  https://www.youtube.com/live/NncQB52zSlE?feature=sharedIt was a few years ago that a sixteen year old Canadian pianist astounded the music world running off with the first prize at the coveted International Liszt Competition in Budapest. I was following the competition with Peter Frankl as there was a young Italian prodigy of ours who was tipped to win, Giovanni Bertolazzi. Well, when we heard this sixteen year old boy we were so astounded that we gladly accepted second prize for our prodigy, as Genius cannot be beaten or even taken into consideration in the circus arena. Where did he come from ? A student of Marilyn Engle in Canada, who was unknown to us at the time, although both Janina Fialkowska and Linn Hendry said that she was in their class, and was the best of them all, but did not pursue a career on the concert platform. This young man went on two years later to win the Geneva International Piano competition and at 18 took the Gold Medal at the Rubinstein Competition.   I have written many articles about the artistic progress of this young man, who has had to grow up in public view. It was only last summer that I heard him in Oxford and that he seemed to have lost something of that very special talent, that is a burning wish to communicate. Being born with talent is a great responsabiliy and also a great burden, as a boy must find his way as a man, and spending hours perfecting his artistry is a great sacrifice, when others his age are mixing with people their own age and discovering the joys and sorrows of life.  It is thanks to Maestro Paleczny that we have been able to listen to so many remarkable young musicians that he discovers in International Competitions and invites every year to his Duszniki Festival. The last article I wrote about Kevin I likened his musical perfection to that of Cutner Solomon. But today listening to this young man come of age, smiling and obviously now enjoying himself at the piano. He has come through that ever difficult moment, from prodigy to professional, and his playing is of such musical perfection and mastery it can only, for me, be likened to Dinu Lipatti.Fryderyk CHOPIN (1810–1849) Nocturne in C minor op. 48 n 1 (1841) Beauty and poetry combine with a disarming simplicity and nobility to recreate this miniature tone poem. A discovery of architectural shape, where the genius of Chopin can turn such a simple bel canto melody into a vibrant emotional outpouring, after an overpowering climax, that in Kevin’s hands just grew so naturally out of the seemingly static opening. A crescendo of emotions that were almost unnoticed as it was the clearly etched melodic line that unwound, supported by an ever increasing wave of sounds from below. From this very first work on the programme it was clear that here was a master of sound and balance with a technical control at the service of the music. .   Polonaise -Fantasy in A flat op. 61 (1845–1846). The very opening chords were played with a mastery that was at once arresting, but also with sounds within the chords that were of a sumptuous richness and refined poignancy. There was a clarity to the musical line that no matter how intricate, there was a shape and burning sense of direction. A beauty and aristocratic authority to the central episode before the dynamic drive and passionate outpouring of the final exhilarating explosion of romantic fervour.   Sonata B minor op. 58 (1844) Allegro maestoso – Scherzo. Molto vivace -Largo- Finale. Presto non tanto. There is a famous recording of Dinu Lipatti playing this work, and it is this that comes to mind, listening to this young man today. A sense of architecture and a sound world like entering a Gothic Cathedral and breathing noble air where everything seems to emanate from a monumental beauty of immutable inevitability. Kevin brought a sense of wonderment too. to the second subject that was played with poignant strength but also ravishing beauty. A radiance that was even more intense in the recapitulation after a development that was kept under the same roof and not allowed to overpower or overstay its welcome. Above all, in all his playing, there was a seamless legato, that like water, flowed with undulating horizontal beauty. Nowhere more than in the jeux perlé of the Scherzo, with a trio given strength because maintaining the same tempo. Strangely Kevin chose to have a silence between the final chords of the Scherzo and the imperious opening of the Largo. It was the disarming simplicity and kaleidoscope of sounds, though, that created a beguiling hypnotic spell before the magical return of the opening melody with the whispered beauty of times passed. The Finale ‘Presto non tanto’ is a tour de force for any pianist, but Kevin managed to keep it under control as the rondò theme became ever more insistent, until exploding into the coda that Kevin played with fearless mastery and exhilaration.  Franz Liszt (1811–1886) Ballade n.2 in B minor S. 171 (1853) Kevin’s playing of Liszt is poetic, intelligent, exciting and exhilarating. His extraordinary seamless legato was of a radiant beauty as the story of Hero and Leander was re-enacted in magic sounds. The piano became an orchestra with a kaleidoscope of colours, but allied to an aristocratic control that made everything so clear. There was brilliance and breathtaking cascades of notes but there was also poetic musings of radiance and disarming simplicity.   Anneés de pèlerinage. Deuxième année – Italie S. 161 (1849) 5. Sonetto 104 del Petrarca, A burning intensity and radiant beauty as Kevin played with almost improvised freedom and delicacy.  Réminiscences de Don Juan, S. 418 (1841).Overwhelming, breathtaking and phenomenal come to mind, trying to describe what we heard today. This was the same pianistic genius that I had heard from this young man at the Liszt Competition. But now it was tempered with maturity and wisdom as he brought a sense of characterisation to the personages of Mozart’s Don Juan . It was also full of coquettish beauty, that contrasted with the diabolical technical feats of pianistic gymnastics that in Liszt’s day turned his refined aristocratic audience into a mob of screaming fans. The audience in Duszniki are much more restrained, but they did offer a spontaneous standing ovation lead by Maestro Paleczny, for a Genius who has come of age. Two encores for an audience becoming ever more insistent, were rewarded with two works by Chopin. The Waltz op 18 played with refined beauty and beguiling technical perfection. This was followed by the Prelude in C minor op 28 n 20 played with an extraordinary control of sound and breathtaking whispered wonderment. This young man will create quite an earthquake when he embarks in Warsaw next October. I can feel the air shaking already !    A standing ovation led by Maestro Paleczny The concerts will be broadcast on our YouTube channel, but not all of them –with the exception of three: the opening concert, the concert by Piotr Anderszewski and the final concert, due to the lack of consent from the artists. The remaining concerts will be streamed on this YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@fundacjamiedzynarodowychfe7529/featured Kevin Chen at the Oxford Piano Festival A gentle giant of humility and genius Kevin Chen in Warsaw – at only 18 a star of genius shines brightly in our midst. Kevin Chen A gentle giant of humility and genius  DINU LIPATTI – THE PRINCE OF PIANISTS – with Alfred Cortothttps://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.thepianofiles.com/dinu-lipatti-prince-of-pianists/&ved=2ahUKEwj9tur6lO-OAxWjlP0HHW1eFeIQFnoECBUQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1sX3asv5u2n8qaLL0qfSuA |
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 