Sherri Lun making her Wigmore Hall debut with Beethoven, Szymanowski and Scriabin and ending with her own delicate transcription of Poulenc’s ‘Les Chemins de l’Amour.’
Beginning with Beethoven’s great song of life with the Sonata op 110 played with masterly simplicity and a scrupulous attention to the composers very precise indications. Precision and purity with playing of a crystalline clarity of timeless beauty. The whispered opening played with loving care until a vibrant trill opens the magic box to Beethoven’s poignant bel canto. Rumbling bass accompanied the melody with undulating sounds of meandering urgency. An extraordinary range of dynamics with playing of poetic sensitivity. An ‘Allegro molto’ all energy and power with a rhythmic drive of pulsating vibrancy. The treacherous weaving of knotty twine was played with extraordinary authority dissolving to a whisper for the entry of the ‘Adagio’. Playing of poignant significance, the bass rising in intensity as the Aria floated on this heart beat of delicate constancy. The entry of the fugue on a wave of luxuriant sonorities was a moment of timeless wonder as was the fugue in inversion as it built to a tumultuous climax of brilliance and passionate intensity
Don Juan followed, in the multicoloured depiction of Szymanowski with Sherri’s chameleonic palette of colours of ravishing sounds flitting around the keyboard with will o’ the wisp insistence.
The final work was Scriabin’s menacing third sonata which was played with passionate intensity on a cauldron of sounds, ready to burst into the open with sumptuous decadence that Sherri played with diabolical intent and insinuating seduction. Luminosity and light from the first notes bathed in pedal with a menace from below played with aristocratic authority of imposing dynamism. A constant reminder of menace from the bass with liquid sounds floated with such luminosity above. She brought a great sweep to the ‘Allegretto’ with playing of burning intensity with gasps as she came up for air. An ‘Andante’ of crystalline purity with playing of disarming simplicity and a magic web of sounds as the rumbling menace in the bass came ever closer, bursting into the ‘Presto con fuoco’ that flew form Sherri’s fingers with demonic impetus. Opening up into a passionate climax that she played with remarkable control and passionate intensity as the music gradually died away before the final dying gasp of defiance.
A scintillating encore of refined eloquence reminded me of Weissenberg but with the sounds of Cherkassky and brought this extraordinary debut to a sumptuous close
“- tackling the bruising finale with pinpoint clarity and convincing bravura, while the lighter moments danced with an impish joy that brought the audience to their feet after the final bars.” – Chicago Tribune
A Steinway Young Artist, Sherri Lun was named ‘2020 Performing Artist of the Year’ by the South China Morning Post and has garnered acclaim for her “pinpoint clarity and convincing bravura” (Chicago Tribune). Born in Hong Kong and currently based in London, Sherri has swiftly established herself as a rising soloist on the international stage. A 2025/26 Kirckman Artist, Sherri is also supported by the Keyboard Charitable Trust, Lang Lang International Music Foundation, and KNS Classical, with whom she released her debut CD in 2023. She made her concerto debut at the Ravinia Festival at the age of 10 with the Midwest Young Artists and has since performed extensively across Europe, Asia, and the United States. Her engagements have included appearances at major venues such as Wigmore Hall in London, Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, and Millennium Park in Chicago.The 2026 season features solo debuts at Bridgewater Hall, Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, and the Brighton Festival, alongside concerto appearances in the UK and Italy. Recent engagements have included the Hammerklavier International Piano Series in Barcelona and Girona, Festival Musicale delle Nazioni in Rome, and appearances at Steinway Halls in London and Vienna, as well as recital tours across Italy and Malaysia organised by Keyboard Charitable Trust and Persatuan Chopin Society. She has collaborated with ensembles including the Salzburg Chamber Soloists, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Cologne Chamber Orchestra, and Hong Kong Youth Orchestra. Her performances have also been broadcast by Radio Television Hong Kong and BBC Radio 3. In 2025, she was invited to join the Lieven Piano Foundation, and in 2026 was selected as a scholar of the Imogen Cooper Music Trust. Sherri’s recent international distinctions include the Special Prize from the Mozart Society Munich at the 74th ARD International Music Competition and Second Prize together with two additional prizes at the 2026 Friuli Venezia Giulia International Piano Competition. She captured both First and Audience Prizes at the 2024 Birmingham International Piano Competition and was named a 2025 Royal Over-Seas League award winner, following top prizes at the Robert Schumann Competition (Düsseldorf), Zhuhai Mozart Competition, Hong Kong Generation Next Arts §, and Steinway & Sons Youth Piano Competition. At the Royal Academy, she won the Sterndale Bennett, Chung Nung Lee, and Harold Craxton Prizes in consecutive years.
Born in 2003, Sherri majored in piano and viola as a junior student of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. In Hong Kong, she formed her own piano and string quartet which won top prizes in all ensemble categories in the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival and performed at the Government House for the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. She continued her studies with Prof. Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating with first-class honours, supported by the Hong Kong Scholarship for Excellence Scheme. She is currently pursuing her Master’s as a Leverhulme Scholar, with additional scholarships from the Craxton Memorial Trust, Help Musicians UK Rupert Heggs Award, and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust.
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/12/05/ileana-and-joan-3rd-december-2023/
