Rising Stars Piano Series Presents Jiao Sun in Review
Jiao Sun, piano
Southampton Cultural Center, Southampton, NY
November 19, 2022
The pianist Jiao Sun is the perfect ambassador for classical music in an era when cultural organizations are rethinking their approach to audience building. In what is frequently becoming the standard for recital programs, she offered a hearty tasting menu of works spanning the centuries, along with her own friendly and informative prefaces. The concert clocked in at about one hour, a streamlined but satisfying way to spend a late Saturday afternoon.
A good deal of thought went into the structuring of this program, beginning with the choice of three Scarlatti sonatas, in contrasting keys. Though I normally prefer not to separate technique from expression, it must be said that Ms. Sun has a secure technical foundation, which she uses in service to the composer. The two sonatas in major keys were straightforward, brilliant examples of the kind of keyboard writing that is Scarlatti’s domain (those scales in thirds !), but it was the middle sonata in D minor that drew me in the most. The pianist employed a beautiful singing tone to weave a pure and simple lament into an aria worthy of Handel at his best.
I would not immediately draw a line from Scarlatti to Haydn, but this juxtaposition in Ms. Sun’s programming allowed us to see the obvious relationship between these two unconventional keyboard composers. Her modest and contained interpretation of Haydn’s C minor Sonata, Hob XVI/20, suited this work, most especially in the tender Andante con Moto, in which the pianist created a long arching melodic line from start to finish.
Three unrelated compositions, like those socks that come out of the dryer without partners, served as a diversion between the heftier repertoire which framed them. The pianist had plenty of opportunity here to highlight her strong left hand in Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm and, to a larger extent, in Scriabin’s Étude Op. 42, No. 5. I have heard Gershwin’s own recordings of his piano works, and he may not have embraced Ms. Sun’s rubato, but it was a still an infectious interpretation. And the Scriabin was a triumph, a roiling, turbulent reading of a fiendishly difficult piece. Ms. Sun’s friend, the Peruvian Hwaen Ch’uqi, composed the middle work of this trio, a tragicomic short story with the curious title, Threnody of the Elephants on the Death of Their Friend. As befitting it’s subject matter, this slow, ponderous elegy hardly ventured above middle C. The pianist employed subtle dynamic shadings throughout, eventually building a great mass of sound at the climactic conclusion. This was a strong piece from a composer of promising talent.
All the stops were pulled out in the two concluding pieces of this program, Chopin’s G Minor Ballade and the Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody #6, both of which posed no challenge to Ms. Sun’s stamina. In particular, the Liszt seemed be squarely in her comfort zone, as she dug deeper into the keys to produce a more robust, meaty sound. Her command of the octave passages in the finale was truly astonishing, and a thrilling end to the evening.
Ms. Sun has all the skills needed for a successful career as a performing artist. Her gifts are prodigious and her preparation is rigorous. I would only plant one thought in her head, and that is to allow for more spontaneity, more connection to her own, personal voice as a musician, to bring her to the next level of artistry.
