review: jordan hall 2000

New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall (Friday, 12th May, 2000)

Tu Song, Shih Pi-Hsun, Elaine Chew - three young musicians, on the invitation of the Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts, presented a concert of highest standards at the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, garnering warm praise from the audience.

The concert opened with pianist Elaine Chew playing Ivan Tcherepnin's "Twelve Variations on Happy Birthday". This famous melody, unknown to practically no one, in Ivan Tcherepnin's arrangement, manifested multi-layered changes and fantastical turns of the melody; almost as if tailored to the talents of this pianist, who also holds a PhD in mathematics. "Ba Ban", commissioned from Chen Yi for the Carnegie Hall Millenium Piano Book, received its world premiere at Carnegie Hall in March. Based on traditional Chinese instruments' "Eight Beats" rhythmic patterns, "Ba Ban" also contains strains of the songs from the mountains of China. It requires the utmost technical facility for execution. Wang Lisan's "Impressions of Paintings by Higashyama Kaii", based on four paintings by the renown Japanese painter, was truly like poetry and like art. The lofty, stark beauty of "Winter Blossoms"; the golden glowing colors of "The Forest in Autumn Garb"; the deeply reflective and remote quietude of "Lake"; and the explosive violence and majestic strength of "Crashing Waves"; with the added strokes of Elaine Chew's descriptive piano strains, knocked the wind out of one's lungs. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Music Section Chair Peter Child specially arranged three Chinese songs for the piano for Elaine Chew: "Precious Jewel", "Spring Song" and "Floating". Elaine Chew first sang these three songs then played them, using this occasion to celebrate Mother's Day, giving the audience a delightful surprise.

The second half was presented by the first clarinetist of the Shanghai Radio Philharmonic and the Shanghai Grand Theater Symphony Orchestra, Tu Song, in collaboraion with his pianist wife, Shih Pi-Hsun. They played four duos by Schumann, Debussy, Weber and Bernstein. Their seamless collaboration received unanimous praise from the audience. The clarinet too often performs as part of a larger orchestra, solo recitals being less common. This night was truly a colorful and rare occasion.