Hashimoto’s very deliberate approach to this tribute strongly aligned with the earlier idioms encountered.

Pierre Boulez (1925-2016)

Coming as a jolt to the system was iconoclastic French modernist Pierre Boulez’s 12 Notations (1945), atonal aphorisms 12 bars long and each lasting less than a minute. Extremes of dynamics were exploited, including fists slamming clusters on the keyboard, all guaranteed to shock but not long enough to cause lasting offense. 

Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937)

All this made Polish composer Karol Szymanowski’s early Etude in B flat minor (Op.4 No.3) sound old-fashioned which, like Rachmaninov’s Prelude in C sharp minor (Op.3 No.2), chagrined the composer with its over-popularity.

Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)

The recital’s only extended and earliest work was Russian Alexander Scriabin’s First Sonata in F minor (Op.6) from 1892. Hashimoto was the ever-resourceful guide through its four movements which headed inexorably to ultimate tragedy, with a plodding a funeral march as its conclusion. The pleasing symmetry forged with American pianist Kate Liu’s performance of Chopin’s Funeral March Sonata the previous evening was purely coincidental.

Hashimoto’s two encores provided pure respite: the lyricism of Scriabin’s Prelude in C sharp minor (Op.11 No.9) and melancholic lilt of Chopin’s Mazurka in A minor (Op.17 No.4).

Kyoko Hashimoto with
Festival Director Lim Yan (right)
& SSO CEO Kenneth Kwok.

31ST SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL PIANO FESTIVAL: KATE LIU Piano Recital / Review

 

31ST SINGAPORE 

INTERNATIONAL PIANO FESTIVAL:

KATE LIU IN RECITAL

Victoria Concert Hall

Thursday (26 June 2025)

This year marks Lim Yan’s final year as Artistic Director of the Singapore International Piano Festival. The Singaporean concert pianist’s tenure began in 2019 but was disrupted by Covid in 2020. Performances resumed in 2021 with an all-local cast of pianists, before the return of international travel led to the festival as we know it. The passing of long-time piano technician Walter Haass in 2024 was a shock, and his 29-year run as resident piano wizard is unlikely to be surpassed. The baton (or keys to the Steinway) has been passed to Albert Tiu and his roster of pianists for 2026 have been named (go check the festival booklet!).

The 31st festival’s curtain-raiser was Singapore-born American pianist Kate Liu, 3rd prizewinner at the 2015 Chopin International Piano Competition. Opening her recital with proper Sturm und Drang was Mozart’s Sonata in A minor (K.310), one of two sonatas in the minor key. She injected an urgency to its stormy first movement without sacrificing beauty of sound. Pedaling was exemplary with no textures being smudged, and this continued well into the elegant slow movement. The finale’s Presto sizzled and caught fire without its fast pacing blurring the lines.

Some may not favour Mozart with a Romantic outlook but Liu’s view of Brahms’ Four Ballades (Op.10) might well be unimpeachable. Beauty of sound was prized, especially the voicing of its intriguing harmonies. Whether these essays were inspired by literary sources is immaterial, but their A-B-A form were opportunities for stark contrasts which she exploited to the fullest. 

Photo: Clive Choo

The opening D minor “Edward” ballade matched sobriety with violence, for example, and when the music returned to each A section, a transformation of sorts would have taken place. Nothing is ever the same again. Liu’s keen musicianship makes you listen to these details and marvel. The final and longest B major ballade, had an extended close, bringing the half to a satisfying end.

Like the late great Fou Ts’ong in 1955, Liu was the winner of the Mazurka Prize in Warsaw sixty years later, and it is not a big surprise. Her inimitable way with Chopin’s Four Mazurkas (Op.30), a poignant combo of melancholy and exultation, steady pacing and rubato, made these Polish dances the evening’s true highlight. Schumann referred to these nationalistic miniatures as “cannons and flowers”, and Liu understood every bit of that ethos.

Chopin Sonata No.2 in B flat minor (Op.35), the Funeral March Sonata, came on without break from the last Mazurka, and Liu reaped the whirlwind. Schumann, again, called it “Chopin’s four most unruly children housed under the same roof”. The opening movement was passionate and full-blooded, and she observed the exposition repeat including the declamatory opening four bars marked Grave. The Scherzo was no less trenchant, with impetuosity balanced with sheer lyricism in the Trio section. The eponymous Marche funebre took an epic turn, its rumbling procession building up to a head of steam before easing to lilting beauty in D flat major. The brief finale came like a shock, the proverbial cold wind over a graveyard sweeping through under two minutes, the marvel being Liu’s unwavering evenness on both hands.

Strange as it may seem, this is a comparatively rare performance of the Funeral March Sonata in 31 years of the piano festival, the Third Sonata (Op.58) being performed many more times. Liu’s sole encore was simplicity and purity wrapped up in two minutes, the first piece (Im ruhigen Tempo) from Schumann’s Gesänge der Frühe (Songs of Dawn, Op.133). Just sublime.