OFF THE PIANO BENCH / Tian Kexin, Piano Recital with Kerim Vergazov & Lucas Cheong / Review

OFF THE PIANO BENCH

Tian Kexin, Piano

with Kerim Vergazov & Lucas Cheong

Esplanade Recital Studio

Tuesday (2 August 2022)

 

Summer is the season when students pursuing music overseas return to their homeland to perform, sharing with local audiences what they have learned and experienced during their course of study. This was one of many such concerts this year, given by Tian Kexin, an undergraduate at the New England Conservatory of Music.

 

She opened her recital with the first ten pieces from Prokofiev’s cycle Visions Fugitives (Op.22). Its unusual title comes from a verse by Russian poet Konstantin Balmont, “In every fugitive vision, I see worlds filled with the fickle play of rainbows.” These are essentially short prelude-like pieces, fleeting impressions dabbed with a variegated palette of colours.

 

With the young Prokofiev, one senses an enfant terrible but also a Romantic at heart. Tian’s interpretation of these miniatures does nor aim for shock value, evident from its angular melodies, jagged harmonies or seeming grotesqueries. She rather brings out the aural beauty inherent in the harp-like figurations of Pittoresco (No.7) or the lyrical Commodo (No.8). Prokofiev isn’t Prokofiev if he cannot thumb his nose at tradition, which is best heard in the final number, entitled Ridicolosamente (No.10), which Tian plays straight but with tongue firmly lodged in cheek.

 

The late Brahms was a master of short essays, with his Three Intermezzi (Op.117) being prime examples. The hymn-like melody of the first piece was followed with the dark smouldering textures of the second, both of which were keenly contrasted by Tian. The more complex third intermezzo was the most difficult to pull off, and it felt somewhat episodic in her hands. It nonetheless brought her solo segment to a satisfying end.

 

This recital afforded a short cameo for 14-year-old Lucas Cheong, who studies with Kexin’s mentor in Singapore, the Russian pianist Kerim Vergazov. One will rarely encounter more passion than his take on Rachmaninov’s very early Elegie in E flat minor (Op.3 No.1) which also displayed a mastery of sonorities. In the familiar Prelude in G minor (Op.23 No.5), he showed power and projection, and could have better brought out the inner voices from its lyrical central section.

 

The short Rachmaninov pieces served as a teaser for the evening’s tour de force with Kexin joined by Kerim Vergazov in Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances (Op.45). This was the Russian’s final masterpiece, almost a symphony in conception. There has not been a public performance here of the two-piano version since Dmitri Alexeev and Nikolai Demidenko at the 2003 Singapore International Piano Festival, thus this was a rare treat. Like the famous Russian duo, Kexin (Piano I) and Kerim (Piano II) played with the keyboards placed side-by-side rather than at opposite ends, thus facilitating better communication.

 

This is music of nostalgia that lays bare Rachmaninov’s Russian soul, expressing his sorrow and regret of leaving his homeland for good. After opening outbursts from both pianos, the first movement’s plaintive melody (heard on alto saxophone in the orchestral version) was well brought out. Just as resonant was the famous quote from his First Symphony, now sounding resigned and retiring, greatly contrasted from the earlier boldness and defiance of his youth.

 

A keen awareness of his mortality drove this work, not least in the spectral waltzing of the central movement. Tinged with sentimental sweetness, this ghostly ballroom dance recalling bygone Tolstoyesque nights was given a chilling realisation by the duo. The finale, now dominated by bells and chants of the Russian Orthodox church rang out in all its glorious clangour. Other quotes, the ever-present Dies Irae and one from his Vespers (All-Night Vigil, Op.37) now came into the fore, standing out through the plethoric textures of both pianos. There was much to enjoy in this performance, mostly because there was a lot of heart and soul in it. The small audience (with Russians among the guests) heartily concurred, according the duo with long and appreciative applause.     

LUCAS CHEONG Piano Recital / Review

VIVA LA MUSICA

LUCAS CHEONG Piano Recital

Steven Baxter Recital Studio

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music

Friday (27 May 2022)

 

Once in a while, I get invited to listen to a teenager perform. Some of them turn out to be duds, but when  true talent is unveiled, it is cause for celebration. Their names may be familiar now, but I count myself fortunate to have heard the likes of Abigail Sin, Azariah Tan, Jonathan Shin, Nicholas Loh and Nicholas Ho years before they came into the limelight. It is my hope that 13-year-old Lucas Cheong might do the same.

 

Lucas is a Sec.2 student at National Junior College’s International Baccalaureate programme, and private piano student of Russian pedagogue Kerim Vergazov. His hour-long debut piano recital revealed a serious young man, somewhat raw but possessing natural talent, one with much promise to offer and recommend.

 

The evening opened with J.S.Bach’s Prelude & Fugue No.1 in C major from Book One of The Well-Tempered Clavier, where familiarity could be tainted with contempt. Not so, as the well-known Prelude benefited from judicious pedaling, then giving way to an equally good handling of voices for the fugue. In Beethoven's "Pathetique" Sonata in C minor (Op.13), Lucas showed he knew the meaning of Grave. The opening chords were loud and plangent, perhaps too emphatically so, but the effect was arresting. The Allegro di molto e con brio that followed had the right sturm und drang to be just as captivating. There could have been more tenderness in the Adagio cantabile slow movement, but the dramatics returned for the Rondo albeit with a little more light-heartedness. I think he also knows the meaning of “Pathetique” too.

 

The first half closed with Chopin’s Etude in C sharp minor (Op.25 No.7), the slow number also nicknamed “Cello" because of its silken-smooth left hand melody This he delivered with utmost steadfastness, coloured with well-timed and accurate scalic runs, although the right hand accompaniment could have done with greater sensitivity. This is a piece he will grow with, and in time return to with even better understanding.   

 

Thus far, Lucas showed he could play a demanding programme totally from memory and without missing many notes. The ante would be upped in the all-Russian second half which began with five pieces from Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet (Op.75). These piano transcriptions by Prokofiev’s own hand would never reproduce the orchestral colours of the original, and that was the case for the first three pieces. Montagues and Capulets sounded cut and dried, dominated by far too many big chords, while Friar Laurence was more stodgy than sympathetic. The mercurial Mercutio came close to tripping over himself on occasion. And then something happened.

 

The Dance of the Girls with Lilies is one of the “easier” pieces in the set, but it was this simplicity that Lucas caught with most alacrity, the languid lilting rhythm adding to its allure. Leaving the best for the last, Romeo and Juliet before Parting or the Balcony Scene represented the high point of the recital. Its gradual build-up was gripping, then its rapturous climax the fruition of pent-up emotion released with one big gigantic outburst of passion.

 

That Lucas has greatest sympathy with Russian music is without doubt (and having a Leningrader as mentor certainly helps), and this continued in the Rachmaninov suite of three pieces. The Prelude in G sharp minor (Op.32 No.12) was atmospherically crafted, its melancholic left hand melody rising ever so enticing from a web of right hand arpeggios. Even better was the Elegie in E flat minor (Op.3 No.1) from the early set of Morceaux de Fantaisie (which includes that infamous Prelude), which had another brewing climax mirroring the earlier Prokofiev. This was a performance which even seasoned professionals would be proud of. Closing the recital was the familiar martial strains of the Prelude in G minor (Op.23 No.5), not the most confident of readings, but had a lovely central section where the music was allowed to sing amid the furious goose-stepping.

 

Lucas’ encore provided a pleasant surprise in Debussy’s La plus que lente, delivered with a good sense of rubato without being too slow (despite the title). Its salon charm and insouciance was well captured, capping an enjoyable recital all round. Lucas has many years of musical discovery and music-making ahead of him, and he is encouraged to indulge in his curiosity for all things musical and artistic. With enlightened guidance, inspired mentorship, with lots of patience and perseverance, a bright future beckons.  

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE / Kerim Vergazov et al / Review

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

Kerim Vergazov (Piano) & Friends

Conservatory Concert Hall

Friday (21 November 2014)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 24 November 2014 with the title "A romp with the Russians".

Every once in a while, the small but important community of Russian professional musicians in Singapore bands together to give a concert at the Conservatory. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, these musicians planted their roots here, playing in the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and teaching in the Conservatory, or both. Attended by a large and enthusiastic audience, it was a way of showing their appreciation to their adopted home. 

St Petersburg native Kerim Vergazov was the busy pianist, playing every minute of the concert with a stern demeanour belying much sensitivity and musicianship. Flautist Evgueni Brokmiller opened both halves of the concert with two showpieces, beginning with the Allegro Concertante No.2 by Vladimir Tsybin, hailed as the “father of the Russian flute school”.

This and Georges Enesco’s Cantabile et Presto, which graced the second half, were not particularly Slavic in character, instead more redolent of the French style. Nevertheless, it gave Brokmiller much scope to showcasing his silvery and mellifluous tone, and nimbleness in negotiating the music’s fast and virtuosic turns.

Soprano Natalia Kumkova had a lion’s share of the programme in a fine selection of art songs. In Liszt’s Pace non trovo (I Find No Peace), a setting of Petrarch’s Sonnet No.104, a rich and wide vocal range was immediately established, even if her sung Italian was not particularly discernible. She was far more at home in five of Rachmaninov’s romances, which were a joy from start to end.

In these, she poured out her heart with the typical wistfulness and melancholy found in songs like The Answer, Lilacs and A Dream. Has there been a more eloquent expression of contentment than Zdes Khorasho (How Beautiful it is Here or How Fair This Spot) from this usually dour composer? Kumkova and her husband Vergazov truly brought out the essence of being Russian.

The spot previously occupied by violinist Alexander Souptel was now filled by his successor as Concertmaster of the SSO, Igor Yuzefovich, who was just appointed to the post this year. While some might miss “old” Sasha’s winking and wily gypsy imitations, “young” Igor impressed with his lofty but understated authority in Tchaikovsky’s Melodie from Souvenir d’un lieu cher and the infectiously lilting Valse-Scherzo.

Gershwin figured in the second half, first with Kumkova in Summertime from Porgy and Bess and the tribute to the Viennese waltz called By Strauss. Yuzefovich also returned in Igor Frolov’s Concert Fantasy on Porgy and Bess, a medley of hit songs modelled on Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy. Having spent his formative years in America, he took to numbers like I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’ and It Ain’t Necessarily So like a native and with the greatest ease.

Bassist Guennadi Mouzyka joined the flock of five for Astor Piazzolla’s Fugatta, with each instrument taking on a voice as contrapuntal exercise. The Argentine’s most famous tango, Libertango, in Mouzyka’s own arrangement, which included ad libbing from Kumkova, closed the formal programme on a high note.

And there was more, with some late night Russian romances with the dulcet-toned Kumkova as the house lights dimmed to darkness. Down The Long Road, better known in English as Those Were The Days, got the audience clapping along and Ochi Tchorniye (Dark Eyes) sent them home with a song in their hearts. 

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE / Review

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall
Saturday (19 November 2011)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 21 November 2011 with the title "Goodies from Russia".

Musicians from Eastern Europe have over the decades contributed significantly to the diversity of Singapore’s musical scene. The names of Feri Krempl, Pavel Prantl, Martina Maixnerova, Jiri Heger and Alexander Souptel immediately come to mind. It was however the fall of the Soviet Union which made the biggest impact, bringing this evening’s five Russian speaking virtuosos to our shores.

The delightfully varied programme had the intimacy of a private salon, despite being attended by a house filled to overflowing. The first half was a showcase for Tatarstani flautist Evgueni Brokmiller and Kazakh harpist Gulnara Mashurova, both musicians of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Their performance of Jean Michel Damase’s Variations on Early One Morning began with childlike simplicity before revelling in a flight of fantasy, where mildly spiced dissonances added to its attractiveness.

Earlier, Brokmiller had impressively opened the concert with Zybin’s flashy Allegro and later brought out the piquant melodies of Dutilleux’s Sonatine, while Mashurova lent a touch of boldness and finery to Fauré’s classic Impromptu. The biggest cheers went to soprano Natalia Kumkova from St Petersburg, a private singing teacher, whose vocal projection and mastery of coloratura held the greatest resonance.

Vladimir Vavilov’s Ave Maria, widely misattributed to Giulio Caccini, was given the due respect and gentility of the baroque aria antiche. It was in Mozart’s Alleluia (from Exsultate, Jubilate) and Henry Bishop’s Lo! Here The Gentle Lark where she unleashed the full gamut of dazzling devices. In all three songs, she was ably accompanied by a student string quartet, led by young Uzbek violinist Adelya Nartadjeva.

Double bassist Guennadi Mouzyka, the Principal from SSO, gave his ungainly instrument the sweetest of voices, bearing the soul in Lensky’s Aria from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and providing counter-melodies to Kumkova in Bottesini’s Tutto il mondo serra. The latter song sounds familiar because it is a vocal arrangement of Chopin’s Étude in C sharp minor.

The very popular Kumkova closed the formal programme with two haunting romances by Rachmaninov, Sing Not, O Lovely One (Op.4 No.4, based on a Georgian song) and the wordless Vocalise, partnered by her busy pianist husband Kerim Vergazov. As generous encores, the audience was transported to a Moscow cabaret where all five performers took their turns in a potpourri of Russian oldies but goodies. Moscow Nights, Dark Eyes… it was almost as good as being there yourself.