An evening of music and poetry to celebrate not only the last day of the New Year Festivities but also the Lantern Festival and above all Valentine’s Day.What better way to begin than with two very fine pianists opening the evening with Elgar’s Salut d’Amour particularly suited to the noble surroundings of the National Liberal Club –
Shirley Wu went on to play Liszt’s famous Liebestraum and the Sonata in D minor K 213 by Scarlatti known as ‘The Lover’.Beautifully played and presented by this young Canadian pianist about to travel back to Canada taking with her a Master degree from the Royal College of Music.
A beautifully atmospheric work ‘Dui Hua’ by An -Lun Huang was played with a wonderful sense of style and colour and her charming introduction to this evening dedicated to love was very touching.
Yuanfan Yang played the opening movement of Mozart Sonata in C K 330 with remarkable clarity and superb sense of style.The four preludes op 28 by Chopin were played with the same beauty and technical mastery that was so memorable recently from a performance he gave on his Italian tour on Ischia. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2021/09/06/yuanfan-yang-in-paradise/.
Of course Yuanfan then astounded everyone with his improvisations.Asking the audience for a melody they would like him to elaborate on and to also tell him what style they would like him to play in! ‘The man I love’ was heard to come from the back in the style of Beethoven.Followed by a rather eclectic request of ‘Air on a G string’ in the style of John Rutter.But it was ‘Three blind mice’ combined with ‘Danny Boy’ in the style of Strauss and Tchaikowsky that brought the house down and an ovation for this remarkably talented young man.
Seated at the piano again with Shirley Wu they played together a beautiful rendition of Jasmine Flower/Mo Li Hua arranged by Xiaoping Luo that for us from the west is the tune that Puccini uses in his opera Turandot.Yuanfan Yang was then asked to improvise on Jasmine Flower and play it in a rousing ending that included Swan Lake by Tchaikowsky too!
Two beautiful love poems too read by friends of our indomitable hostess Yisha Xue added a magic touch to a memorable evening.
What more beautiful words could there be than these.Beautifully read by James Brown the distinguished friend of Yisha Xue:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.’ from I wandered lonely as a cloud ‘ by William Wordsworth
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ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 
My sincere congratulation to Yisha and her NLC colleagues for arranging such an remarkable event to celebrate the Year of the Tiger and giving opportunities to young aspiring talents.
From the perspective of young musicians (recent graduate from the Royal College of Music for example) the possibility to play in the beautiful surroundings of the National Liberal Club on a concert Steinway in front of an appreciate audience means a great deal.
It is important for young musicians to perform in public and these occasions are enhanced when they form part of an event (Valentine’s Day/Day of Lanterns) that cross cultures, and have universal appeal – just as music has universal appeal.
"Mi piace""Mi piace"