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Chopin and Schumann 200th Anniversary Celebration

Musicians from the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University

Min Kwon, Director

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

May 27, 2010

Chopin and Schumann 200th Anniversary Celebration

There has certainly been no shortage of Chopin and Schumann celebrations this year, but a gala concert by Min Kwon and musicians from the Mason Gross School of the Arts showed that there is always room for another. Sixteen musicians of various ages (both faculty and students) assembled in a large and varied recital of well-loved works by the two masters. The program’s first half was a bit long (well over an hour), but the programming was a delight (alternating the two composers instead of placing them in large blocs), and the dovetailed entries and exits kept the flow.

The first offering was Chopin’s Scherzo in B minor, played by undergraduate Lachlan Glen. A bold opening by a young pianist with promise, the piece enjoyed increased confidence and accuracy as it proceeded. Recent freshman Michelle Rofrano followed with Chopin’s Waltzes in F Minor, Op. 70, No. 2 and C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2. Graceful and earnest, her readings caught much of the works’ beauties. Moving to Schumann songs, we heard “Er Ist’s” (“It is Spring”) and “Stille Tränen” (“Silent Tears”) sung by soprano Catherine Spadora Stebbins with Barbara González-Palmer at the piano. An M.M. candidate, Ms. Stebbins has an appealing voice and projected the contrasting moods well.

Returning to the piano, the program continued with Chopin’s Etudes, the C Major, Op. 10, No. 1 and C Minor, Op. 10, No. 12 (“Revolutionary”) played by doctoral student Zin Bang. These were unusually solid and confident performances, showing admirable technical control. When doctoral student Kelly Yu-Chieh Lin followed with Chopin’s Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1, one was ready for something meditative and received just that. Ms. Lin sustained her melodic lines beautifully in the opening’s profound simplicity and over surging left hand octaves. Having once had the pleasure of reviewing doctoral student, Alexander Beridze, I was eagerly anticipating his Chopin Ballade in F Major (the Ballade dedicated to Schumann). At first, the contrasts between the lyrical and tempestuous sections seemed a bit restrained; upon reflection, though, the avoidance of what some pianists turn into excess would likely have pleased its most elegant composer. Mr. Beridze did not disappoint. The infamous coda lacked nothing in speed and excitement.

A highlight of the evening was the playing of doctoral student Junko Ichikawa, who performed Chopin’s Mazurka in A-flat Major, Op. 24, No. 3 and Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 42 with ease and maturity. Especially impressive was her imaginative use of contrasting articulations and pedaling to enliven the various restatements.

More Schumann songs followed, “Der Nussbaum” (“The Nut Tree”) and “Widmung” (“Dedication”) both from the composer’s Op. 25. Hong Kyung Kim was the expressive soprano with Ms. González-Palmer providing important support. Two Chopin Mazurkas, with melodies that Schumann called “cannons hidden in fields of flowers” came next. The A-flat major and F-sharp minor Mazurkas from Op. 59, were given thoughtful, understated interpretations by doctoral student DiYi Tang. Finishing the half was Miao Hou (soon to enter the DMA program at Mason Gross) in a rousing, dynamic performance of Chopin’s Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor.

The second half consummated the celebration with some of the more seasoned performers and faculty, including violinists Todd Phillips and Leo Ching-Hung Lo, violist Audrey Ching-Yuan Chen, cellist Jonathan Spitz, and pianist Min Kwon in Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat. Ms. Kwon, who had supervised and greeted earlier that evening, proved to be the tireless center of a vibrant performance. Some highlights included singing cello melodies in the first movement and a Scherzo that absolutely pulsated with life. Happy 200^th indeed!

by Rorianne Schrade for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Enhake Quartet

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

May 3, 2010

An evening of works by five living composers was presented by the Enhake Quartet from Florida State University on May 3rd. The members of this foursome, all impressive soloists and adept chamber musicians, made strong cases for each of the compositions on this program. One of the defining characteristics of the Enhake is rock-solid rhythmic integrity which was evident from the start of “Breakdown Tango” by the composer John Mackey. Propelled by the violinist M. Brent Williams’ driving sixteenth note ostinato, each of the other players added a layer of complexity until the grand climax gives way to a lonely habanera solo on cello. Throughout the tango, clarinetist Wonkak Kim wove his sultry, stylized melodies into the fabric. Much of this piece feels as though it has quotation marks around it, yet in spite of that, it is well crafted and benefited from precise ensemble.

Two movements of Kris Maloy’s “Quartet in Four Actions” entitled “Slink” and “Float” further proved the quartet’s strengths in balance, intonation, and musicality. The simple arc of “Slink”, with its slowly blossoming minor third motive, was beautifully paced and modulated. At the outset of “Float”, cellist Jayoung Kim spun a legato line of great elegance, the initial voice in an expansively lyrical canon. As the music spiraled downward in dynamic and pulse, the players handled their challenges with poise.

Libby Larsen’s “Rodeo Queen of Heaven” proved to be the most harmonically adventurous composition in a decidedly conservative program. It commenced with a burst of activity. As the pianist Eun Hee Park held a tenacious pedal note, her colleagues embarked upon an almost improvisational extended fantasia. Ms. Larsen asks the performers of this piece to extend the boundaries of traditional technique, and Enhake is ideally suited to the task. This was a polished, yet spontaneous performance.

Peter Lieuwen’s “Gulfstream”, which opened the second half, was quite obviously programmatic in its deft evocation of the swirling waters of that grand body of water. Again, Eun Hee Park provided a solid foundation of fluent pianism, at times industrious, and then gently undulating. Along the way, Mr. Kim showed his impressive range in a quasi cadenza-like solo for clarinet. This was not an ambitious work, but well structured and idiomatic in its writing.

For sheer enjoyment, it would be hard to beat Peter Schickele’s “Quartet in A” as a program finale. In four clearly defined movements, the composer employs elements of French salon music, American jazz, and Eastern European folk dance, complete with off-kilter meter changes. Mr. Schickele knows how to feature his musicians, providing them with meaty, virtuosic rifts, and intuitively musical passages which just seem fun to play.

I look forward to hearing Enhake again soon, and by then I hope they will have been able to commission an even greater range of works for their growing repertory. They are excellent artists and technicians who present thoroughly prepared performances.

by David La Marche for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Hiroko Sasaki, piano

Hiroko Sasaki, piano
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
April 28, 2010

Hiroko Sasaki

One of this writer’s fondest memories was the distinguished debut of a young Japanese-born pianist, Hiroko Sasaki, on May 8, 2003 (my review of that Weill Hall concert appeared in volume 10, No. 3 of this journal). Ms. Sasaki has continued to confirm my initial impression that she was “a true artist at work.” She sounded as splendid as ever at one of her return appearances under the auspices of the Abby Whiteside Foundation’s series on April 20th in the same venue. Indeed, the pianist’s program of both books of Debussy’s Preludes consolidated that same concert of seven years ago that had included works of Haydn, Chopin and the first volume of the Debussy (even the encore, Le Petit Berger, that I had called a perfect ending the first time, was repeated).

Ms. Sasaki, who left her native Japan at age 13 to join the Yehudi Menuhin School, and subsequently earned her degree at The Curtis Institute (at 16), made her orchestral debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra and has concertized extensively in the US and Canada as recitalist and chamber musician. She is still residing in New York City and is on the faculty of the Bard College Conservatory of Music.

As I vividly recall, Ms. Sasaki’s distinctive interpretative persona successfully fuses Classical understatement with Romantic freedom. Her elegance has exquisite proportion but always (as I previously wrote) “sprint, gravitas and repose.” Danseuses de Delphes, which can often sound square and blocky, had a tart mobility which the pianist skillfully achieved by playing the answering response phrases a trifle faster and more impetuously than the forgoing ones. Her tempos, most of them on the brisk side, brought to the fore countless other felicities (I especially liked her ongoing, Gieseking-like treatment of THE eponymous interruption in Le Serenade Interrompue; and the way she managed the buildup in La Cathedrale engloutie (in accordance with Debussy’s own piano roll performance. As I remember, the two final Book I Preludes, La danse de Puck and Minstrels, were as fleet and invigorating as ever.

Book II, written a few years after Book I (1909-1910), has many similarities, but there are subtle differences, too. Ms. Sasaki, as one would have expected from such a discriminating musician, seized upon many opportunities. I loved her magnificently robust account of La Puerta de vino, and of course the Hommage a S. Pickwick, Esq. PPMPC had full, requisite Dickensian pomposity. Les Fees danced exquisitely, and Ondine was perceptively more dangerous. The culminating Feux d’artifice, with its final echo of the Marseillaise sizzled brilliantly.

All in all, a wonderful concert from beginning to end.

by Harris Goldsmith for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Victor Goldberg, piano

Victor Goldberg, piano
Pro Musicis
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
April 21, 2010

Victor Goldberg is an excellent pianist with a formidable technique, a powerful tone, and a romantic soul (and a distracting habit of tossing his hands way up). Russian-born, he has studied, performed and won competitions in Europe, Israel and America, and is the recipient of the 2008 Pro Musicis International Award.

His Weill Recital Hall concert, rather enigmatically entitled “From the Depths of the Creative Spirit,” showed his pianistic strengths, emotional projection, and stylistic versatility. Except for Domenico Scarlatti’s famous E major Sonata – played with filigree delicacy, crystal-clear runs and elegant leaps – the program featured music of the 19th and 20th centuries. The beginning of Chopin’s B-flat minor Scherzo immediately demonstrated that Goldberg subscribes to a key element of today’s performing style: utmost dynamic contrast. The opening figure’s ominous whisper and the crashing chords following it seemed to skirt the outer limits of the instrument’s sound, a tendency toward extremes that continued throughout the concert. But within these parameters, Mr. Goldberg has a wide range of nuances and colors, which he used with great skill and imagination.

Shostakovich wrote his second Sonata in 1942 during Hitler’s infamous siege of Leningrad that claimed 632,000 lives. One of the victims was Shostakovich’s teacher Leonid Nikolaev, to whose memory the sonata is dedicated. The Shostakovich family had been evacuated from the besieged city, but, though composed in the comparative safety of the countryside, the sonata has an eerie, unsettled quality and a desolate ending; Mr. Goldberg’s intensely expressive performance had a powerful emotional impact.

The program’s highlight was Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Handel, one of the most daunting masterpieces of the repertoire. Goldberg met its instrumental and musical challenges with masterful technical and tonal command. Combining careful planning with spontaneity, austerity with romantic passion, he made the variations building blocks in an overarching structure, yet he also brought out their individual characters, using the repeats to underline different voices. With the final fugue as a true culmination, it was a most impressive performance. Responding to the audience’s enthusiasm, he played encores by Debussy, Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky.

by Edith Eisler for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Daniel Cho, violin

Sunglee Victoria Choi, piano

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

April 20, 2010

Daniel Cho

Daniel Cho played with a robust, confident sound at his New York recital debut, sponsored by the Korea Music Foundation; he displays a technique that is comparable to many top professionals today. Winner of the 2009 Great Mountains Music Festival Competition, he studies with Hyo Kang in Juilliard’s Pre-College Division. His technical prowess was exemplary in Wieniawski’s Fantaisie brillante on Themes from Gounod’s Faust; his up-bow spiccato, harmonics, difficult leaps, pizzicato and tricky double-stops were all eye-opening.

Corelli’s Sonata in E Major, which was composed in the second half of the 17th century, required clearer, more elegant phrasing and Baroque-Period simplicity, but Seunghyun Yun’s Decalcomania: Lament, a contemplative work combining the overt nature of open strings and the more mysterious qualities of major sevenths and minor ninths, was beautifully played, and with much devotion by Mr. Cho.

In the Grieg Sonata, pianist Sunglee Victoria Choi made the most of every solo turn, and—when required—she played with a lovely, tender sound. Cho had his musical moments too, but he didn’t always make the most of his opportunities to change tone color (his vibrato, pressure of the bow, etc.) in contrasting sections. Here and in Chopin’s Nocturne in D Major, Op. 27 No. 2, he sometimes forgot to substitute genuine sweetness for passion. Still, there is absolutely no doubt that Cho has complete command of his instrument. In fact, his sound is so resonant and lush that he would have no problem projecting over a full orchestra in heavily scored works such as the Shostakovich and Bartok concerti. And he certainly would be heard from the top balcony of a large hall such as Carnegie’s Stern Auditorium; hopefully, he will play there one day.

by Anthony Aibel for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Junior Chamber Music

Junior Chamber Music
Presented by Distinguished Concerts International -New York, DCINY
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
April 11, 2010

From the west side of the United States to the west side of Manhattan, an impressive bunch of students from southern California, all part of an organization called Junior Chamber Music –founded and directed by Susan Boettger—performed extremely well-prepared, well-chosen music at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. The concert was presented by Distinguished Concerts International New York.

One of the most impressive performances on the program was Schumann’s Piano Quintet (the last two movements)—not just for its ensemble excellence and finesse in notoriously tricky passages and transitions, but for all its musical insights. Individually, the students are quite young and inexperienced with this music—violinists Lucas Stratmann and Hao Zhao are middle school-aged, Iona Batchelder is a 6th grade cellist, and violist Amanda Lin and pianist Jessie Wang are high school freshman— but collectively, they had a rare unity of interpretation and sounded more professional than they probably knew they were capable. In the Scherzo, the many up-and-down scales—which can often sound tedious in student performances, were exquisitely shaped, and the second theme was tender, showing a mature contrast in tone quality and expression.

The Mendelssohn piano trios received plenty of exposure on the program—G. Theory and the Vision and NYC trios performed movements admirably—with pianist Weston Mizumoto a standout for his excellent finger work in the D minor’s technically demanding first movement. Two other favorites of the repertoire, the Brahms Opus 8 and the Arensky were also excellent choices and given passionate performances by the Brahms and Angeles Trios. Despite small intonation lapses and some ordinary phrasing, Trio con Lancio’s playing in Martinu’s excellent Sonata for Flute, Violin and Piano was solidly together throughout.

Swing Shift, by Kenji Bunch, was another highlight of the program. I can see why the inventive 4th and 6th movements were selected for this group. Violinist Paya Sarraf, cellist Alec Hon and pianist Primitivo Cervantes reveled in the music’s Rock-Minimalistic beats, and the audience was swinging along with them. Excellent ensemble-playing and some intonation difficulties permeated the CalDuo performance of Duos for Flute and Clarinet by Robert Muczynski, and Jack McFadden-Talbot’s Concern, in its world premiere, was—considering an older, more experienced group at hand— overly simple in its use of rhythm and counterpoint. The mezzo Hannah McDermott is a wonderful talent with a lovely, expressive voice; she was teamed-up with flutist Taylor Weary and pianist Leslie Wu for a very fine performance of three songs from Deepest Desire by Jake Heggie.

The chemistry was palpable between violinist Judith Yu and cellist Allan Hon in the Tchaikovsky Piano Trio in A minor (Variation movement); their physical gestures, vibrato, and bow strokes were always matching. They exuded a lush, professionally robust string sound and a finely-tuned sense of pitch. Renee Yang did an excellent job with the technical demands of the piano part, although she needs some more variety in her phrasing and dynamics. The group’s overall performance was engaging and polished, with well-timed transitions of tempo. Junior Chamber Music and all the ensembles on this program should be very proud of what they are accomplishing.

by Anthony Aibel for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Mana Takuno, piano

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

April 10, 2010

Mana Takuno’s excellent performance of an early, rarely heard 1901 work by George Enescu, his Suite No.2 in D Major, Op. 10, delighted me at a May 8, 2008 concert—(see review in Volume 15, No.3 of this journal) , and it made me want to hear more of her playing. I wrote that her exciting interpretation, with its “drive, virtuosity, textual and coloristic diversity”, stole the show from three other young pianists who shared the same concert with her. Ms. Takuno and her program of Poulenc, Thomas Oboe Lee, Beethoven and Schumann afforded me a more comprehensive “fix” on her achievement and pianistic capabilities.

Ms. Takuno commenced with Theme Varie, which I believe was Francis Poulenc’s last work for solo piano. From the outset, the pianist captivated me with a warm, firm, beautifully balanced singing tone, and was alive to every intriguing turn of Poulenc’s whimsy. The second item was Thomas Oboe Lee’s 2009 Takuno Toccata, which was labeled a world premiere (it had been previewed in Boston a few weeks earlier on March 30th.) The work is skillfully written, and Ms. Takuno, the dedicatee, obviously found the Toccata tailor-made for her abilities and musical persona.

Alas, it pains me to relate that Ms. Takuno’s recital, after its auspicious beginning, turned out to be a surprisingly Jekyll and Hyde affair: Beethoven’s Sonata No. 28 in A, Op. 101 began wanly, and then promptly came with memory slips from which she never really recovered. The second movement March was too fast (for her comfort) and rhythmically and technically out of control. The poignant Largo-molto cantabile lacked concentration and intensity, and the Presto Finale was slipshod and lumpy. I will concede that this late-Beethoven Sonata is a tough nut for any young artist to crack, but I was a bit shocked that a player who I had believed to be as experienced and accomplished as Ms. Takuno would have been so technically over-extended and out of her element.

I was even more saddened by her inadequate performance of Schumann’s sublime Davidsbundler Tanze, Op. 6, a work which I had hoped would prove entirely congenial for an artist with an inclination to heartfelt Romanticism. Her version was to be sure “serious”, but it was also “boring”, as her tempos were prevailingly slow and heavy. Admittedly, I much favor Schumann’s earlier first version of the composition. The revised version, which Ms. Takuno validly preferred, burdens the attractive impetuosity and asymmetry with many portentous repeats, and furthermore expunges a few delectable details such as the held over note on the very first phrase and the delicious little pat on the backside at the end of No. 9. But the real problem with Ms. Takuno’s rendition was its technically labored pianistic deficiency (No. 13 was not so much Wild und lustig as muddled and desperate.)The virtuosity I had admired deserted her.

An encore, the Promenade penultimate movement from Schumann’s Carnaval, Op. 9 gave us more of the same, but, fortunately, a second encore—which I am told was part of Thomas Oboe Lee’s 20-9 Fireflies Book III, “Like a Music Box”—let us glimpse anew at the tonal beauty and refinement that had delighted me in Ms. Takuno’s playing in the early stages of her program.

My conclusion is that she is certainly gifted but also a “work in progress.”

by Harris Goldsmith for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Peter Fletcher, guitar

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

March 27, 2010

Peter Fletcher’s loyal followers at Weill Recital Hall were treated to a program of classical guitar music that ran the gamut from Paduana, by Baroque lute music pioneer Esaias Reusner, to the haunting and ethereal Prelude and Ritual from David Leisner’s Four Pieces. Fletcher began the evening with three crowd-pleasing transcriptions: Handel’s Sarabande and Variations, Bach’s Prelude No.1 from Book 1 of The Well Tempered Clavier, and Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring (a Foster transcription).

The highlight of the evening was Fletcher’s clever transcription of Erik Satie’s Sports and Divertissements. This set of fifteen of the twenty ephemeral, witty pieces was originally conceived as a multimedia project for music, with sketches by Charles Martin—of which some illustrations were printed in the program—and narration by Daniel Brondel, who gave an equally witty demonstration of each of Satie’s poetic commentaries. Colin-Maillard (or Blindman’s Bluff) particularly demonstrated the wide range of his personal vocabulary, which is unique in his transcriptions, and the same can be said of his transcriptions of Issac Albeniz’s Sevilla and Leopold Weiss’ Passacaglia.

In the program notes, Fletcher attributes the cumbersome quality of Bach’s Lute Suite in E minor to his lack of lute skills and reminds the audience that the score does not specify lute as the instrument for which it is written. Though Fletcher’s overall interpretation of the suite was very moving, he illustrated the aforementioned technical awkwardness by rushing through the end of the Gigue. He also performed, with some difficulty, his own transcription of Ravel’s Empress of the Pagodas from the Mother Goose Suite, though his arrangement of this and the Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty were strikingly clever. He did, however, give absolutely seamless performances of Villa-Lobos’ Gavotta-Choro and Carlo Domeniconi’s koyunbaba, (Turkish for “sheep-father”), which was particularly impressive due to the re-tuning of his guitar.

Throughout the program, Fletcher created an air of comfort in his musical presentation: his choice to address the audience in between movements, and his relaxed attire transformed the regal Weill Hall into his own living room, where the audience was made to feel very welcome.

by Anthony Aibel for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

International Junior Music Competition

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

March 27, 2010

International Junior Music Competition

A Gala program featuring the winners of the International Junior Music Competition began with Sarasate’s Introduction and Tarantella performed by the young Kanon Kobayashi. Only around ten years old, she plays with great intonation, a robust sound, and a mature, varying vibrato. She is exceptionally musical and exudes a joy for the music she is playing. The Skylark by Balakirev, and Alborada del gracioso by Ravel were performed by 12-year-old pianist Hina Inokuchi. The Balakirev was a perfect choice, as she played with much grace and evocative color; the Ravel, which sounds better as an orchestral showpiece, lacked some of the passion and grandeur it needs.

In Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto finale, we heard a most prodigious girl, Emiri Kobayashi, perform on a tiny, buzzing violin. I was at first skeptical, but we soon learned that she is in fact ripe and ready for this virtuosic warhorse. It was her instrument that wasn’t ready—nor will it ever be—and I’m sure she can’t wait until she grows into a bigger violin. Paganini’s I Palpiti in A Major (Kreisler edition) was performed by eighth-grader Mao Konishi. Her harmonics were exquisite, as was her beautiful sound. She only needs to show a bit more flair and some more joy in her facial expressions to play this kind of showpiece.

Another showpiece, Ravel’s Tzigane, was well-performed by 15-year-old violinist, Issei Kobayashi. He reveled in Ravel’s music, playing with a flair befitting a gypsy. He executed excellent double-stops, pizzicato, octaves and harmonics, and started off with a captivating opening cadenza—sometimes he played a bit too deliberately or rushed—but he was always impressive. 16-year-old pianist, An Negishi, performed Griffes’ The White Peacock from Roman Sketches with a lovely sensitivity—sometimes sounding too cautious, but Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 3 was confident and powerful. Only sometimes did the phrasing sound bland in the second theme, and only at the end did the tempo feel too rushed, but her sparkling accents and varied dynamics brought both vigor and sincerity to her performance.In works by Beethoven, Ravel and Pierne, pianist Hinako Ota, who was born in 1994, played with a strong sound and a good technique. There was an engaging playfulness in passages that require it. She needs to work on a wider dynamic range; lighter, more directional phrasing; and better balance between right and left hands. In Wieniawski’s Fantasie Brillante, violinist Kana Egashira performed with exciting energy and clear signs of enjoyment in her playing. Aside from a few tonal and intonation imperfections, her virtuoso passages were fabulous. And she took her time is slower melodic phrases, milking notes with genuine musicality.

by Anthony Aibel for New York Concert Review; New York, NY

Traditional and Classical Music of Kazakhstan

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY

March 27, 2010

An important concert at Weill Recital Hall fascinatingly revealed some history and updates of Kazakhstan’s instruments, composers and current musicians. And the chronology was presented handsomely, with exploration of the traditional qobyz instrument and Kazakhstan folk music. Aizhan Toleubaeva was the impressionable soloist in traditional dress. The qobyz produces many rich overtones, and it resonated beautifully in the hall. She also played it very musically, holding the instrument like a cello and gently caressing her bow against its strings. Then talented pianist Alia Alhan, who is also the director of the Cultural Center of Kazakhstan in New York, proceeded to play Four Preludes by Kazhgaliev, which had some Ravelian influences, and Kyui by Andosov, a work with many open 4ths and 5ths and reminiscent of Borodin’s music. Alhan played the works with lovely shades of color and pedaling, and she was extremely musical at transitions, with subtle, tasteful rubato.

The world premiere of the Sonata for Violin and Piano by Almas Serkebayev could not have been more successful. The piece is extremely well-written for both instruments, is consistently engaging, and the performances by violinist Raushan Akhmedyarova and pianist Temirzhan Yerzhanov were high-energy and high-accuracy. They blended together flawlessly, with both technical and tonal polish. The work itself has two intense and exciting outer movements with a haunting Lento—reminiscent of Shostakovich—in its middle. I particularly enjoyed the always-fascinating bass lines; the snazzy, syncopated waltz-like sections (also sometimes drawing Shostakovich to mind); and the biting harmonies, which were quite original.

The program concluded with Yerzhanov performing Schumann’s Carnival, Opus 9. A graduate of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and the winner of the 1993 Schumann Piano Competition, Yerzhanov moved to the States in 2002. Some of the many pieces like Preambule and Aveu were lacking the requisite grandeur or just felt too hurried. But other pieces like Eusebius and Chopin contained just the right amount of delicate, lovely rubato. Marche des Davidsbundler Contre des Philistins occasionally featured an appealing majesty, and the work concluded with a fierce drive and a sheer display of virtuoso technique.

by Anthony Aibel for New York Concert Review; New York, NY