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johnLee christian loves lifebpchurch and ltf plays the piano and the cello studies at raffles institution has a good time making music at RISE likes Chopin's music
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Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. For his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. -Psalm 1:1,2
12.12.2006
The Piano Junior Category quarterfinals began at the Alliance Française this morning. There would be 70 young pianists, all aged 12 and below, performing 10 minutes each in this round. I caught 19 of them in the afternoon session. Was there a future Abigail Sin or Clare Yeo among this lot of hopefuls? The thing about very young musicians is that they range from tiny tots just fresh out of toddler-hood to adolescents. Should they be judged the same way, given a possible gulf in standards? For example, a 7-year old who plays like a 7-year-old is usually more impressive than a 12-year-old who plays like a 12-year-old. What should be the criteria for admission to the semi-finals – sheer potential or the actual performance heard on stage? At any rate, the performances this afternoon range from the clearly untalented, obviously unprepared and unrepentant to a handful with some potential of better things to come. Let’s throw out the boy who mucked around in Debussy (and was thankfully not allowed to complete the piece) or the girl who turned a Delibes waltz into a goosestep, and what do we have? Not too much, I’m afraid. Some were well prepared and competent, but inspiration and imagination were in short supply generally. Some standouts: Rachel Chua (No.39), whose Grieg To the Spring rang as clearly as a bell and coped well in the prestidigitation of Mozart’s Sonata in F major K.332 (3rd movement). Yeo Kang Le (No.26) was probably the littlest participant, but he scored big in confidence in the vertiginous Gigue of Bach’s French Suite No.5 and a diminutive Clementi sonatina. Soh Kuan Wei (No.31) gave assured accounts of Beethoven’s Rondo in C and Tchaikovsky’s April, John Lee (No.34) showed some maturity in the first movement of Beethoven’s Sonata Op.14 No.1, and Isaac Yeo (No.36) was a big hitter in a Dussek sonata and Mendelssohn’s Song without Words Op.53 No.3. Also hopeful: Pan Jiahui (No.40). Her Schubert Sonata in E major D.459 (1st movement) had colour, was technically accurate in a Scarlatti sonata but should not have included late Liszt. So the boys in general fared better than the girls, but that could change tomorrow. so interesting right? hrm... this is way too outdated, but posting it wont be too late right? nevermind. john
layout by: hilary header by: sealedcards kwek mu yi chang jonshin charmaine mags huixian nadia and one best friend who does not want his blog to be revealed. hrm. i wonder who. One of my favourite piano concertos! And my favourite Russian pianist. Can't find stuff like that all the time. Title: Concerto No.2 -- Composer: Rachmaninov -- Pianist: Evgeny Kissin -- Orchestra: BBC Symphony - Sir Andrew Davis All four movements of Schumann's Piano Quintet in Eb. Pure composing genius, I say. And Maisky's playing! Title: Quintet for Piano and Strings in E flat Major -- Composer: Schumann -- Performers: Violins: Renaud Capuçon, Sayaka Shoji; Viola: Lars Anders Tomter; Cello: Mischa Maisky Another one of my favourite piano concertos! And Yundi Li does it pretty well. Title: Piano Concerto No. 1 -- Composer: Chopin -- Pianist: Yundi Li My favourite violin concerto with David Oistrakh - I think he plays this piece better than Heifetz although Heifetz is superior technically. It's more soulful. Actually my fav. is the Hilary Hahn recording but they didnt give the HTML code. So sad. Title: Violin Concerto -- Composer: Sibelius -- Violinist: David Oistrakh The best cellist ever plays one of the nicest cello works ever written. Brilliant! Title: Cello Concerto in E Minor -- Composer: Elgar -- Cellist: Jacqueline Du Pre The Polonaise-Fantasie by Chopin. I'm playing this. Apparently I am suited to play this because of my style. That's what my teacher said. Go figure. It's beautiful anyway. Title: Polonaise-Fantasie -- Composer: Chopin -- Pianist: Spencer Myers I'm playing this too. Very Schumann-ish, which is nice. But still Chopin. Title: Ballade No. 2 -- Composer: Chopin -- Pianist: Zimerman One of my favourite violin pieces by the best violinist ever! Title: Introduction and Rondo Capriccio -- Composer: Saint-Saens -- Violinist: Jascha Heifetz |