Some extraordinary playing from Eric Lu for the Richmond Concert Society where everything he played was touched with a refined sensibility to sound that made all he played seem so fresh and new.
Even the choice of Chopin’s very mysterious nocturne op 27 n 1 drew us into a secret world of whispered sounds where an extraordinary sense of balance allowed him to reveal rather than project the melodic line .Even the central episode entered from afar as it gradually built up to its polonaise climax .The passionate vehemence he gave to the left hand recitativo was even more overwhelming as so unexpected.Never a hard or ungrateful sound even in the most passionate outpourings and it was this that made his playing of Schubert’s last Impromptus a continuous stream of sublime song.
Everything he did was of the human voice even the operatic opening of the first impromptu that immediately dissolved into a murmur on which floated Schubert’s sublime melodic outpouring .A remarkable way of understating where a lesser artist might be assertive.The ravishing beauty of the cantilena streams of golden sounds was quite breathtaking. The A flat impromptu played with delicacy and poetic beauty as the mellifluous central episode was like a gentle wave that slowly enveloped us in it’s sumptuous warmth, with the opening melody returning as if a memory of a glorious dream.The theme and variations were played with a jeux perlé of golden sounds that just seemed to pour so naturally from this young artist’s refined fingers. The final F minor Impromptu I will never forget the frenzied excitement and breathtaking, fearless abandon of Serkin . Today Eric Lu gave a more poetic view where frenzy was tempered by poetic sensibility .
It was in the three Mazurkas by Chopin that Eric Lu found his world of true wonderment. A fantasy and temperament that brought these ‘canons covered in flowers’ vividly to life with quite extraordinary imagination and it’s insinuating sense of dance linked to the Polish soul laid bare .
The B flat minor Sonata burst onto the scene with aristocratic grandeur and technical mastery. Returning to the opening introduction and repeating the exposition as the development unwound with dynamic contrasts and genial invention. It was though the Funeral March that showed the great artistry of Eric Lu as it unfolded with aristocratic timelessness and monumental simplicity. The last movement was an extraordinary tour de force of poetic and technical mastery. His beautifully stylish ending brought this monumental work to a glorious ending and earned him a standing ovation from a discerning public that had listened in total silence to the fantasy world of this young poet of the keyboard.
The best was still to come , though. with the slow movement of the Mozart Sonata K 330 played with quite extraordinary poetic sensibility.The waltz op 42 by Chopin showed his beguiling charm and transcendental virtuosity and his cheeky nonchalant ending was a perfect way to send us out into the freezing cold to catch our last bus home to reality Previous top prize winners in the Leeds invited to Richmond Concert Society http://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2024/05/22/ariel-lanyi-illuminates-richmond-concert-society-with-the-integrity-and-humility-of-a-great-artist/ https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/03/15/alim-beisembayev-the-poetic-vision-of-a-great-artist/
“Leeds winner Eric Lu showed an astonishing command of keyboard tone and color.. the sign he is already a true artist. It was a spellbinding experience.”– The Guardian
“Lu’s playing is in a rare class – sensitive and emotionally intuitive.” – BBC Music Magazine
Eric Lu won First Prize at The Leeds International Piano Competition in 2018 at the age of 20. The following year, he signed an exclusive contract with Warner Classics, and has since collaborated with some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, and presented in major recital venues.
Recent and forthcoming orchestral collaborations include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lille, Finnish Radio Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Shanghai Symphony at the BBC Proms, amongst others. Conductors he collaborates with include Riccardo Muti, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Ryan Bancroft, Marin Alsop, Duncan Ward, Vasily Petrenko, Edward Gardner, Sir Mark Elder, Thomas Dausgaard, Ruth Reinhardt, Earl Lee, Kerem Hasan, Nuno Coehlo, Dinis Sousa, and Martin Frӧst.
Active as a recitalist, he is presented on stages including the Köln Philharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Queen Elizabeth Hall London, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Leipzig Gewandhaus, San Francisco Davies Hall, BOZAR Brussels, Fondation Louis Vuitton Paris, 92nd St Y, Aspen Music Festival, Seoul Arts Centre, Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, and Sala São Paulo. In 2025, he is appearing for the 7th consecutive year in recital at Wigmore Hall London. He has also been invited for the 7th time to Warsaw’s ‘Chopin and his Europe Festival’ and made his debut at La Roque-d’Anthéron Festival.
Eric’s third album on Warner Classics was released in December 2022, featuring Schubert Sonatas D. 959 and 784. It was met with worldwide critical acclaim, receiving BBC Music Magazine’s Instrumental Choice, writing, “Lu’s place among today’s Schubertians is confirmed”. His previous album of the Chopin 24 Preludes, and Schumann’s Geistervariationen was hailed ‘truly magical’ by International Piano.
Born in Massachusetts in 1997, Eric Lu first came to international attention as a Laureate of the 2015 Chopin International Competition in Warsaw aged just 17. He was also awarded the International German Piano Award in 2017, and Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2021. Eric was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2019-22. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, studying with Robert McDonald and Jonathan Biss. He was also a pupil of Dang Thai Son.
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 