A concert of simple great artistry from Chloe Mun in Perugia. A ‘Building Bridges’ concert in which her mentor Andras Schiff brings to public attention artists who are ready to share the true message of music with the world. Haydn,Debussy and Schubert of intensity and beauty with a control and mastery that allowed these great works to live and breathe with a natural musicianship. An artist who with humility and integrity can delve deep into the scores to find the secrets bequeathed to us by the composers.

Winning both Geneva and Busoni competitions as a teenager, a distinction that she shares only with Martha Argerich and whose mutual love and passion for music is their raison d’etre, that with generosity share with a public hungry for masters who will never let them down!

Haydn’s two movement late C major Sonata opened with an ‘Andante’ of delicacy and etched beauty of a continual questioning as the beautifully shaped melodic line was imbued with a subtle sense of colour. A ‘Rondò’ that sprang from her fingers with a refreshing ‘joie de vivre’ and impish sense of humour of scintillating rhythmic drive. Fluidity and golden delicacy she brought to Debussy’s ‘Estampes’ with a kaleidoscope of sounds bathed in pedal,creating the same magic and ethereal perfection that Richter was to seduce us with on his first visits to the West. ‘Pagodes’ with a sheen of magical sounds that were wafted into the air with a mixture of melody and mist that became ever more intense, bursting into passion and fire only to disappear to the wondrous land from which it had been born. Whispered haunting sounds of a ‘Soirée dans Grenade’ seen in the distance as it gradually came into view with its rhythmic insistence wrapped in a warmth of ravishing beauty. The pitter patter of rain in ‘Jardins’ was of gentle persuasion as its velvet clarity gave way to a vision of childish wonderment. Chloe demonstrated her masterly control of sound and transcendental command as she brought these three etchings to us as if newly minted, with a freshness and perfection of rare sensibility. There was delicacy and a perfection of art that conceals art but there was also passion and intensity as Chloe kept her eyes glued to the keys with daggers drawn. Looking down at her hands as they delved deep into the keys with selfless authority commanding them to show us what was in her heart and mind. Her work with Andras Schiff at the Barenboim-Said Academy has only intensified her wish to delve ever more deeply into the scores of the great masters and share them with a public hungry for the message that is hidden within.

Schubert’s C minor Sonata was lain bare with its deep brooding Beethovenian declamation that Schubert was immediately to diffuse with a mellifluous outpouring of disarming simplicity. What contrasts Chloe brought with her burning intensity of orchestral sounds mixed with the ethereal beauty of Schubert’s seemingly endless mellifluous invention. A mastery that could allow Chloe to unravel the contrapuntal complexities of the developments with simple, unadorned mastery. Fingers that could extract rich orchestral sounds with never a trace of hardness or words spoken in haste . An ‘Adagio’ of monumental proportions as the melodic line built to a climax of searing intensity only to return ever more beautifully with a delicate filigree accompaniment that showed Chloe’s transcendental control of the pedal.

It brought to mind Anton Rubinstein’s declaration, that was surely that of his mentor Franz Liszt, that the pedal is the soul of the piano. It was the mastery of the pedals tonight that illuminated all that Chloe did as she so unobtrusively used them to illuminate and ignite the wishes of the composers of which she was merely their devoted servant. A beautiful fluidity to the ‘Menuet’ was complimented by the subdued beauty of the ‘Trio’ with its very subtle bass counterpoints.

A last movement that sprang from her fingers with a rhythmic drive and vervet fluidity that gave no indication of the irascible Beethovenian interruptions it would receive before being allowed to weave it’s way to the final chords of this masterwork written in the final years of the composers thirty one years on this earth.

As Maude Tortelier once said Schubert is one of the angels bequeathed to us on this earth for a short period to enrich and illuminate our lives forever.

After such a monumental performance Chloe could only share with us Chopin’s vision of paradise with a recreation of his D flat nocturne where time stood still. Here in just a few moments her mastery and musical integrity illuminated one of Chopin’s most beautiful bel canto creations.

We shared one of those rare moments where people are united in the strage alchemy that only music can provide.

United under a roof of peace and sublime beauty.

Venerdì 28 febbraio 2025 ore 20:30 Perugia, Sala dei Notari Chloe Mun, pianoforte Programma F.J. Haydn Sonata in do maggiore Hob. XVI: 48 C. Debussy Estampes (1903) F. Schubert Sonata in do minore D. 958  Classe 1995, la sudcoreana Chloe Mun ha iniziato lo studio del pianoforte all’età di cinque anni, distinguendosi con la vittoria a due importanti Concorsi europei, a Ginevra (2014) e a Bolzano (“Busoni”, 2015). Da allora si è esibita in numerosi paesi europei, nonché in Corea e in Giappone, sia in recital che come solista con orchestra sotto la direzione di Myung-Whun Chung, Alexander Shelley, Yuri Bashmet, James Judd, Mario Venzago, Eiji Oue e altri ancora. Per l’etichetta DGG ha registrato un primo cd dedicato a Schumann (la Sonata op. 11 e la Fantasia op. 17). Attualmente è allieva di Sir András Schiff alla Barenboim-Said Akademie di Berlino e la sua attività della stagione in corso fa parte del progetto “Building Bridges”, con il quale il maestro ungherese invita organizzatori musicali internazionali a voler dare spazio ai suoi allievi più meritevoli.Molto articolato il programma della serata, che ha inizio con una delle ultime Sonate (1789) di Joseph Haydn, in do maggiore Hob. XVI:48. Due soli i movimenti, ma di una grande originalità: una serie caratteristica di “doppie variazioni” (tra maggiore e minore), seguito da un animato Presto dal clima innegabilmente “orchestrale”. Seguono le Estampes (“stampe” o “incisioni”) di Debussy (1903), le prime delle sue escursioni coloristiche in paesi “esotici”: l’Estremo Oriente per Pagodes e la Spagna per i ritmi suggestivi di habanera nella Soirée dans Grenade, mentre sono più vicini a casa i Jardins sous la pluie, quando i giochi di bambini vengono interrotti da improvvisi scrosci di pioggia. Decisamente turbato – quando non tragico – il clima espressivo della Sonata in do minoreD. 958 di Franz Schubert. Stati d’animo che a momenti rasentano la disperazione, che nelle successive due Sonate si trasformeranno in un’atmosfera più rassegnata, seppure sempre inquieta.  Andrew Starling

Chloe Jiyeong Mun in Florence-A musical feast of whispered secrets of ravishing beauty
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/06/07/chloe-jiyeong-mun-in-florence-a-musical-feast-of-whispered-secrets-of-ravishing-beauty/

Chloe Jiyeong Mun in Florence-A musical feast of whispered secrets of ravishing beauty
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/06/07/chloe-jiyeong-mun-in-florence-a-musical-feast-of-whispered-secrets-of-ravishing-beauty/