BRAHMS THE TWO PIANO CONCERTOS / Tedd Joselson & Asian Symphony Orchestra / Review

 

BRAHMS THE TWO PIANO CONCERTOS 

Tedd Joselson (Piano) 

Asian Symphony Orchestra 

Victoria Concert Hall 

Sunday (16 June 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 18 June 2024 with the title "Pianist Tedd Joselson plays Brahms with virtuosity".

A Herculean feat never previously attempted in Singapore is a concert bringing together both of German composer Johannes Brahms’ piano concertos. It had to be done sometime. That was left to Belgian-American pianist Tedd Joselson, resident here since 1999, and the Asian Symphony Orchestra under Belgian-Singaporean conductor Robert Casteels to do the honours. The concert was in aid of Heartware Network, a non-profit organisation that empowers youth. 

Brahms, young and old.

If one wondered if that was too much of a good thing, the reality was that one cannot get enough of it. Both concertos, running over 45 minutes each, were contrasted works coming from different periods of Brahms’ creative output. Both required different approaches, and all the performers came up with required musical responses to make the unwieldly tandem sound right. 

Photo: Benjamin Chiau

The First Piano Concerto in D minor (Op.15) was a creation of callow youth and exuberance from a 25-year-old. The opening orchestral tutti established the tone of almighty struggle, with Joselson’s mellow entry seemingly in direct opposition. The ensuing clash of titans, literally a tug-of-war between piano and orchestra, was at its most absorbing when Joselson piled on octave runs and chordal salvoes to stunning effect. 

Photo: Pianomaniac

Nothing fazed the 72-year-old veteran, whose sensitive touch shone in lyrical moments, such as the first movement’s second subject and the slow movement’s hymn-like theme bearing the inscription Benedictus, Qui Venit In Nomine Domini (Blessed, He Who Comes In The Name Of The Lord). 

For raw passion unleashed, the Rondo finale saw Joselson sprint out like a man possessed, and his ability to sustain that level of tension throughout was enviable for even someone half his age. That the orchestra’s winds were excellent following the fugato was testament to attention paid to fine details, and the work barrelled victoriously to a colossal close. 

Photo: Heartware Network

The Second Piano Concerto in B flat major (Op.83) was composed some 26 years later, a work of mature sobriety. Conceived more like a four-movement symphony than virtuoso vehicle, the demanding piano part becomes almost an integral part of the orchestra. The opening conversation between Alan Kartik’s French horn and Joselson set the tone before another battle royale began. 

Photo: Heartware Network

While not as note-perfect as the earlier concerto, Joselson still commanded the stage with an imperiousness which Casteels and his forces matched blow for blow. The mighty Scherzo continued without letting off, but the best was reserved for the slow movement. 

Photo: Pianomaniac

With cellist Hang-Oh Cho’s sublime solo leading the way and Joselson’s smoothest possible response, detente was at hand. Seldom has this Andante radiated so much sunshine and beauty, leaving behind earlier storms as distant memories. The light-hearted finale with its send-up to the Viennese waltz became the perfect send off, and the applause rained even before the last emphatic chord had ended. 

Photo: Pianomaniac

Photo: Heartware Network

There cannot be more than very few souls in attendance who have witnessed the great Ukrainian-American pianist Vladimir Horowitz in person, but Joselson’s volatile and mercurial brand of virtuosity is probably the closest thing to that.

Photo: Benjamin Chiau

MIKKEL STARS CHOPIN / Mikkel Myer Lee & Asian Symphony Orchestra / Review

MIKKEL STARS CHOPIN

Mikkel Myer Lee, Piano

Asian Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Tuesday (6 June 2023)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 8 June 2023 with the title "Pianist Mikkel Myer Lee displays prodigious talent with Chopin's concertos".

 

Back in 1984, a 12-year-old Russian pianist with black tousled hair rocked the musical world by performing both piano concertos of Frederic Chopin in the Great Hall of Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Conservatory. His name was Evgeny Kissin. Singapore has found its own Kissin in Mikkel Myer Lee, who repeated the same Chopin feat at Esplanade Concert Hall on Tuesday evening. He was just three days short of his eleventh birthday.

 

Studying piano with American-Singaporean pianist Tedd Joselson and composition with Belgian-Singaporean composer-conductor Robert Casteels, the angelic pre-teen with a pageboy cut was so diminutive that his feet just reached the pedals of the piano. Displaying an innocence and guileless stage demeanour, he even had to be guided as to whom to greet and when to bow.  

 

However, once ensconced on the piano stool, the mini-maestro of the keyboard took over. The Second Piano Concerto in F minor (Op.21), chronologically the earlier of two concertos, was performed first. This was absolutely the right choice, given its more intimate scale and feel. Straight off, one was struck by his sensitive and soulful approach to the music. Besides being impeccable in the most technically challenging passages, his musical phrasing was as natural as breathing itself.

 

While waxing lyrical on the perfectly-tuned C.Bechstein concert grand, what he lacked was power and projection. Listeners seated at the rear stalls and upper galleries would be hard-pressed to hear the fine details, despite the accompanying Asian Symphony Orchestra being exhorted by conductor Casteels to exercise maximum restraint.

 

This became more apparent in the First Piano Concerto in E minor (Op.11), a longer, grander and more imposing work calling for more orchestral winds and brass. Despite the odds, Lee held his own, exerting whatever heft available in big chords and octaves. Poetry was never in short supply, and he came into his own in the Larghetto slow movements, where transparent, lyrical nocturne-like qualities suited him to a tee.

 

With the orchestra silenced, the short solo cadenza in the Romanze of the First Concerto was taken at a broad and measured tempo. It was his way of saying, “now listen to me when I am not in a hurry”, its clear and crystalline ringing sonority being a clear sign he had ideas of his own. The Polish dance rhythm in the finale was a life-affirming romp. This made for a grandstanding close with a spontaneous standing ovation to match.

 

In a nation that has produced wunderkinds over the decades, with pianists Abigail Sin, Mervyn Lee and Toby Tan, violinists Lee Huei Min, Tang Tee Khoon and Chloe Chua coming to mind, Mikkel Myer Lee is the youngest. He might just be the most prodigious one of them all.