Minnesota Public Radio: Pianist Haochen Zhang offers a fresh take on Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev
Chinese American pianist Haochen Zhang became a gold medalist and a first prize winner of the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. At age 19, he was one of the youngest winners in the competition. Ten years later, Haochen has just released his second recording. It features Tchaikovsky's powerful Piano Concerto No. 1 and the work he performed in the final round of the Cliburn Competition: Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2.
Minnesota Public Radio
Julie Amacher
Haochen Zhang — Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 / Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 (BIS)
Chinese American pianist Haochen Zhang became a gold medalist and a first prize winner of the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. At age 19, he was one of the youngest winners in the competition. Ten years later, Haochen has just released his second recording. It features Tchaikovsky's powerful Piano Concerto No. 1 and the work he performed in the final round of the Cliburn Competition: Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2.
"This is exactly 10 years after 2009, when I won the Cliburn. There's a personal feeling to this piece that I've been performing ever since.
"It's known for being the most technically challenging piano concerto, with the crazy cadenza in the first movement and nerve-racking second movement, and so forth.
Listen to Haochen’s interview with Julie Amacher here.
WFMT: Watch violinist Anne Akiko Meyers perform Bach and Gounod’s Ave Maria
Bach and Gounod's Ave Maria has always held a special place in violinist Anne Akiko Meyers' repertoire: she grew up playing the beloved work. "It's just one of the most beautiful pieces," Meyers shared during her August 16 Impromptu performance with pianist Marta Aznavoorian. Meyers visited WFMT ahead of her Sunday evening performance of Barber's Piano Concerto at Ravinia Festival with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra.
WFMT
Bach and Gounod's Ave Maria has always held a special place in violinist Anne Akiko Meyers' repertoire: she grew up playing the beloved work. "It's just one of the most beautiful pieces," Meyers shared during her August 16 Impromptu performance with pianist Marta Aznavoorian. Meyers visited WFMT ahead of her Sunday evening performance of Barber's Piano Concerto at Ravinia Festival with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra.
Watch the performance below and read more here.
Washington Post: Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Debuts at Wolf Trap
With new sounds in the beginning of the concert to the tried and true of the Western canon, the Shanghai Symphony’s debut at Wolf Trap was a wonderful snapshot of its musical history and tradition.
Washington Post
Patrick D. McCoy
A balmy evening and an enthusiastic audience created the perfect setting Wednesday for the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra’s Wolf Trap debut. But there are things beyond the weather to consider for the orchestra’s appearance in the cultural backyard of our nation’s capital — repertoire among them. Conducted by Long Yu, the program began with “Wu Xing” by Chinese composer Qigang Chen. Based on the traditional pentatonic scale, the work took on an otherworldly quality. Divided into five short movements, the elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth were reflected in the instruments…
With new sounds in the beginning of the concert to the tried and true of the Western canon, the Shanghai Symphony’s debut at Wolf Trap was a wonderful snapshot of its musical history and tradition.
Read more here.
The Times: Mahan Esfahani – Bach Toccatas Review – Bold, Dynamic, and Stupendous
Mahan Esfahani’s goal in life, his biographical note says, is to “bring the harpsichord to the concert mainstream”. To further this, the Iranian-American musician commissions new pieces, which is certainly one way of taking the keyboard instrument that plucks its strings out of history’s cocoon and welcoming it into the modern world. The other way is to give such thunderously exciting performances of old repertoire that anyone with ears to hear will sit there with mouth agape.
The Times
Geoff Brown
Mahan Esfahani’s goal in life, his biographical note says, is to “bring the harpsichord to the concert mainstream”. To further this, the Iranian-American musician commissions new pieces, which is certainly one way of taking the keyboard instrument that plucks its strings out of history’s cocoon and welcoming it into the modern world. The other way is to give such thunderously exciting performances of old repertoire that anyone with ears to hear will sit there with mouth agape.
Read more here.
Chicago Tribune: Shanghai Symphony Brings 140-Year Tradition to America
When the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra makes its Chicago-area debut Aug. 16 at the Ravinia Festival, no one will be prouder of the occasion than its music director, Long Yu.
Chicago Tribune
Howard Reich
When the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra makes its Chicago-area debut Aug. 16 at the Ravinia Festival, no one will be prouder of the occasion than its music director, Long Yu.
For to him, the Shanghai ensemble will be more than just a visitor from the other side of the world – it will be bringing with it a legacy stretching back to 1879, when it was established under a previous name.
“This is the first orchestra not only in China, but in the Far East,” says Yu, speaking by phone from Hong Kong.
“A lot of work was premiered in Asia by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. For example, Beethoven’s Ninth (Symphony), (Stravinsky’s) ‘Firebird’ – all those pieces premiered in Shanghai.”
In effect, adds Yu, this orchestra “introduced most of the classical music to China and to Asia.”
That in itself is significant, but all the more considering the dramatic growth of classical music in China and elsewhere in Asia. We may lament the shrinking and aging of the classical audience in the United States, with only the most celebrated soloists and ensembles able to fill large concert halls and festivals that routinely sold out in the mid-20th century. But in China and environs, the music seems to be on a perpetual rise.
Read more here.
Gramophone: The Listening Room – Haochen Zhang
A terrific new recording of Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto comes from 2009 Van Cliburn Competition winner Haochen Zhang - quite a feather in BIS’s cap as they’ve also this year's Tchaikovsky Competition winner Alexandre Kantorow on their books.
Gramophone
James Jolly
A terrific new recording of Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto comes from 2009 Van Cliburn Competition winner Haochen Zhang - quite a feather in BIS’s cap as they’ve also this year's Tchaikovsky Competition winner Alexandre Kantorow on their books.
Read more here.
Financial Times: Mahan Esfahani – Bach: Toccatas – free and spontaneous performances
As the outstanding harpsichordist of the younger generation, Esfahani naturally plays the toccatas on a harpsichord… Esfahani’s playing feels free and spontaneous without losing the underlying pulse of the music. The toccatas display their brilliance proudly. One can imagine the young Bach showing off his prowess just like this.
Financial Times
Richard Fairman
As the outstanding harpsichordist of the younger generation, Esfahani naturally plays the toccatas on a harpsichord… Esfahani’s playing feels free and spontaneous without losing the underlying pulse of the music. The toccatas display their brilliance proudly. One can imagine the young Bach showing off his prowess just like this.
Read more here.
Clef Notes: Q&A with Celebrated Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers
One of the most gifted violinists of her generation, Anne Akiko Meyers embodies what a virtuoso violinist should be as a powerful interpreter of beloved repertoire that spans centuries and yet poised to open that same repertoire to new music, serving as a vanguard in what has traditionally been a guarded space.
Clef Notes
One of the most gifted violinists of her generation, Anne Akiko Meyers embodies what a virtuoso violinist should be as a powerful interpreter of beloved repertoire that spans centuries and yet poised to open that same repertoire to new music, serving as a vanguard in what has traditionally been a guarded space. Of course, only time will tell what new music survives to take its place alongside classic works of the cannon, but Meyers is a truly nimble artist open to the idea of breaking musical boundaries that remain only because those before her hesitated to breach them.
With ground-breaking collaborations with top artists from electro-pop to jazz, Meyers refuses to rest on her laurels, sated by her own dominance of the violin repertoire. Marshaling the potency of her storied career, she broadens the scope of the cannon she interprets and the scope of her own experience at the same time.
This summer, I had an opportunity to pose a few questions to the one-time wunderkind and gained a little more insight into just why today she is simply a wonder, not only in her mastery of the repertoire, but also in her advocacy for it.
Q: As a young violin student studying in Southern California, did you ever imagine the kind of career for yourself you now enjoy?
A: I dreamed of becoming a concert violinist at age 7 after hearing Tchaikovsky at the Hollywood Bowl. Little did I know what an incredible journey I would go on. I am so grateful to all the teachers I studied with, the amazing musicians and collaborators I have worked with, and my family, for their unconditional support. It takes one heck of a village, luck, patience and perseverance to accomplish one’s dream.
Read more here.
BBC Music: August Live Choice – Grand Teton Music Festival
Russian pianist Denis Kozhukhin joins the Festival Orchestra and conductor Donald Runnicles for Shostakovich ‘s buoyant Second Piano Concerto. Anna Clyne’s This Midnight Hour, Britten’s Young Person’s Guide, and Debussy’s Preludes, arranged for orchestra, complete the eclectic programme.
BBC Music Magazine
Brian Wise
Grand Teton Music Festival
Teton Village, Wyoming
August 2-3, 2019
Russian pianist Denis Kozhukhin joins the Festival Orchestra and conductor Donald Runnicles for Shostakovich ‘s buoyant Second Piano Concerto. Anna Clyne’s This Midnight Hour, Britten’s Young Person’s Guide, and Debussy’s Preludes, arranged for orchestra, complete the eclectic programme.
Read more of the August Live Choices in BBC Music’s August issue, available here.
Gramophone: Video of the day – Mahan Esfahani on Bach's Toccatas
In the August issue of Gramophone, Richard Bratby speaks to Mahan Esfahani about Bach's seven keyboard toccatas (BWV910-916) and they discuss how he has approached recording these seven pieces for which no complete manuscript survives.
Gramophone
In the August issue of Gramophone, Richard Bratby speaks to Mahan Esfahani about Bach's seven keyboard toccatas (BWV910-916) and they discuss how he has approached recording these seven pieces for which no complete manuscript survives.
Esfahani's new recording of the toccatas will be released by Hyperion Records on August 2, and in the video below Esfahani shines a light on the recording process and the debt that he owes to the recording's producer Sébastien Chonion and engineer David Hinitt.