Some Photos from SONG ZILIANG's PIANO RECITAL

On Friday evening (16 December 2016) at the School of the Arts Concert Hall, Singaporean pianist Song Ziliang gave an unusual piano recital as part of the Young Virtuoso Recital Series organised by MW Events Management. It was a classical piano recital which also included performances of popular music, encompassing Japanese anime, Korean drama, Chinese oldies and Singaporean Xinyao. The World Premiere of Singaporean Malay composer Syafiqah Adha Sallehin's Mahligai, a work that melded Malay and Western idioms, was also performed.

Song Ziliang studied music at the Moscow Conservatory and later at London's Royal College of Music, where Mikhail Petukhov and Gordon Fergus-Thompson were his principal teachers respectively. He is presently a teacher at Zhonghua Secondary School, where General Music and Marketing are his main subjects.

His classical programme included the Bach-Busoni Chaconne, Schumann's Fantasy in C Op.17 and Scriabin's Sonata No.5. In between were the popular offerings, some of which were requests from his Facebook friends and followers, which he played off an iPad.

Ziliang is an adept and personable speaker and fully engaged his audience with an assortment of anecdotes, and was unafraid to use a little Singlish as well. His listeners clearly warmed up to his efforts and were totally appreciative in their response. As to his concert attire, he deliberately dressed down (denim jeans included) as he did not want to make concerts a stuffy experience.

Ziliang with local composer
Syafiqah Adha Sallehin.

With cellist Loke Hoe Kit,
whose Young Virtuoso Recital takes place on
1 July 2017, at Victoria Concert Hall.

Loke Hoe Kit and pianist Heegan Lee
plugging their forthcoming concerts,
organised by MW Events Management.

PASSION & POETRY: Review of CLARENCE LEE PIANO RECITAL by Albert Lin

Below is the preview of the concert by Tan Jia Hui published in The Straits Times on 30 April 2015.

PASSION & POETRY: Photographs from CLARENCE LEE Piano Recital

On Saturday 2 May 2015, Singaporean pianist Clarence Lee gave a piano recital entitled Passion & Poetry at Victoria Concert Hall. This was a revival of the Young Virtuoso Recital series that highlighted young Singaporean pianists which was founded in 2005. Incidentally, Clarence Lee is the first Singaporean pianist to give a full-length recital at the newly refurbished Victoria Concert Hall.

In the recital, Clarence Lee performed the works
of Rachmaninov & Liszt.

He also gave the World Premiere of
Waves by Singaporean composer Phang Kok Jun.

Clarence gets a standing ovation after a stupendous
performance of Liszt's Reminiscences de Don Juan.

Encore time: Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin
and Grünfeld's Die Fledermaus.


 
Phang Kok Jun acknowledges
Clarence Lee's awesomeness!

PASSION & POETRY: People-Watching at CLARENCE LEE'S piano recital

Clarence Lee and his parents meet with
guest-of-honour Mrs Goh Chok Tong,
who promptly told him to get his hands insured!

Mrs Goh meets with Syafiqah Sallehin,
one of Singapore's few Malay classical composers.

Clarence and composer Phang Kok Jun
was classmates at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory.

The young artists with Mrs Goh and Prof. Lye Lin Heng.

Concert organiser Vincent Chong of Ars Nova Concerts
with Eunice Ng and young virtuosos
cellist Loke Hoe Kit and pianist Song Ziliang.

Can we look forward to hear their music
in future concerts.

Bina Jung and Lawrence Sarabi of Aureus Academy.

Piano teachers Angeline Aw and Winnie Tay
with their students.

Winnie Tay (centre) was one of
Clarence Lee's earliest piano teachers.

A PIANO RECITAL YOU WILL ENJOY: CLARENCE LEE on 2 May 2015

CALLING ALL PIANOPHILES! Here is a piano recital you will enjoy, featuring one of Singapore's promising young pianists CLARENCE LEE. 

His recital is part of the Young Virtuoso Recital Series, which has presented pianists like Lim Yan, Albert Lin, Abigail Sin, Azariah Tan and Nicholas Loh in the past.

His programme as follows:

RACHMANINOV Prelude, Op.3 No.2

RACHMANINOV 10 Preludes, Op.23

PHANG KOK JUN Waves  

  WORLD PREMIERE

LISZT Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude

LISZT Reminiscences de Don Juan

Where: Victoria Concert Hall

When: Saturday, 2 May 2015 at 7.30 pm

Tickets: $18, $28, $38  by EventClique  

Here is an exclusive interview with CLARENCE LEE, who talks about his life as a pianist and his inspirations.

Do you come from a musical family? Did your parents appreciate music?

My mother was a professional singer for many years and my parents both play the Chinese guzheng. My mum was also my first piano teacher so yes, it runs in the blood.

What were your first memories of playing the piano, or any other musical instrument?

My mother bought me a toy piano when I was three years old. She later discovered my talent for music when I started imitating tunes I heard on television all day long on that toy piano. Although I used only one finger to play, I was told that it was note-for-note perfect!

What were your piano teachers like, and how did they help you develop your love of music and ultimately technique for playing the piano?

As a child, I always had the idea that male teachers were fierce and intimidating; hence all my teachers prior to studying with Dr. Thomas Hecht at the Conservatory were young, sweet and beautiful female teachers! They were Ms. Winnie Tay, Alice Chang and Amy Lim, each of them different but equally significant in my life and career. Every teacher in a musician’s life is of equal importance because having to name the most important teacher in my life would be similar to asking if the leaves on the trees are more important than the roots or vice versa. The tree would not survive without one or the other.

All my teachers allowed me to be who I really was on the piano and never restricted me from expressing my feelings. Technique that serves no musical purpose is meaningless and I was very lucky that none turned me into some musical robot or machine. There’s no point in being technically perfect if it means nothing to your listeners. If audiences wanted to hear perfection, they need not attend a live concert since they could easily listen to a CD at home.

Did you win some prize at the 2005 National Piano Competition? And was that the encouragement you needed to pursue music at a tertiary level?

I was the 3^rd prize winner in the intermediate category of the 2005 National Piano & Violin Competition. Music was my passion but I had never considered it as a career even at that point. Initially, my dream was to be a medical doctor to save lives.

It was my father’s decision that I should give it a shot at the auditions to the Conservatory. We originally did not expect to pass that audition and that was just another opportunity for me to perform. When I was accepted to the Bachelor of Music programme at 15, it was an opportunity too good to resist. I have never looked back since.

What was studying at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory and lessons with Professor Thomas Hecht like? 

Dr. Hecht was a disciplinarian and no-nonsense teacher who believed that talent alone was not the key to success, but hard work and perseverance were. Despite him being American, studying with Dr. Hecht was exactly like learning martial arts from a traditional Chinese kung fu master. He instilled that kind of discipline in me.

Beneath that strict facade was a dedicated, kind and compassionate fatherly figure who whole-heartedly cared for each and every one of his students. Where would you find someone who would go to the extent of arranging online skype lessons and regularly replying to student’s e-mails while rushing back to USA to visit his father in hospital Dr. Hecht was this great teacher and I owe most, if not all of my current achievements to him. I would not be where I am today without him.

What were experiences like taking part in international piano competitions?

Going for international competitions is like buying lottery: it is impossible to predict the results. Ironically, most of the concert opportunities I had been granted have been a result of not winning prizes in competitions. You never know who would be in the audience and I have been very fortunate to meet people who believed in me regardless of the results.

Luck also plays a huge part in a musician’s career. It is about being at the right place at the right time. As long as you have something to say in your music, it will connect you with the right people. Being sincere and truthful as a musician is far more important than finding a formula to winning competitions.

Your recital programme on 2 May reflects the riches of Romantic repertoire – Liszt and Rachmaninov are the highlights. What does this music mean to you?

While some people find joy in being mentally or intellectually stimulated while listening to music, I find joy in music that can emotionally stimulate all kinds of audiences, including the general public. Liszt and Rachmaninov were rock stars in their days and wrote music that was accessible to everyone. I too believe that Classical music should be for anyone and not just the musically “educated” listeners.

I chose repertoire that showcase all aspects of Liszt and Rachmaninov – the virtuosic and flashy side, as well as the deep and touching introverted aspects. These were the two composers that made me fall in love with Classical music, and I hope to be able to inspire others to fall in love with it too.

You now study with Albert Tiu, well-known for his interpretations of Romantic repertoire. How has he influenced your views on this music?

You are spot on. Mr. Tiu is very famous for his Romantic interpretations, especially the Russian School – Scriabin and Rachmaninov - and has recorded many albums of this music to great success and recognition. All his students know that they are not going to have an easy time if they chose to work on Russian Romantic repertoire with him. So you can guess what I had gone through over the past few months!

Mr. Tiu has always been very particular about tone and colour. It is all about understanding harmonies, knowing how it relates to each other and showing it through your instrument. I have learnt to use my ears to listen to the colours that I am producing from the instrument instead of only listening to what I hear inside of me. The greatest insights I have gained are the exclusive opportunities of listening to him demonstrate sections of my pieces in every lesson. Hearing him produce those amazing colours on the same instrument has inspired me to push further and expand my palette of sound. When he can produce those colours on the piano, you are left with no excuses that it was the instrument’s fault!

Clarence Lee is now the Singapore Chinese Orchestra's
ensemble pianist, here playing with the
world's largest erhu ensemble.

Tell us a little about the new work, Waves by young Singaporean composer Phang Kok Jun which you will give the World Premiere on 2 May.

I first performed a piece by Kok Jun in 2012, and was immediately attracted to his special and unique sound world. His colouristic sense through his use of harmonies and 3-dimensional style of writing made him the obvious choice of local composer whose music I wanted to showcase. I asked him to write me a piece that would best represent his identity. Leaving him to write whatever his inspiration tells him to, I had this condition: the music has to be easily connect with the Singaporean audience and would leave a lasting and nostalgic effect on its listeners come Second of May.

What does the future hold for Clarence Lee?

I always thought I had a clear plan in life, since my primary school days. But it never quite turned out that way. You can plan ahead all you want but life is about making important decisions when the time arises, and each decision will change the course of the future.

I have been very fortunate to be where I am today as a professional musician and hope to be able to give back to Singapore for everything it has given me. Helping the less fortunate and providing equal opportunities for everyone from all backgrounds of life is my long term mission. My mother always reminded me that being a kind and useful person in society is more important than being successful and rich.

Albert Lin's Review of AZARIAH TAN'S PIANO RECITAL

(Click on image to enlarge)

Some background information:

The Young Virtuoso Recital Series is now part of The Asian Pianist Recital Series, organised by Singapore Conference Hall. The Young Virtuoso Recital was created in 2005 to highlight talented young Singaporean pianists who otherwise did not have a chance to showcase their musical abilities due to the lack of opportunities. It was first parked in the Singapore International Piano Festival from 2005 to 2009, until it was unceremoniously dropped by the Singapore Symphonia Co. Ltd. (which has since featured zero Singaporeans).   

There was just one stipulation for each performer: they were to include an original piano work by a Singaporean or Singapore-based composer in their recital.  

Young Singaporeans who have played in this series (and composers featured) were:

2005: Lim Yan 

2006: Lee Pei Ming (Dick Lee)

2007: Albert Lin (Zechariah Goh, Joyce Koh & PM.Lindborg)

2008: Sandi Koh (Tan Chan Boon)

2009: Nicholas Loh (John Sharpley)

2009: Yao Xiao Yun (Leong Yoon Pin)

2013: Abigail Sin (Emily Koh)

2013: Azariah Tan (Kawai Shiu)

Review and Photographs from ABIGAIL SIN'S PIANO RECITAL

Albert Lin's review of Abigail Sin's Piano Recital,
published in The Straits Times on 7 May 2013,

Abigail performed two encores, Chopin's Préludes Op.28 No.4 (E minor) and No.3 (G major). 

All photos courtesy of Singapore Conference Hall.

DON'T MISS THIS ONE: ABIGAIL SIN'S Piano Recital / THE ASIAN PIANIST Recital Series (Young Virtuoso Recital)

Interview Article with ABIGAIL SIN
by Akshita Nanda in The Straits Times, 30 April 2013.

SINGAPORE'S MOST FAMOUS PIANO PRODIGY ABIGAIL SIN 
gives a one-night only recital at the Singapore Conference Hall on Sunday 5 May 2013 at 7 pm. Tickets at $18 are available at SISTIC.

Her recital launches THE ASIAN PIANIST Recital Series organised by Singapore Conference Hall, which showcases Asian pianists in Asian piano repertoire alongside the great classics. 

Her programme is as follows:

ABIGAIL SIN: THE PRODIGY RETURNS

J.S.BACH Capriccio on the Departure of a Beloved Brother

CHOPIN Piano Sonata No.2 in B flat minor, Op.35 "Funeral March"

EMILY KOH Si fallor, sum (Singaporean work)

RAVEL Sonatine

CHARLES GRIFFES Sonata for Piano

Abigail Sin follows a line of gifted young Singaporean pianists who have been part of the Young Virtuoso Recital, formerly part of the Singapore International Piano Festival. The Young Virtuoso Recital has been revived under the auspices of the Singapore Conference Hall's musical presentations.

The following Singaporean pianists have been presented in the Young Virtuoso Recital:

2005: LIM YAN
2006: LEE PEI MING
2007: ALBERT LIN
2008: SANDI KOH
2009: NICHOLAS LOH / YAO XIAO YUN
2013: ABIGAIL SIN

TAN CHAN BOON's Reminiscence

Tan Chan Boon's Reminiscence is perhaps the single most ambitious solo piano work by a Singaporean composer. It was commissioned for the Young Virtuoso Recital at the Singapore International Piano Festival 2008. Completed on 20 March 2008, the pianist who was to give its World Premiere on 5 July 2008 dropped it from the recital programme, citing its complexities and "unpianistic qualities". It was replaced by a much simpler work, Liszt's La Leggierezza.

The work begins with a Reminiscence theme (or "walking theme"), which was the big melody heard in Tan's Cherish (a symphonic poem commissioned for the 2008 Singapore Arts Festival, and premiered by the Singapore Festival Orchestra conducted by Chan Tze Law). Reminiscence was thus the logical sequel to Cherish. There are three fugues which follow; the Reminiscence theme appears at the end of each, and this also closes the work. Quotes from Tan's Fourth Symphony (yet to be premiered) also appear in the score.

Reminiscence was premiered by Japanese pianist Miyuki Washimiya on 17 November 2009. Scans of the score below (in Tan's beautiful handwriting, as he does not use Sibelius) are by permission of the composer.

The opening page of Reminiscence (Hui Yi),

with its "Walking theme",

a melody which resembles Deep River.

The First Fugue is the longest and

most complex of the three fugues,

and was originally a stand-alone solo piece.

The tempo picks up somewhat for the Second Fugue.

The Third Fugue is an inversion

of the Reminiscence or "Walking theme". As with his other compositions,

Tan Chan Boon signs off with his

"Alpine" signature on the final page.

In 18 pages and playing for 24 minutes, is this the greatest piano work composed by a Singaporean?

Young Virtuoso Recital: Nicholas Loh (Singapore)

YOUNG VIRTUOSO RECITAL
Sunday, 28 June 2009, 3 pm
Victoria Concert Hall

NICHOLAS LOH (Singapore)

JOHN SHARPLEY 

   The Lone Star (Selections) 

   PIANOFEST PREMIERE
RZEWSKI from North American Ballads 

   SINGAPORE PREMIERE
   Down By the Riverside – 

   Winnsboro Cotton Mills Blues

KAPUSTIN Sonata No.2 

   SINGAPORE PREMIERE

What I thought of Nicholas Loh and what led to his selection to perform in the Young Virtuoso Recital @ Singapore International Piano Festival 2009:

“When I was auditioning young musicians for the 1999 SSO Music Marathon, a self-confident Raffles Junior College student whipped off a Debussy Étude with the most nonchalant of ease. “That was quite difficult to play, wasn’t it?” I asked and all he did was to make light of it. Some 8 years later, the music graduate from Birmingham University and regular attendee at the Piano Festival remarked that it was his ambition to perform Ukrainian jazz pianist-composer Nikolai Kapustin’s fiendishly virtuosic Second Piano Sonata in concert. Now he has to make good that wish!”

Nicholas Loh practising on the

only Fazioli grand piano in Bukit Batok.

Young Virtuoso Nicholas Loh shares his personal thoughts on the works he performs:

JOHN SHARPLEY
Piano Suite No. 3 “The Lone Star” (Selections)

I first came in contact with the music of Dr John Sharpley when I stood in as an accompanist for a rehearsal of his work Songs of a Wild Child. Although it was just one rehearsal, the little that I did seemed to resonate with a lot of what I believe music should be like: it should be recognisable, as though it has been heard before, but it should also present something new and different, something which makes the listener want to hear more.

It was a bit of good fortune when Dr Chang caught wind of one of John’s works which had a bit of a Wild West theme to it. The Third Piano Suite, aptly named The Lone Star, made use of sufficient folk and jazz elements to gel with the rest of my programme, while providing an exciting western slant. The music conjures up vivid images of a Wild West scene. It starts with a rousing Square Dance replete with open-string calls, which leads into an almost ‘pas de deux’ blues, forming and disintegrating before the very eyes. 

A charming song is heard in La Pastora, and this leads into the Variations on The Old Chisolm Trail, the title referring to an old cowboy song and the variations crafting images of riding the mustang, strumming a guitar in the desert night, an old honky-tonk piano churning out music in a crowded Saturday night saloon, and of the cowboy riding into the sunset. A short cadenza-like interlude leads into the final Round Dance, which displays grandeur, spirituality and austerity, the very spirit of the west conjured up on the piano if you will.

I had the chance to sit down with Dr John Sharpley one afternoon to look through his music and have a chat. It turns out that we share quite a few beliefs in music. Needless to say, getting the chance to play this music is quite an honour and a delight. After all, how often do musicians play music by living composers who share such similar thoughts about music with them?

FREDERIC RZEWSKI
Down by the Riverside
Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues
from Four North American Ballads Singapore Premiere

The story begins with a box from Amazon.com lying on my doorstep containing a box set of Rzewski playing Rzewski, purchased explicitly for his 36 variations on The People United Will Never Be Defeated!. I noticed a recording of the four North American Ballads inside and the third one in particular stuck out. It was titled Down by the Riverside, and I remember playing that same tune when I was just starting to learn the piano.

I quickly slipped the CD into the player and flicked my way to the track, and for the first minute or so, I relived through those moments of my childhood with what I now recognize as a well-known Afro-American spiritual tune. Soon after, the music started to change. The music started to wander off on its own, as melodic fragments from the original song interspersed with each other. The chords started to clash, the rhythms started to get more chaotic, and even amidst moments of calm respite, the tune never settled into its original configuration. 

However, right at the end, the music returned to the calm of the opening with a passage of open sonority in the same key that the music started. This revealed itself to be a frame for the magnificent reprise of the original tune in the tenor line, now decorated with a polyphonic descant line with a grandeur akin to that of a cathedral filled with light. The ending was a bit of an enigma then (and even now), with the glorious build up of sound mysteriously disappearing, but for a brief spell, I revelled in its opalescent glory.

That reverie was soon disrupted by a soft pounding bassline. The music had moved on to the Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues. Unlike Down by the Riverside, I knew of no tune called Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues. The opening didn’t really help either with its mechanistic rumble. The theme from Jaws sprang to mind. The soft rumble soon grew louder and louder, the chord clusters crashing down onto the piano like the pounding of a mill. Soon after, the pounding subsided, and there was some semblance of melody (in chords) accompanied by a repeated figure in the bass. 

Even this melody was covered by the insistent bassline, and soon the crashing started again…all to suddenly cease, and give way to a luscious blues section which would link to the final climax of the piece, a veritable tour-de-force of polyphonic writing, before (finally) revealing the original tune of the Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues in what was possibly a set of reverse variations. A final set of pounding chord clusters served only as a reminder of the beginning as the music died away in a way similar to Down by the Riverside.

(At this point, and after a brief moment of silent reverence, I jumped back to the first two Ballads, and while an account of their listening would be out of place here, let me reassure you that they are as good as the last two in the set.)

Such an over-romanticised account would seem naïve at first, but an exercise in self-affirmation is surely not the point here, but rather, a celebration of good music enjoyed by the performer, and hopefully, the listener as well.

NIKOLAI KAPUSTIN
Piano Sonata No.2 

Singapore Premiere

A chance visit to the (sadly) now-defunct Sweet Classics music shop let me in on the music of Nikolai Kapustin. Steven Osborne had just released a new CD of music by this unknown Ukrainian composer including the first two Piano Sonatas and a selection of Preludes. The titles themselves were innocuous enough, but the music wasn’t. I was blown away by the intense jazziness of it all. Like the Rzewski, I had to lay my hands on some of Kapustin’s music. For a while this seemed nearly impossible until a friend of mine let me in on some scores he had gotten from Japan, including the Op.40 Études and the Second Sonata. I set about playing through everything (with little success…Kapustin’s music does not favour sightreading to a large extent) and over time I built up a scant repertoire of his music.

While it was all good, I knew I had to eventually tackle the mammoth which was the Second Sonata, which had everything going for it. The first movement was exuberant, almost gospel-like in its melodies and textures, and it had enough cool swing and introspectiveness to counter all the fire. The scherzo movement borrows a motif taken out of the first movement and transforms it into a syncopated barrage of notes. A short swing passage in the middle provides a much needed rest before the rhythmic rush resumes its course to a humorous but explosive finish. 

The third movement is a touch of cool jazz, conjuring up images of smoky jazz clubs, and icy-cold martinis. All seems calm except right at the end, where the peace is shattered by an almost serial rush of notes, leading into the blistering last movement, aptly named perpetuum mobile. Strains of Prokofiev’s toccata writing, Schoenberg’s serial technique, the stride bass much favoured by novelty pianists such as Zez Confrey, and even a 12-bar blues passage are all welded together with that strong jazz element. Liszt comes to mind right at the end of the movement with a flourish of octaves and the final cascade of notes brings this ebullient, extroverted work to a finish.

I met Dr Chang a few years ago at the (also sadly) now-defunct Sing Disc shop, and confessed that I would love to perform the work, despite knowing deep down that it was nowhere near complete. I put off learning it for a while when I had other less-musical commitments to fulfill, and wondered all too often when I would ever get to learn the music properly, much less perform it in front of a live audience.

I suppose that time is now.

Notes by Nicholas Loh

Young Virtuoso Recital: Yao Xiao Yun (China / Singapore)

YOUNG VIRTUOSO RECITAL
Sunday, 28 June 2009, 3 pm
Victoria Concert Hall

YAO XIAO YUN (China/Singapore)

BACH-HESS Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring
LEONG YOON PIN 23 Settings of Yibazhima 

  PIANOFEST PREMIERE
SCRIABIN Sonata No.5, Op.53
CHOPIN Ballade No.1 in G minor, Op.23
CHOPIN Ballade No.4 in F minor, Op.54

My thoughts on selecting Yao Xiao Yun to perform at this year's Young Virtuoso Recital @ Singapore International Piano Festival 2009:

“The international jury at the 2005 National Piano Competition had been raving about the playing of a “little Chinese girl” and I had to hear her for myself. It was in Chopin’s Third Sonata and Scriabin’s Fifth Sonata where a combination of stunning digital dexterity and poetic prowess by the diminutive Yao Xiao Yun that left me breathless with excitement. Even Lang Lang’s pyrotechnics were to pale in comparison. She deservingly won the First Prize. Then a student of Professor Yu Chun Yee at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, she now teaches at that august institution and has become a Singapore citizen.”

Xiao Yun practising at the 

NAFA School of Young Talents

where she is a teacher nurturing 

Singapore's finest young musicians.

YAO XIAO YUN provides her personal thoughts on her programme:

BACH-HESS Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring

This short masterpiece is one of my personal favourites. It is the title of the 10th movement from Bach’s cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147. Dame Myra Hess was deeply impressed by this music, and had it transcribed and published. Over the years, it has become one of the most familiar Bach transcriptions, winning the affection of pianists and listeners across the globe. I chose it as my opening piece, transporting one and all into a world of peace where there is no conflict or competition. Its every note conveys beautiful colours and the warmth of human emotions.

LEONG YOON PIN 23 Settings of Yibazhima

Every technique from the Baroque to Schoenberg’s duodecaphony may be found in the variations of this fairly brief work by Singapore’s most venerated composer (left). The music paints a lively scenario, with an unspoken emotional strength as a unique characteristic. The overall structure, melody and harmonies make this a representative work in the canon of Singaporean piano music.

SCRIABIN Sonata No.5, Op.53

This work was written in 1907, marking the end of the Russian composer’s middle compositional period and a transition into his later atonal style. The music is highly dissonant, despite nominally being written in the key of F sharp major. Sometimes known as The Poem of Ecstasy (not to be mistaken with Scriabin’s orchestral work Poeme de l’Extase), the great Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter described it as the most difficult work in the entire piano repertoire. 

This work is of a particular challenge to me because of the small size of my hands. The outrageous speeds and intense strength required were also my key adversaries in overcoming its challenges. I chose this work to display the mysterious trends and phenomenal advances that took place in the late stages of Romantic period.

CHOPIN Ballade No.1 in G minor, Op.23
Ballade No.4 in F Minor, Op.52

By playing two Ballades, his first and last, I wanted to reflect the distinctive styles of the young and mature Chopin. Ballade No.1 was written in the years 1831-35, and widely considered his first major creation. Chopin loved it above all, showcasing great emotions and unleashing a freedom of musical display that characterised his youth. The work begins on a sentimental note but gradually turns tragic, his feelings of sorrow reflecting the adversities of his native Poland. 

Ballade No.4 was composed in 1842, one of his most intense and technically demanding works, requiring virtuosity and exceptional pianistic skills. Audiences will warm up to Chopin’s maturity of style, which open a window into his innermost feelings. In this music, the listener can taste the angst and passion of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It this were to be Chopin’s only composition for piano, he would still be hailed a genius.

Notes by Yao Xiao Yun