I have heard Bocheng play many times over the past years when he was an undergraduate at the Royal Academy and have always been impressed by his highly professional playing of intelligent musicianship and technical clarity. He is now a post graduate having been awarded all the highest prizes and is being mentored – maybe on a fellowship?- by Tessa Nicholson that renowned trainer of some of the finest pianists of their generation – Alim Beisembayev,Mark Viner,Tyler Hay etc .It was very interesting to hear an all ‘French’ programme culminating in three of Chopin’s masterpieces that were the work of a young Polish emigré who had come to seek out an aristocratic audience in Paris that could appreciate his refined genius.’Hats off Gentlemen a Genius’ penned Schumann on hearing the teenager playing his op 2 Variations. Chopin, though, was destined never to return to the homeland that he always had in his heart. It was this same refined elegance and glowing clarity that Bocheng brought to all he played.

Chopin had Bach’s Preludes and Fugues always on his piano so it was fitting the Bocheng should play one of the most beautiful of his French Suites, the one in G. There was a clarity and a flowing simplicity to the opening ‘Allemande’ . Discreet ornamentation just added to the beauty of his performance with refined good taste and sensitivity .A Courante of dynamic drive and a Sarabande of poignant beauty where the subtle ornamentation was of bel canto beauty .The Gavotte was played with grace and elegance and again subtle ornamentation that just added to its dance like character.There was a poignant beauty to the falling phrases of the Loure which contrasted with the brilliance of the Gigue that was played with an exhilarating drive that showed his technical mastery and superb musicianship .

Ondine appeared with ravishing beauty swimming in and out of the streams of water that Bocheng brilliantly described .Gradually she emerged and rose with triumphant radiance above the searing waves that are to envelope her completely . Played with transcendental authority and command with a whispered ending bathed in pedal of poignant simplicity and poetic beauty before she swam off in the now calmed waters.A remarkable performance that makes one want to hear the whole of this extraordinary suite based on the poem of Aloysius Bertrand.

A performance of Chopin’s Nocturne op 27 n.1 that was a tone poem of refined beauty and exhilaration.From the deep brooding of the opening on which floated a melody that was shaped with the subtle rubato of a bel canto singer.A central episode that seemed to creep in out of this beauty and build to a climax of Polonaise exhilaration and aristocratic nobility before dying away to the serenity and ravishing beauty of the final bars.Playing of refined artistry and poetic understanding allied to a sensitive tone palette of poignant beauty.

The second Ballade had an architectural shape that was quite remarkable .Despite the dramatic contrasts Bocheng managed to construct a work of strength and beauty.An opening of childlike simplicity with a flowing lilting tempo of great delicacy .The explosive eruptions were played with a brilliance and passion that were united in a duet of significance and searing intensity as one phrase answered another before exploding into a coda of exhilaration and passionate drive.Bocheng managed to keep always an undercurrent that was constant despite the dramatic contrasts.Even the genial final bars were part of a picture that had been tainted with genius.

The highlight of the recital was the final work which was of aristocratic playing of nobility and brilliance.This is the real thing with a Chopin of great inner sentiment but never sentimentality or teasing crowd pleasing filigree playing .From the very first notes there was an undercurrent of beauty on which floated the glorious outpouring of bel canto tinged with nostalgia and beguiling melancholy .Even the embellishments were played with an authority where every note had a significance and not just thrown off with crowd teasing brilliance.The Mazurka too was played with a rhythmic fervour and sense of direction that gave great strength to such a seemingly simple melody. Bocheng’s orchestra I have never heard played so well with sumptuous sounds of noble brilliance.No wonder the Polonaise was ‘Grande’ and ‘Brillante’ which is rarely the case with pianists who like to play cat and mouse with Chopin’s teasingly virtuosistic streams of notes.There was an inner strength to Bocheng’s playing that had the same authority that was Rubinstein’s or Fou Ts’ongs where the so called Chopin tradition was exchanged for artists who could delve into Chopin’s heart instead of skating over the top with superficial showmanship.

Letting his hair down Bocheng offered an encore of Mozart alla Turca Jazz a reworking by Fazil Say /Wang with it’s impishly cheeky reworking of Mozart .Ending with glissandi up and down the keyboard it was a wonderful way of bringing this last concert of the season to glorious end.

Bocheng Wang has performed as a soloist with the Hillingdon Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra, the Dulwich Symphony Orchestra and the London Mozart Players. He has toured across Europe including in the UK, Germany, Poland, Denmark, France and Spain. Following his debut recital at Wigmore Hall in 2023, Bocheng was described by The Arts Desk as ‘a force to be reckoned with’, playing passages ‘with mastery and drama’. An artist with Making Music UK, Bocheng has performed at festivals including PianoTexas International Festival & Academy, Ferrara Summer Festival, Dartington Music Summer School and Festival and The International Musical Artistry Goslar. He has taken masterclasses with the likes of Richard Goode, Stephen Kovacevich, Pavel Gililov, Arie Vardi, Imogen Cooper, Pascal Rogé and Steven Osborne. His important competition successes include First Prize at the Royal Overseas-League Piano Competition (2023), Second Prize at the Windsor International Piano Competition (2022), Semi-finalist Prize at the Santander International Piano Competition (2018), and the First & Grand Prize at the Croydon Performing Arts Festival Concerto Competition (2015). Bocheng reached the highest level of achievement during his studies at the Royal Academy of Music, culminating in full marks from the Academy’s Advanced Diploma in Performance programme under Professor Ian Fountain. He also previously achieved a Master’s Degree with the highest performance award DipRAM and a Bachelor’s Degree with First Class Honours under Professor Ian Fountain ( 2020-23)and Professor Christopher Elton (2016-20). Bocheng’s studies were supported by Sir Elton John. He is currently a pupil of Professor Tessa Nicholson. 

Bocheng Wang at St James’s Piccadilly Supreme musicianship and style

Bocheng Wang’s wondrous Chopin at St Mary’s

Bocheng Wang’s magnificent Rachmaninov at St Mary’s<

Bocheng Wang at Farm Street Church