Pianist Sa Chen in Recital

by

David Beech

       Performing for the Steinway Society, the Chinese pianist Sa Chen, third-prize winner in the 2005 Van Cliburn competition, treated a standing-room-only audience to an exciting solo recital on Sunday, October 29, 2006 at Le Petit Trianon in San Jose. Warming up rather slowly in a disappointing first half of Mozart and Chopin, she appeared transformed after the intermission in works by Xiaohan, Albeniz and Liszt.
       Indeed, it was difficult to understand the choice of the F major Mozart sonata K. 332, and five Chopin waltzes, all of which are easy enough to be played to some level of competence by a large proportion of the audience (and in many cases, taught to their students), since Sa Chen did not seem to have the special affinity for either composer that would have offered new insights.
       The Mozart began promisingly, a little faster than usual and with a warm, flowing tone, but then suddenly slowed down, and this was a harbinger of other inappropriate tempo changes to come. The turns in the slow movement melody were more mechanical than graceful, and a syncopated measure was hurried rather than poised. The finale rattled along on the fast side, but the best features were some mysterious introspection after a strong low B-flat, and a later soft interlude.
       The Chopin Waltz in A minor, Op.34, No.2, was enjoyable, although the little left-hand trill at the start could have been more refined. The duple-time melody came across well in the Waltz in A-flat,  Op.42, although by this time the tone was hardening and the texture thickening, and the ending was highly dramatic, even if the last two bars were rather scrambled. From Op.64, the C-sharp minor could have used a softer pp in the echoed arpeggios, and the D-flat “Minute Waltz” was rather loud, with the ending not quite coming off. Finally in this group, the G-flat Waltz, Op.70 No.1, sounded a shade perfunctory.
       The other work in this part of the program was Chopin’s more rarely-performed Polonaise-Fantasie in A-flat minor, Op.61, where the quiet and slow passages fared particularly well, with Sa Chen maintaining fine control over long phrases, and eliciting a singing tone from the instrument, by contrast with the over-pedaled louder passages.
       The modern Chinese work in the program, "Four Flowers" by Wang Xiaohan, was given an excellent performance, and proved easy to listen to since there was considerable Western influence. “Plum Blossom” would have pleased Debussy with its treble rippling over a bass melody, and its vivid central section. Bartok came to mind during the aggressive “Orchid”, and Messiaen during some of the high twitterings of the last piece, “Chrysanthemum”, although the latter also had distinctive Chinese clapper sounds moving in consecutive intervals. The third piece, “Bamboo,” had a nice oriental feel with its little shakes decorating the melody, and its timeless sonorities. The composer writes well for the piano, and Sa Chen gave what must surely be a definitive performance.
       Already we were hearing incisive, clear playing that was carried through into the next work, El Corpus en Sevilla from Iberia by Albeniz. Chen’s rhythmic precision was given a convincing Spanish inflection, beginning with a slow staccato theme, and leading through a variety of moods and flamboyant gestures with the characteristic triplet ornaments preceding the main notes. Just as French composers have often been thought to excel at writing Spanish music, perhaps we will now have a Chinese pianist, who has long studied in Germany, as an outstanding interpreter of the Spanish style.
       Sa Chen closed with one of the successes of her Van Cliburn recital, Liszt’s Spanish Rhapsody. Any fears that we may have harbored about suffering from bombastic display in a small hall were immediately laid to rest by the warmth and fullness of tone of the opening, and the delicacy of the color washes that were applied for contrast. The bass La Folia melody appeared grandly in many variations and the contrasting jota was presented with sparkling wit ― in both styles, Sa Chen’s superlative rhythm and digital power were in evidence, and we witnessed consummate playing of running octaves! The whole piece was a delight.

[David Beech, a serious clarinetist, a significant amateur pianist, and a music lover of uncommon taste and refinement, is a frequent contributor as a guest reviewer in this column.]

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