Exquisite Subtleties in Chopin and Prokofiev

The Singaporean-American pianist Kate Liu disbursed a colourful set of musical portraits, that includes nocturnes, waltzes, and mazurkas by Chopin alongside Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 8. In her live performance on behalf of the Basis for Chinese language Performing arts, Liu captivated Saturday’s Jordan Corridor viewers along with her delicate, passionate play, from the softest, most intimate whispers to the boldest outcries.

Deep silence ensued as Liu sat nonetheless on the piano, seemingly considering the set of Chopin miniatures which might represent the primary half to return. Then she lifted her fingers, and darkish, lonely arpeggios surfaced. Starting with the Nocturne in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27 No. 1, a daring piece to start out the night, Liu carried out with nice care, permitting ample time for the nocturne to breathe, whereas sustaining an ongoing musical circulation. Within the center part, the music grew from a murmur right into a torrent, waves of ardour crashing and falling. Lastly, Liu introduced us again to the return of the sluggish part, as comforting thirds offered a peaceable ending.

The flowing first-half set progressed via keys and energies. Chopin’s Mazurka in C-sharp Minor, Op. 50 No. 3 got here to us in a twinkling stream of flurrying notes falling easily into the air. Liu traveled via a wide range of impacts: vigorous outbursts, tender interjections, energetic dances. She pieced collectively a mosaic of gleaming smiles and wistful sighs inside Chopin’s harmonic twists and turns, punctuated by a decisive ending.

She dispatched the following three numbers virtually attacca, including to the set’s dramatic cohesion. Within the Waltz in D-flat Main, Op. 70 No. 3, Liu portrayed a kind of muted sweetness, carried by expertly executed legato melodies. Against this, the Waltz in A-flat Main, Op. 64 No. 3, spun with a extra vivacious vitality whereas nonetheless discovering moments of disappointment and stateliness. Liu performed the Mazurka in F-sharp Minor, Op. 59 No. 3, with poise and aptitude, and an virtually unforgiving nature; however tender, loving passages appeared as properly. After a pause, Liu gave us the Waltz in B Minor, Op. 69 No. 2. Her tackle the waltz was considerably slower than one may anticipate; together with this poignant layer of melancholy, she additionally turned to moments of daylight and heat. Lastly, the Mazurka in F Minor, Op. 68 No. 4 provided one other introverted scene stuffed with refined, delicate melodies, as if a cloudy backyard of inward sorrows.

The Nocturne in D-flat Main, Op. 27 No. 2 closed the set. Peaceable, shining arpeggios emerged, genial and welcoming as opposed to those who opened the live performance. Liu confirmed nice consideration to the internal voices, and the cadenza-like measure in direction of the tip sparkled. The nocturne led to repose, drifting off into the virtually painful silence through which the live performance had begun.

All through this primary half, Liu had confirmed a rare dedication and take care of these Chopin miniatures; it virtually felt as if we had been witnessing one thing extraordinarily non-public and intimate. A piano instructor as soon as informed me: amongst Chopin’s oeuvre, there are dances, and remembrances of dances. Each of those components ― issues themselves, and the reminiscences of them ― lived vividly in Liu’s delicate traversals, which transfixed the viewers of Jordan Corridor in rapt consideration.

Earlier than embarking on Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 8 in B-flat Main, Op. 84, Liu once more paused dramatically. She started with grandeur and gravitas, leaning into the thorny and prickly harmonies and contours alongside the best way. The opening motion of the sonata contemplated an internal battle, starkly contrasting between harsh chords and amorphous goals. Within the growth part, Liu executed the effervescent, foreboding runs virtuosic ally, evincing a crazed, angular insistence, virtually bestial ― all the best way to the quietest moments, close to silence, virtually nothing. A dreadfully cataclysmic climax slowly gave approach to the return of the expositional materials, all of the extra haunted within the wake of such an outpouring of depth. Islands of neuroses and paranoias floated in misty streams of obscurity. A sudden decision in a subdued B-flat main closed the primary motion.

Within the second motion, Liu introduced out a heat procession, if troubled by Prokofiev’s uncanny dissonances. She set the viewers adrift within the music’s clean contours, ebbing and flowing, on the sting of the awake and the asleep, lulling us into an unexpectedly light conclusion.

The playful and scherzo-like remaining motion discoursed in a perpetual movement frequent to Prokofiev’s extra upbeat music. Liu’s fingers flew exactly via frenetic passages, working via woodpecker-like obsession to a skipping waltz. She confirmed a menacing unstoppability in a left-hand octave ostinato, rising from uneasiness to panicked terror. The frantic vitality continued, flowing into expansive arpeggios and octaves and rolling right into a fiery, resolute, demonic end.

Spurred on by enthusiastic applause, Liu encored with “Im ruhigen Tempo,” the primary motion of Schumann’s Gesänge der Frühe, one in all his remaining compositions. A solemn chorale conjured one thing hallowed, an epilogue, a postscript. A thanks, maybe. The impact was notably putting after the chaos of the Prokofiev sonata. Maybe it was becoming that the live performance ended with Liu’s energy in quietude, a refined and delicate hymn born into the air via her expressively polyphonic contact.

In each second Kate Liu spent on stage, the music lived via every notice and every silence (measured at 30 decibels!). Liu’s sense of musical time typically allowed for lengthy pauses to breathe and reckon, including to the pensive ambiance. One thing about her presence, her focus, her honesty compelled the viewers to pay attention in to her musical thoughts. Out of the monochrome keys, via the body of Chopin and Prokofiev’s pens, a menagerie of multicolored soundworlds arose into the air, inviting us into Kate Liu’s expansive, poignant, empathetic musicality.

Julian Gau is a Boston-based conductor, at the moment pursuing a grasp’s diploma in orchestral conducting on the Boston Conservatory. He serves as founder and conductor of the Horizon Ensemble, and resident conductor of the Chinese language Music Ensemble of New York. He holds levels in music and arithmetic from Brown College.